Photo: Archivo/Granma

Havana, April 26 (RHC)-- Cuba's men's handball team won its second victory on Wednesday at the World Championship for emerging countries in Varna, Bulgaria, and is heading towards the title of the universal championship.

After their first success over the United Kingdom, obtained the day before 32-28, the Cubans easily beat their opponents from Guatemala 27-17.

According to experts, both victories are indicative of the Cubans' intentions to challenge for the tournament crown.

From the offensive point of view, Hanser Rodriguez once again stood out with seven more goals and when adding those of the initial match, he totaled 14, to lead the Cuban team and the leadership in that department.

This victory catapults Cuba to the semifinals, which will be held next Friday.

The competition conceived for handball players under 24 years of age reaches its fourth edition preceded by the three previous competitions held in (Kosovo 2015), (Bulgaria 2017) and Georgia (2019).

The president of the Cuban Handball Federation and its national commissioner, Franklin Guevara, declared via internet to Prensa Latina news agency about the intention of the team to aspire to the gold medal, after the outstanding performance achieved in the event in Georgia when the golden medal was achieved.

For his part, the team's technical director, Jover Hernández, expressed his satisfaction for the victory and the performance of his disciples in the opening match.

The competition arose at the request of the World Handball Federation with the aim of involving those nations that do not make up the elite of the discipline and thus provide a possibility of development to emerging countries.

In 2019, Cuba disputed the title against the Georgian hosts with a score of 21-31 goals, but this praiseworthy performance allowed the Antilleans to increase their competitive level and increase the number of athletes inserted in foreign European clubs mainly.