Finland triumph at IHF Challenge Trophy 2011

IHF Challenge Trophy competitions are a unique occasion for smaller handball nations to take part in an international handball competition. The tournament of the Men’s Intercontinental Phase was carried out between 29 June and 03 July 2011 in the "Pink City" of Jaipur, India.

This tournament for players born 1990 and younger included the five winners of the tournaments of the Continental Federations. The European Federation was represented by the national team of Finland, who won the final of the IHF/EHF Challenge Trophy against Georgia on the occasion of the Men’s EHF EURO 2010 in Austria.

Finland had to take on the hosting nation India (Asian Continental Federation winners), Australia (Oceanian Continental Federation winners), Benin (African Continental Federation winners) and Venezuela (Pan-American Continental Federation winners).

Tournament Info

Finland are the deserved winners of the first ever IHF Men’s Inter Continental Challenge Trophy. Throughout the event, they were the most consistent team and managed to clearly win all of their five games. Their last match against Australia brought them another easy victory and brought the trophy to the representative of the European federation.

Finland results

Finland vs. India 41:28
Finland vs. Venezuela 32:21
Finland vs. Benin 38:28
Australia vs. Finland 21:32

Final Ranking

1. Finland
2. Venezuela
3. Benin
4. India
5. Australia

All Star Team

Best Goalkeeper:Kristoffer KARLSSON (AUS)
Best Left Wing: Romaric AKOZE (BEN)
Best Pivot: Jose VILLEGAS (VEN)
Best Right Wing:Carlos La Cruz Fernandez (VEN)
Best Left Back: Nico Ronnberg (FIN)
Best Center Back: Benny BROMAN (FIN)
Best Right Back: Shamsher Singh (IND)

Most Valuable Player: Joacim BROMAN (FIN)
Top Scorer: Romaric AKOZE (BEN) 31 goals