The Egyptian handball team once again proved to be the country’s most successful team sport, outclassing Cape Verde 37-12 in the final of the African Championship which concluded in Cairo on Monday. The African competition was a qualifier to the World Championship with the top five teams making it to Poland and Sweden in 2023.

Underdog Cape Verde, making only their second appearance in the African Championship, surprisingly made it to the final for the first time in their history after beating Morocco in the semis, becoming the first non-North African team to reach the last stage. Their first appearance in the African Championship was in the previous edition in Tunisia 2020.

The victory gave the Egyptians their eighth African crown and their second consecutive title. However, Egypt still come second to Tunisia in the overall continental titles, with the Carthage Eagles earning a record 10.

On Monday, hosts Egypt overpowered their opponents with a performance that had given them a clean sweep en route to the final. Furthermore, their 37 goals set a new final scoring record, breaking their own mark of 31 goals set in 2004.

The Egyptians started the tournament in emphatic fashion with a 40-27 trouncing of Cameroon before defeating Morocco 36-21 to top Group A.

In the quarter-final, they easily beat Algeria 34-19 but were given a much sterner test against another North African rival, Tunisia, eking out a 29-27 win.

The one-week event saw a high spectator turnout at the Dr Hassan Sports Hall in the Sixth of October City in Giza, Egypt.

Egypt’s Omar Al-Wakeel was the final’s Man of the Match. Yehia Khaled of Egypt was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, while Ali Zein, also of Egypt, was selected the tournament’s best left back.

Morocco finished third after beating Tunisia 28-24 for the bronze medal and the Algerians booked the last African seat at the World Championship after beating Guinea 27-26 in the placement match for fifth place.

Egypt’s superstar and team captain Ahmed Al-Ahmar, who returned from retirement after the World Championship in 2021, won his fifth African title out of 10 participations. The champions also received a message of congratulations from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.

The African Handball Confederation announced that Egypt will host the 26th edition of the African Championship in January 2024, a qualifier to that year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 21 July, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.