Mixed fortunes for handball teams

Johannesburg yesterday.
The first match of the day and of the week-long tournament featured the Zimbabwe women’s Under-20 side and the host nation South Africa and the visitors got off to a flying start by beating their much-fancied opponents 20-17 in a tightly-contested affair.
But the joy in the Zimbabweean camp was shortlived as their men’s Under-20 side went down 20-24 to South Africa in their Group B match which was played shortly after the opening women’s game.
The Zimbabwe men’s Under-20 side put up a brave fight in their ill-tempered match against South Africa in which they had two players — Nicol Ndou and Tinaye Zimudzi — sent off.
First to be shown the red card was Ndou for allegedly using foul language against the referee in the first half while Zimudzi was also sent for an early shower for retaliation after he was shoved to the floor by a South African opponent.
But it was all smiles for the Zimbabwe women’s Under-20 side after they posted what their coach Tawanda Mapira said was a “rare” victory over South Africa in a major international handball event.
Mapira could not hide his excitement after his charges, who were gallantly led by captain Evelyn Kufandirori, got the better of the host nation in their own backyard and before a partisan home crowd of about 2 000.
“I think this victory is quite an achievement for us because we haven’t beaten South Africa in handball at girls or women’s level for a very long time.
“We achieved this historic victory through our resilience. Our girls fought gallantly throughout the match and we had a very good role up because we managed to stop their (South Africa’s) penetration.
“In other words, our defence was solid and we made use of our fast breaks which saw us carrying the day,” Mapira said.