Hosts Madagascar produced a memorable double at the 2026 Men's IHF Trophy – Africa Zone VII, claiming both the junior (U20) and the youth (U18) titles in Antananarivo. The competition, which ran from 27 to 31 May, saw Madagascar defeat Mayotte and Reunion respectively in two high-octane finals.

Both the junior (U20) and the youth (U18) competitions featured four teams each. Madagascar were joined by Comoros, Mayotte and Seychelles in the U20 event, while Reunion replaced Seychelles in the U18 competition. Both tournaments followed a round-robin format to determine the semi-finalists, whose winners then met in the title decider.

In the junior (U20) competition, Madagascar were dominant throughout the preliminary round, defeating Comoros 44:30, Mayotte, 41:29, and Seychelles 43:28 to finish top of the standings.

The second place was sealed by Comoros, which took a 45:27 win over Seychelles and a 36:25 win over Mayotte. Comoros’ Allaoui Hakim was superb in the matches in the preliminary round, scoring 12 times against Madagascar, 22 times against Seychelles and eight times against Mayotte.

In the semi-finals, Magadascar dominates Seychelles once again, 44:30, while Mayotte avenged their loss against Comoros and took a 31:26 win to qualify for the final.

A 13-goal outing from Ziggy Jocelyn Rasolondraina, supported by seven goals each from Dolin Michellin Randrianirina and Nestor Jhony Orlando Herimalala, were enough to lift Madagascar to a 44:30 win in the final against Mayotte, helping them seal the title.

In the bronze medal match, Comoros finished on the podium, with Allaoui Hakim scoring 14 goals and Abdou Issouf Moumadjadi adding 11 to lift their side to a 40:30 win over Seychelles.

Allaoui Hakim was the competition’s top scorer, with 66 goals, followed by Ziggy Jocelyn Rasolondraina with 62 goals and Seychelles’ Nicolas Rosalie with 41 goals.

An average of 69.7 goals per match were scored in the junior competition, while in the youth competition, the average was slightly higher, with 71.5 goals per match scored.

The path towards the trophy for Madagascar was definitely more difficult in the youth (U18) competition, after they lost two of their three matches in the preliminary round and finished on the third place.

First, Madagascar conceded a 39:47 loss against Reunion, despite Jean Edouard Rakotomalala and François Ralandson scoring 11 and 10 goals respectively. The hosts bounced back with a 37:27 win against Comoros, but fell again against Mayotte, 38:39.

Reunion were the winners in the preliminary round, adding wins against Mayotte, 39:29, and Comoros, 30:27, followed by Mayotte, which also won against Comoros, 47:41.

In the semi-finals, Reunion dominated Comoros once again, 39:16, while Magadascar were more complete against Mayotte and dominated from start to finish, securing a place in the final, with a 36:26 win.

Having lost by eight goals in the preliminary round against Reunion, Madagascar needed a drastic uptick in the final and they got that from Jean Edouard Rakotomalala, who scored 15 goals in the match.

Madagascar led by three goals at the break, 19:16, but pushed the pedal in the second half and opened a big lead, which they never conceded, taking a clear 40:30 win, after their best match of the competition.

Mayotte finished third, with a 48:40 win over Comoros in the bronze medal match.

Jean Edouard Rakotomalala was the competition’s top scorer, with 46 goals, followed by Malgasy teammate Francois Ralandson, with 44 goals, and Mayotte’s Kherdin Condro, with 37 goals.

Both the junior and the youth Madagascar teams advanced to the Continental Phase of the IHF Trophy Men.