The PanAm Games are on! | Handball Planet
America

The PanAm Games are on!

Both Brazil and Argentina, title holders for women’s and men’s competition, have started their participation on these Pan American Games with convincing victories over Puerto Rico and Cuba respectively.

The women’s World Champions have come to Toronto with eleven of the players that were crowned in Serbia and have stormed past the Centro American team and finished with a final score of 38-21, after a tight first half that ended up with a five goal difference in favour to the conducted by Morten Soubak (15-10). The top scorers of the match were Fernanda Da Silva from Brazil and Nathalys Ceballos from Puerto Rico, who converted with seven goals. The greatest absences for Brazil are the current World Player of the Year EduardaAmorim, who’s still recovering from the knee injury she suffered last year, and the captain FabianaDiniz, who was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis on her left leg during the preparation for these PanAm Games.

On the other match from pool A of the tournament, the hosts Canada were unable to get a victory on the debut and lost to Mexico for 25-22. On group B, Argentina defeated Uruguay with a final score of 20-15 and Cuba took the three points after a very hard fought match against Chile. The final result was 28-25 for the islanders.

On the men´s competition, Argentina paved their way to a comfortable victory over Cuba for 35-18 and secured their first three points. “Our main goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games, and then we’ll try to get the gold just like in Guadalajara 2011”, stressed Argentinian coach Eduardo Gallardo after the match. Left wing Federico Fernández and right wing Federico Pizarro were top scorers of the match with eight goals each.

Chile worked hard to get a bulked victory over Puerto Rico for 33-23, on the other match from group B. In the morning shift, Brazil displayed all of their power against the home team and finished with a 34-17 win, while Uruguay suffered on the first half but managed to finish with a 33-23 victory.

This tournament is a qualifier for the Olympic Games and it is a chance for America to have two teams in the Olympic competition, as hosts Brazil are already qualified. Assuming that both Brazilian teams will make it into the final, the other finalist will take the only spot that is at stake for Rio 2016.

The competition continues today with the following matches:

Group A:

Canada-Brazil at 11:30*

Puerto Rico-Mexico at 13:30*

Group B:

Cuba-Argentina at 18:30*

Uruguay-Chile at 20:30*

The men´s second matches will be on Sunday, as follows:

Group A:

Uruguay-Brazil at 11:30*

Canada-Dominican Republic at 13:30*

Group B:
Puerto Rico-Argentina at 18:30*

Cuba-Chile at 20:30

*Local time

TEXT: LAURA AGENA

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