Tough draw for Zambia

ZAMBIA were handed a gruelling Group D at the 2020 Africa Handball Men’s championship with the debutants to face seven-time champions Algeria and Morocco.

According to the draws conducted on Saturday in Tunisia, Zambia will not only have a tough time to deal with the Arab nations but also Congo and Senegal in the same group.

The 24th edition of the championship will be held from January 15 to 25 next year in Tunisia and attracted 17 teams.

It will serve as the African qualifying tournament for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and 2021 World Men's Handball Championship in Egypt.

Algeria are seven-time champions and have made 22 appearances at the tournament.

Morocco are yet to win a title and their best performance was a third finish at the 2006 championship after they edged Angola 26-25. Zambia were thumped 51-14 by Morocco at the 2019 African Games.

Congo have made 19 appearances but only boast of a silver medal while this will be Senegal’s 10th feature in the continent’s showpiece.

Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) president Victor Bwalya-Banda said the team needed adequate preparations to go past the preliminary round.

“All our opponents are experienced sides so the team needs enough training to score good results at the tournament,” he said.

Meanwhile, Group A has six-time champions Egypt, DR Congo, Guniea and Kenya while Angola was drawn in Group B against Gabon, Nigeria and Libya.

Group C pits champions Tunisia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Cape Verde.