Several changes have been announced for the upcoming African Handball Confederation (CAHB) IHF Trophy events in Africa. In addition to the five African, two Asian and North American and Caribbean tournaments previously revealed on IHF.info, DR Congo will be the host country of the African Zone IV IHF Trophy tournament, set to take place in capital city Kinshasa, from 6-10 June 2018.

The invited teams include Central African Republic (CAF), Congo (CGO), Chad (CHA), Cameroon (CMR), DR Congo (COD), Gabon (GAB), Equatorial Guinea (GEQ), Sao Tome and Principe (STP).

The CAHB Africa: Zone III (3) event in Niamey, Niger (NIG) has now been moved from its original date of 25-30 March 2018 to 9-14 April.

Finally, in consultation with the CAHB, the IHF Trophy CAHB Africa Zone VII competition, set to take place from 28-31 March in Antananarivo, Madagascar (MAD), has now been incorporated into the CAHB Africa Zone VI tournament in Lusaka, Zambia (ZAM) running from 24-28 April.

The change was necessary after invited teams Comoros (COM) and Mauritius (MRI) could not confirm their attendance in Antananarivo. Already-confirmed teams Seychelles (SEY) and Madagascar are now invited to join hosts Zambia (ZAM), along with previously-invited teams Botswana (BOT), Lesotho (LES), Malawi (MAW), Mozambique (MOZ), Namibia (NAM), Swaziland (SWZ) and Zimbabwe (ZIM) in Lusaka.

The IHF Trophy has been reconfigured for 2018 onwards and now includes two age categories – Junior (born on or after January 1, 1998) and Youth (born on or after January 1, 2000). The best teams from both categories will advance to the Continental Phase, with the winners of the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Junior Championships earning an automatic spot at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championships in Spain.

In 2019, the IHF Trophy will be for junior and youth women with the same format and qualification potential for the following years’ IHF Junior World Championships (2020).

The IHF Trophy will then continue to alternate between men’s and women’s competitions each year.

IHF Trophy – 2018 men’s competitions

North American & Caribbean Zone

Host City/Nation: West Dundee, Illinois/United States of America (USA)

Dates: 7-12 May 2018

Invited teams: Barbados (BAR), Canada (CAN), Dominican Republic (DOM), Haiti (HTI), Martinique (MTN), United States of America (USA)

CAHB Africa: Zone II (2)

Host City/Nation: Nouakchott, Mauritania (MTN)

Dates: 24-29 March 2018

Invited teams: Cape Verde (CPV), Gambia (GAM), Guinea-Bissau (GBS), Guinea (GUI), Mali (MLI), Mauritania (MTN), Senegal (SEN), Sierra Leone (SLE)

CAHB Africa: Zone III (3)

Host City/Nation: Niamey, Niger (NIG)

Dates: 9-14 April 2018

Invited teams: Benin (BEN), Burkina Faso (BUR), Cote d’Ivoire (CIV), Ghana (GHA), Liberia (LBR), Nigeria (NGR), Niger (NIG), Togo (TOG)

CAHB Africa: Zone IV (4)

Host City/Nation: Kinshasa, DR Congo

Dates: 6-10 June 2018

Invited teams: Central African Republic (CAF), Congo (CGO), Chad (CHA), Cameroon (CMR), DR Congo (COD), Gabon (GAB), Equatorial Guinea (GEQ), Sao Tome and Principe (STP)

CAHB Africa: Zone V (5)

Host City/Nation: Kampala, Uganda (UGA)

Dates: 14-20 May 2018

Invited teams: Burundi (BDI), Djibouti (DJI), Ethiopia (ETH), Kenya (KEN), Rwanda (RWA), Somalia (SOM), South Sudan (SSD), Sudan (SUD), Tanzania (TAN), Uganda (UGA)

CAHB Africa: Zone VI (6) and Zone VII (7)

Host City/Nation: Lusaka, Zambia (ZAM)

Dates: 24-28 April 2018

Invited teams: Zambia (ZAM), Botswana (BOT), Lesotho (LES), Malawi (MAW), Mozambique (MOZ), Namibia (NAM), Swaziland (SWZ), Zimbabwe (ZIM), Seychelles (SEY) and Madagascar (MAD).

AHF Asia: Zone IB (East and South East Asia)

Host City/Nation: Shah Alam Selangor, Malaysia (MAS)

Dates: 17-21 April 2018

Invited teams: Brunei (BRU), Cambodia (CAM), Laos (LAO), Indonesia (INA), Malaysia (MAS), Philippines (PHI), Singapore (SIN), Thailand (THA)

AHF Asia: Zone II (South and Central Asia)

Host City/Nation: Faisalabad, Pakistan (PAK)

Dates: 10-15 March 2018

Invited teams: Afghanistan (AFG), Bangladesh (BAN), India (IND), Nepal (NEP), Maldives (MDV), Sri Lanka (SRI), Yemen (YEM), Pakistan (PAK)