Cairo’s giant Zamalek SC were crowned Champions of Africa for the 11th time after defeating rivals Al Ahly SC 27-25 in the 2018 African Handball Champions League Final held in Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday.
Zamalek was placed in Group B, where they defeated the Moroccan Raja d’Agadir, the Algerian GS Petroliers (GSP), and the Congolese Jeunesse Sportive de Kinshasa (JSK). The White Knights beat the Ivory Coast’s Red Star OJA in the quarter-finals, and then overcame the JSK in the semi-finals.
Zamalek now has 11 African Champions League titles similar to the Mouloudia Club d’Alger, in addition to winning the the African Cup Winners Cup five times, and the African Handball Super Cup five times.
Al Ahly and Zamalek are set to meet again in the African Super Cup in April, where the winner will represent Egypt in the International Handball Federation’s (IHF) Super Globe that is set to take place in Qatar.
2018 IHF Super Globe is the eleventh edition of the competition, nine of them hosted by Doha and the other two hosted by Cairo and Vienna.
Zamalek’s board of directors promised substantial financial awards for the players after returning to Cairo from Côte d’Ivoire. The club’s president also assured the players of holding a large concert to honour the African champions.
Led by Coach Bassem Al-Sabki, Zamalek’s squad that took part in the tournament from 19 to 28 October included Ahmed Al-Ahmar; Mohamed Ramadan; Mohamed Ali; Sam Sami; Ali Hisham; Karim Ayman; Mohamed Mohsen; Mohamed Yehia; Hisham Bassem Al-Sabki; Mohamed Alaa Luka; Mostafa Tamer; Akram Yousri; Mostafa El Sayed; Yehia Khaled; Hisham Shedid; Hazem Mamdouh; Hassan Ahmed; Khalid Walid and Mahmoud Helil.
The Zamalek delegation, headed by Hani Zadeh, will arrive in Cairo on Tuesday, as representatives of the Zamalek’s board of directors, and hundreds of fans will receive them at the airport.
