The Québec elite programs recently took part in the Prague handball cup in the Czech Republic , 389 teams from 21 countries took part in this year's edition the 18th. Quebec entered the tournament with a men and women's team in the 1990-91 categories .
On the men's side , there were a total of 45 teams in the MA category. Quebec managed to finish second in group play with 2 wins, 2 ties and 1 loss. The lost, however, in the 2nd round to Ajax Copenhagen, the eventual tournament winner, 16-12. The players of coach Sébastien Allard had a great tournament and they made Quebec handball proud .
On the women's side it was an amazing tournament as the girls won their first 6 games, including a victory over Ajax Copenhagen, one of the top twelve teams in Denmark. In the second round they remained undefeated winning both games and moved on to the semi-finals. In the semi-final match they overcame a deficit of 6-1 to tie HBC Slavia Praha. Unfortunately, they lost the shootout. In the Bronze medal game they lost by a score of 14-12 to MHK Bytca from Slovakia. Coaches Jean-Simon Bourgault and Marc St-Laurent were amazed by the quality of play that the girls showed throughout the tournament.
Quebec handball is really proud of these young athletes and their coaches and they are looking forward to their participation in the Granollers cup in Spain and Partille cup in Sweden this summer.
Link to Prague Handball Cup Tournament: http://www.phc.cz/index.php?lang=en
(Submitted by Marc St-Laurent of Québec Handball)