The Nigeria under-24 male handball team lost to the host Bulgaria on Wednesday to open the IHF Emerging Nations Championship.
The team under Coach Solomon Yola was aware that beating Bulgaria would be a monumental challenge, but they were still ready to pull off an upset. Unfortunately, they ran into a brick wall in the opening period, which resulted in a 13-11 victory for the home team.
Nigeria’s improved performance in the second half didn’t go as planned as Bulgaria, who had the support of the home crowd at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, ended strong to win the game 23-19.
Nigeria will now play Azerbaijan today at 5pm. Azerbaijan had also fallen to Bulgaria 30-19 in their opening game.