Police Handball Club captain Jean Baptiste Habimana insists his side remains favorites to win the league title this season no matter the challenge come their way.

Police finished the first phase of the league, sitting second on the table standings with 28 points. They trail league leaders APR who moved two points clear at the summit after beating the law enforcers 26-25 in December 2024.

Teams have been given a two-week break after concluding the first phase over the weekend and, fresh from winning the Heroes Cup 2025 where they beat arch rivals APR HC 31-22 in the final, Habimana said that his team will make the best of the break to reorganise and come back stronger when the league resumes in a week’s time.

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"We need to be at our best to win the trophy because all teams are keen to impress like we saw in the past matches. However, I am confident that we are favourites because we have a good balance in our squad which has a mixture of experience and youthful energy,” Habimana told Times Sport.

APR handball club were crowned champions of the 2024 national handball league after defeating Police in 30-25 in decisive Game 3 to win the finals series 2-1.

Habimana, however, believes he and his teammates can change the story and overcome the army side, just like they did during the Heroes Cup tournament, to claim the title this season.

"We beat APR in the final of Heroes Cup, so we believe that we will be in the playoffs with a purpose of winning the title. We have ambitions this year that we must win the league title and we are able to do that because we have the ability to do so.”

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"We are pushing ourselves day by day and winning the Heroes Cup was a motivation for us. I believe, with the potential we have, we will challenge again for the title and try to win it and it is possible if we prepare well because we are hungry for the [league] title,” he added

APR will represent Rwanda at the 2024 African Handball Champions League.