Five teams lined up at the start of the 6th Arab Men’s Junior Handball Championship (Under-21), which took place between 21 and 30 April in Casablanca, Morocco, with hosts Morocco being joined by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Tunisia.

The five participating teams first played in a round-robin format and the big surprise came in the first day, when Morocco, which were one of the competition’s favourites, as hosts, conceded a 27:28 loss against Kuwait.

However, neither of the other sides could maintain a flawless form, as Tunisia beat Saudi Arabia (29:26), only to draw in the next match against Kuwait (26:26), while Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait, 30:29, in the next match.

Morocco did bounce back later in the competition, avenging a 18:23 loss against Tunisia by winning against their opponents only two days later, when they secured a 22:20 win in the second semi-final, with their opponents in the final being Kuwait, which had previously won against Saudi Arabia, 30:29, in another hard-fought clash.

The final between Morocco and Kuwait was full of twists and turns, but eventually the hosts managed to avenge their loss in the first day of the competition, delivering a 36:35 win, after the game was tied after the regular time, and after four extra-time halves. Therefore, Morocco stood their ground at penalties and delivered the win, a superb performance, with some excellent matches in crunch time, exactly when it was needed.

The MVP of the competition was Saudi Arabia’s Qasim Al Turki, while Tunisia’s Iskandar Al-Juffali was the top goal scorer, with 39 goals.