Handball: Chairman Challenge Cup - MF Storm, Super 8 are the champions |14 March 2017

MF Storm and Super 8 are the victors of the handball Chairman Challenge Cup tournament played during the weekend.

In the women’s final on Sunday afternoon at the Palais des Sports, MF Storm faced the challenge of Au Cap Sisters. The game was billed as a tight affair and it lived up to that tag early on, with both sides looking to claim their first trophy of the season. After the first half, the score read 13-11 in favour of MF Storm.

It was in the second half that MF Storm began to pull away, scoring a number of unanswered goals to lead 20-13. This half was not to be without drama though as MF Storm’s Quiney Hertel was shown a red card for unsporting behaviour. It was after this incident that Au Cap Sisters seemed to be stirred up and they brought the score to 22-20.

All their efforts to get this far counted for nothing though as MF Storm regained their composure to go seven goals clear (27-20), before holding out to win the tie 28-24.

“We had a good game and our opponents gave us a good challenge and that is what we want. We want to see our opponents challenging us more to make the league interesting and to also improve Seychelles’ handball,” said MF Storm coach Danny Philoé.

Coach Philoé’s work was not done yet though as he would be on the bench for the men’s final, this time leading Super 8 in the final against AC Brothers.

This match was one full of energy and action where both teams exchanged the lead multiple times. In fact, the lead never reached more than two goals as AC Brothers’ Dyan Azemia led his team in scoring, with the first half ending 14-13 in AC Brothers’ favour.

The second half was more of the same, with the teams looking to take their opportunities and claim victory as well as the bragging right between these two rivals.

The scores remained close right up to 22-22 and it was at this point that Super 8 began to pull away, where they eventually won the contest on a 29-25 scoreline.

“This year we will once more be looking to win everything although I must congratulate our opponents who played twice yesterday (Saturday) and still gave us a good game today (Sunday),” said Super 8’s player/coach Philoé.

S. N.