12 teams set for IHF Trophy Oceania throw-off

The IHF Trophy Oceania is just two days away from throw-off in Païta, New Caledonia, where seven nations represented by 12 teams will contest the Youth and Junior age men’s competition. The tournament will be played in Arena of the South from June 10 to 15.

The Youth competition, for players born in 2000 or later, will feature Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The Junior competition, for players born in 1998 or later, will be contested by Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Tahiti.

Tahiti won both the most recent editions of the IHF Trophy Oceania, in 2014 and 2017, which were for Junior sides. The tournament in June is the first international competition for Youth age teams in Oceania.

The IHF Trophy will see a round-robin competition, with the winners determined based on points rather than through finals. New Caledonia will open both the Junior and Youth age tournaments on June 10, with the Under 18 side taking on Cook Islands and the Under 20 team meeting Fiji. The remaining nations will play their first games on June 11. All teams will play one match per day up until the end of the competition on June 15.

Referees from China, New Caledonia, Thailand, Japan and New Zealand will whistle the event.

All matches will be streamed live on Facebook. The match schedule is available HERE.