Handball: U18, U20 Women National Teams Leave For Niger Thursday For World Cup Qualifiers

Handball: U18, U20 Women National Teams Leave For Niger Thursday For World Cup Qualifiers

By Niyi Busari

The U18 and U20 Women handball national teams will on Thursday leave Nigeria for Niger Republic, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

The two women national teams in their quest to qualify for the world cup will slug it out against their West African counterparts in the first round of the African Zone 3 World Cup Qualifiers.

The U18 and U20 women national team have been in camp in Abuja in the last two weeks to be able to fine-tune their preparation ahead of the championships.

While 20 players were invited into U18 camp, 24 players were invited for the U20 women national handball team.

According to the coaches of the two national team's, both teams have concluded on the team lists, and are about to wrap up preparation ahead of the competition.

Yusuf Abdulkadir, head coach U18 Women handball national team, reiterated that his lads will make Nigeria proud as they look forward to qualifying for the next round.

In his words, "We have been in camp for the past two weeks with 20 players where we selected the best list of 14 players. We are confident that the U18 women national handball team will qualify for the next round. The team is in high spirit and promise not to disappoint Nigerians." Yusuf told www.bsnsports.com.ng

In the same vein, the head coach U20 Women handball national team, Uzor John said the team aims to repeat what their male counterparts did last year when they picked the world cup tickets in Niger.

"We are focused and in high spirits. We are in the final phase of preparation for the championship and with the caliber of players that make the final list, I don't see anything that will stop Nigeria from picking the world cup ticket, though, we will still play another round after qualifying from this stage."

Nigeria will play against the hosts, Niger Republic, Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic.