ResultsGroup AKIE 31-27 Etoile de l’ Est Etoile de la Salle 20-17 Etoile de l’EstKIE 21-18 Etoile de la SalleGroup BKigoma 21-17 NUR Kigoma 22-13 St. AloysNUR 17-9 St. Aloys ETOILE secondary Kigoma lifted this year’s Labour Day handball title after thrashing Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) 33-23 in the men’s final played on Saturday in Ngoma district, Eastern Province.Having dominated the Group A preliminary games against Etoile de la Salle 20-17 and Etoile de L’est 31-27, KIE qualified for the finals where they met the strong Kigoma side that had earlier on seen off NUR 21-17 and St. Aloys Rwamagana 17-9.Inspired by Shaffy Niyonkuru, the eventual tournament top scorer with 21 goals, Kigoma made light work of the university side by finding the net 33 times in the final to claim victory.KIE’s Jean Claude Uwamahirwe was crowned co-top scorer alongside Niyonkuru at the one-day event that attracted six teams from across the country.An impressive display of handball skills on both offense and defense saw 16 year-old Jean Paul Ndayizeye crowned the ‘young player of the tournament’ and was awarded with a handball from the governing handball body-Ferwahand.Meanwhile, for the first time in the history of Rwandan handball, a female referee Gisele Kazuwitonze officiated at the tournament and thanks to a referee course last week, the latter will now officiate in other upcoming tournaments.
