The latest IHF Trophy competition for 2018 has been announced as Hong Kong are set to host the IHF Trophy Asia - Zone IA competition from 28 June – 2 July.

Alongside hosts Hong Kong (HKG), near neighbours Macau (MAC) have been invited, along with Mongolia (MGL), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (PRK), Chinese Taipei (TPE) and Vietnam (VIE).

The announcement follows the successful completion of the first IHF Trophy tournament of 2018 – the IHF Trophy Asia - Zone II (South and Central Asia) competition, held in Faisalabad, Pakistan – the competition continues as it moves to Mauritania for CAHB Africa: Zone II, starting Saturday (24 March).

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: Upcoming men’s competitions

Chronological order

Dates: 24-29 March 2018

CAHB Africa: Zone II (2)

Host City/Nation: Nouakchott, Mauritania (MTN)

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

Dates: 9-14 April 2018

CAHB Africa: Zone III (3)

Host City/Nation: Niamey, Niger (NIG)

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

Dates: 17-21 April 2018

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

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

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

Dates: 24-28 April 2018

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

Host City/Nation: Lusaka, Zambia (ZAM)

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

Dates: 7-12 May 2018

North American & Caribbean Zone

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

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

Dates: 14-20 May 2018

CAHB Africa: Zone V 

Host City/Nation: Kampala, Uganda (UGA)

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

Dates: 6-10 June 2018

CAHB Africa: Zone IV (4)

Host City/Nation: Kinshasa, DR Congo

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)

Dates: 11-15 June 2018

OCHF Oceania: Continental Phase

Host City/Nation: Nouméa, New Caledonia (NCL)

Invited teams: American Samoa (ASA), Australia (AUS), Cook Islands (COK), Fiji (FIJ), New Caledonia (NCL), New Zealand (NZL), Papua New Guinea (PNG), Tahiti (TAH)

IHF Trophy 2018: Completed men’s competitions

Dates: 10-15 March 2018

AHF Asia: Zone II (South and Central Asia)

Host City/Nation: Faisalabad, Pakistan (PAK)

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

Winners: India (IND) – youth and junior