Two out of two for perfect Nicaragua at the Men's IHF Trophy – Zone Central America

Nicaragua men’s junior and youth teams secured both trophies at the Men's IHF Trophy – Zone Central America, which took place between 9 and 13 June in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Six teams entered the competition in both categories – with hosts El Salvador being joined by Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – as the two competitions had a similar format, a round-robin preliminary round, followed by a knock-out phase.

In the junior’s (U20) competition, Guatemala and Nicaragua won their groups, with two wins in two matches. In Group A, Guatemala first disposed of Panama, 36:28, before a hard-fought match against Costa Rica. The lead changed hands multiple times and Costa Rica led by as late as the 55th minute, 25:24, only for Guatemala to bounce back in the end.

With 11 goals from Esteban Guzman Lemus and six from Gilder Erick José Velasquez Rubio, Guatemala used a 4:1 run to finish the match and secure the first place with a 28:26 win. Costa Rica finished second, courtesy of their 41:34 win against Panama.

In Group B, Nicaragua dominated hosts El Salvador, 50:26, and Honduras, 41:27, while Honduras finished second, winning their match against the hosts, El Salvador, 38:17.

However, Nicaragua had an entirely different proposition when they faced Costa Rica, with some early struggles leaving them tied after 21 minutes. By half-time, Nicaragua were still leading, 21:17, and they controlled the second half, as Jezreel Gensly Sinclair Zenon scored eight times to power them to a 36:30 win.

The second finalist was Guatemala, which lead from start to finish in their match against Honduras, with plenty of help from Florian Kreuzer González, who scored eight goals.

As the two undefeated teams locked horns in the final, it was Nicaragua which came out unscathed, taking early control of the match and never looking back. Zenon and Adan Israel Urbina Ocampo each scored six goals, with Guatemala managing only to close the gap to two goals, 22:20, with 12 minutes to go.

It was too little too late, as their power faded off and enabled Nicaragua to go on a 10:4 run to finish the match and clinch the title with a 32:24 win.

In the bronze-medal match, Costa Rica won a hard-fought game against Honduras, 39:38, after four extra-time halves, with the match finishing deadlocked after 60 minutes, 31:31.

Honduras’ Branly Alexander Bonilla Morales was the top scorer of the junior competition, with 42 goals, followed by Erick Kendall Suárez Matarrita, from Costa Rica, with 30 gaols and Florian Kreuzer González, with 28 goals.

In the youth (U18) competition, Nicaragua still won their preliminary round group, but hosts El Salvador looked stronger, the two sides proving to be the strongest in this age category.

Nicaragua dominated Group A, with wins against Costa Rica (50:26) and Honduras (44:33), with a strong team effort, as all their outfield players scored at least one goal in the two matches.

Costa Rica finished second in the group and advanced to the semi-finals, thanks to a 30:19 win against Honduras.

El Salvador proved too strong in the other group, taking the first place, after a hard-fought match with Guatemala. In the first matchday, Guatemala dominated Panama, 55:15, before El Salvador took a 42:21 win against Panama, which meant that the hosts needed a win in the last matchday to secure the first place in the group.

Guatemala had a two-goal lead in the first half, but faded in the second half and the hosts, powered by nine goals from Daniel Cabrera Gomez and seven goals from Eduardo Blanco Ayala managed to secure the crucial 29:27 win.

Nicaragua then won their semi-final, 32:25 against Guatemala, with Oscar Alonso Lopez Perez scoring 12 goals, while El Salvador produced a fantastic comeback in the second semi-final to clinch their place in the last act.

After 41 minutes, the hosts had only scored 13 goals, but went on and almost tied that performance in the last 19 minutes of the match, riding a 12:5 run to secure a 25:20 win.

But the final had no history, as Nicaragua properly dominated and secured the title, with a clear 37:18 win, as Isamir Elias Tellez Obregon scored eight times.

In the bronze-medal match, Guatemala beat Costa Rica, 32:23.

Guatemala had the top two scorers of the youth competition, Alejandro Javier Ic Socop (32 goals) and Antonio José Alejandro Hernandez Lemus (28 goals), with the scoring podium rounded up by Costa Rica’s José Roldán Elizondo (28 goals).

The two winners, both Nicaragua junior and youth teams, qualified for the Continental Phase of the IHF Trophy.

Photo credit: Balonmano Nicaragua