Nigeria Under 18 Women handball team on Wednesday lost their first match against Croatia 11-31 at the ongoing 2024 International Handball Federation Championship in Chuzhou, China.
The Nigerian girls, who could not match up their opponent, trailed their Croatian counterparts by 16:6 at the break.
It was Croatian Lucija Renić who led the onslaught putting nine goals past Nigeria in the group B encounter.
The Nigerian girls who had more shots against Croatia could not score more than five goals.
The Croatians showed that they were a better side all through, with a 66 per cent productivity rate against the 42 per cent of the Nigerian side.
Nigeria had a total of 52 shots as against Croatia`s 47 shots.
Nigeria will meet Montenegro on Thursday in their second match.
Nigeria is grouped in group B alongside Croatia, Montenegro and Angola.
Nigeria will also face Angola in their last group match on Saturday.
The 2024 IHF Women’s Under 18 Handball World Championship is the 10th edition of the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship.
The championship which started on August 14 is expected to end on August 25 in Chuzhou, China.
