ZAMBIA HANDBALL TEAM 7TH IN AFRICA

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 09:28:46 +0000

By Grace Chaile Lesoetsa

THE Zambia under-20 national women handball team has been ranked seventh in Africa following a scintillating performance at the just ended Africa women championship held in Ivory Coast.

According to the latest rankings released by the International Handball Federation, Zambia has climbed eight rungs from the previous 15th position.

Zambia was ranked ahead of Ivory Coast, which is on eighth position, while Egypt is Africa’s best, followed by Tunisia, Angola, Senegal, Congo DR and Algeria.

Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) president Victor Banda said the sport had tremendously improved in recent years, therefore Zambia deserves to be in the top eight teams in Africa.

Banda said Zambia is at a level where it is able to put up a competitive game at international events.

“Some years back, we used to lose by embarrassing margins, but now we don’t concede more than 10 goals, which is acceptable in handball,” he said.

He thanked First Lady Esther Lungu for her support to the girls’ team.

He also praised the Ministry of Youth and Sport; and Madison General Insurance for their support to the team’s ill-fated outing in West Africa.

Banda said the team will now shift attention to preparing for the Olympics and All-Africa Games qualifiers to start soon.

“Our next target is to qualify both the men and women teams for the All Africa Games and Olympics. I urge the players to continue training hard and remain disciplined,” he said.