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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Handball Federation secretary-general Alphios Magiya believes the participation of junior teams in the Partille Cup held in Sweden recently will help improve the quality of the sport in the country. This year Zimbabwe fielded five teams at the world’s biggest annual handball tournament.

The teams included the national boys and girls Under-16 teams, Girls High School Under-16 team, Mashrhino boys Under-14 and girls Under-13.
“We saw a great improvement in terms of performance in all teams that competed because they were grouped among the strong teams.

“The national boys Under-16 team competed in a group that was made up of Germany, Denmark, Bosnia and Sweden and we managed to beat Bosnia only. These are countries that take handball seriously.

“The girls national team played five matches and won one match while Girls High played six matches and won two.
Mashrhino also did well, but there were strong teams.

“Sometimes it was just narrow defeats but all in all we saw that we have great potential because some of our athletes were recognised during the competition.

“Some coaches from Swedish club, IK Sävehof, expressed interest in Clement Mhonda, Shilton Ndlovu (both from JZ Moyo High School) and Noma Shuche.

“They said they should come back next year if possible to check on their progress. They were listed among the identified players,” said Magiya.
Magiya said they are happy to note that the teams’ participation in the Partille Cup is showing some results.

“Results are very evident because the standard at national level is very high because of the athletes that would have participated in the Partille Cup.

“We have schools like Howard, Girls High and Dotito that have participated in the event and you can actually see that their game is improving.
“We are seeing the influence and we hope this will cascade down to the national teams as these juniors join the seniors clubs,” said Magiya.