24 teams fight for gold at the Benin Youth and Cadets National championships

24 teams gathered in Ouidah for the Benin Youth and Cadets National championships, with six teams taking part in each category for both the men’s and the women’s competitions.

Between 19 and 23 February, over 50 matches took place at the handball court in the Military Academy of Ouidah and the Arena of Ouidah in a round robin format for each category, with the winner of each group taking the trophy.

Over 200 players were present in the competitions, underlining the passion and interest in the game for Benin, who won the inaugural CAHB African Men’s Youth Handball Championship in 2000.

Flambeau d’Abomey became the champions in the women’s youth category, taking five wins in five matches and dominating their opponents clearly, including a 33:21 win over Academia in the next-to-last match. The decider was against Espoir HBC and a 25:18 win over their rivals sealed the first place in the group.

The women’s cadets competition was the most exciting, going down to a fight between Synergie HBC and Flowers HBC, with the two sides finishing tied on eight points each after five matches. But with Synergie HBC taking a 14:12 win in the mutual match, they were eventually crowned champions.

In the men’s cadets category, Espoir HBC were crowned champions after they clinched a 33:13 win over Synergie HBC, sweeping their opponents on their way to the trophy.

They doubled down on this performance in the men’s youth category with a clean sweep over their opponents, including a 22:19 hard-to-seal win in the next-to-last round against Synergie HBC, a true clash between the best teams in the competition.

Photo: Fédération Béninoise de Handball