Zimbabwe Under-20 men's handball team manager Mthulisi Mvubu has blamed lack of preparations as their major downfall after a disappointing show at the just-ended International Handball Federation Trophy Africa in Ethiopia.
The event featured junior (Under-20) and youth (Under-18) teams from different countries.
Zimbabwe, who secured their ticket in the junior section after being crowned champions for Zone VI in May failed to match their counterparts at the continental phase.
They returned home empty-handed, after losing all their matches in a competition played in a round-robin format.
They lost 26-36 to Reunion in their first encounter. They were defeated 15-62 by Congo before going down 23-55 to Rwanda.
They wrapped up their participation with another loss when losing 31-52 to Guinea.
"The inadequate preparations had a huge impact on the team. The boys were not physically fit for the tournament, and also mentally they were not yet ready for the tournament.
"The teams that we were participating against had been in camp I guess for more than a month, so our boys were only in camp for three days and within those three days, we could not manage to work on all the aspects that we needed to, the strength, the endurance, the tactics and psychological part of the game.
"We did not have enough time to deal with that," said Mvubu.
Zimbabwe Handball Federation struggled to raise funds for the team's camp, which saw the side holding a few periodic camps and relying more on individual training programmes.
The technical team had recommended a longer camp ahead of the team's departure to Addis Ababa, but the team regrouped for less than a week.
While coach Tafadzwa Madure had hoped for a better outcome, it was always going to be tough considering the circumstances surrounding the preparations.
The outcome from this year's edition was a repetition of last year when the Under-20 side returned home without a single win from the same competition.
"I think the main challenge is each and every year we are bringing in new players, going to this kind of competition for the first time whilst other countries they bring people who have been there for the previous competition. So, they know the kind of competition they will be facing.
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"So as long as we are going to continue bringing in new players each and every edition that we qualify for continental phase, we shall continue getting those kinds of situations," said Madure.
Madure hopes the players can build on the experience as they return to their clubs with the likes of Munyaradzi Mhlanga having had some outstanding moments.
Mhlanga walked away with the player of the match from their last game against Guinea.
"Handball is a sport that evolves . . . So with us appearing at this kind of tournament, I think for the boys it's an advantage to them when they go back to their respective clubs or school.
"It's very fortunate for them that they managed to go for this tournament," said Madure. Rwanda were crowned champions in the junior competition and Nigeria won the youth title.
Six teams competed in the youth category -- Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Ethiopia, Zambia and Madagascar.
The winners booked their tickets to the Men's IHF Trophy Intercontinental Phase.
