Luanda — The Angolan national senior men's handball team on Monday beat Zambia by 53-24, in the match of the first round of group D of the 25th African Championship that is taking place in Egypt.

As favourites, the Angolan players imposed themselves from the beginning to the end of the game. At 15 minutes they were already winning 11-3 in the Hassan Mustafa Sports Hall pavilion.

By the end of the first half-time the Angolan squad were winning 24-11.

The second part of the match was only to manage the scoreboard by providing field time to younger players.

Also Monday for group D, Senegal will face DRC at 2 pm.

The Angolan team are scheduled to play Senegal on Tuesday at 4:30 pm.

Coached by José Pereira Kidó, the Angolan squad players are Geovani Muachissengue, Custódio Gouveia "Bana" e Ariel da Silva (goal keepers), Gabriel Teca, Jaroslav Aguiar e Aguinaldo Tati (pivots), Manuel Nascimento, Valdemiro Paulo (central), Ariel de Sousa e Adilson Maneco (side backcourt), Adelino Pestana "Amarelo", Feliciano Coveiro, Mário Tati, Declerk Sibo, Elias António e Edvaldo Ferreira "Moreno" (wingers).

The Angolan team ranked in fourth position in the last edition that was held in Tunisia, in January 2020.

In 17 participations since 1979, Angola have been on the podium three times, always winning bronze medals.

The goal set for Angola is to improve on the fourth position of the previous event, held in Tunisia.