By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

ZAMBIA has been picked to compete at the 2015 International Handball Federation (IHF) Under-20 World Championship to be held in Sweden in June.
This follows Zambia’s second place finish during the IHF Zone Six Challenge held in Lusaka early this year while Mozambique, winners of the tournament, clinched an automatic spot for the senior World Championship billed for Qatar in January next year.
Previously, only winners of the zonal challenge would qualify for the world tournament.
Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) communications manager Josab Changa said the development was a clear indication of significant strides the sport was making.
Changa said making it to the Under-20 World Championships was a milestone achievement for the sport as it was slowly gaining recognition at international level.
“Our target during the zone challenge was to finish top so that we could qualify for the Qatar Senior Championship but now settling for Under-20 World finals is no mean achievement and we are glad that our team is gaining ground on the international scene,” he said.
Changa said the challenge that lies ahead is to ensure that the team is prepared adequately both physically and financially adding that HAZ will soon start knocking on the doors of the corporate world.
He said HAZ would soon embark on a holistic programme aimed at training handball coaches across the country.
Changa said the first phase of the program that is expected to be completed by the end of this year, will see coaches in Southern, Eastern, Northern and Muchinga provinces equipped with the fundamentals of managing teams.
“The essence of the training program is to equip our coaches with technical knowhow is to ensure that the sport of handball spreads to all parts of the country,” he said.