As was expected Nigeria and Cameroon have confirmed their supremacy in the maiden edition of the Commonwealth Youth Handball World championship which ended on Saturday September 18, 2010, by winning the two available trophies on play. In the final that was an all Nigeria-Cameroon affair as both countries were involved in the men and female categories, Nigeria won the competition in the female category whereas Cameroon lifted the trophy in the male category. Nigeria emerged victorious on point count after both sides were tied at 22 goals each way at the blast of the final whistle. With Nigeria having a two-point advantage over Cameroon, the lionesses needed to defeat the Nigerians with more than two goals difference in order to carry the day.
With the female team having lost in the final, the Boys took a sweet revenge over Nigeria by edging them 30-27 to grab the trophy in the men’s category. It is therefore one piece each way for Cameroon and Nigeria who dominated the competition from day one. Cameroon therefore bags home one gold medal and one silver just as Nigeria. India won the bronze medal in the men’s category while Kenya got it for the female category. In addition to the bronze medal, Kenya also won the fair play prize of the competition.
The competition saw Akono Serge and Okey Ada emerging the best players of the competition in the men and women categories respectively.
The final and closing ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Sports and Physical education, Michel Zoah, who took the opportunity to exhort Cameroonian sports men and women to greater victory saying Cameroon, was proud to have hosted a Commonwealth competition. Like the opening, the closing ceremony was marked by cultural presentations such as choral music, juju dance and other traditional dances from different parts of Cameroon. The turn out was also impressive with the home crowd cheering whenever Cameroon was in possession of the ball and jeered when they lost it to the opponent. There was also a clash of supporters as both Nigerian and Cameroonian supporters tried to outsmart each other in pulling the attention of the crowd.
