Hosts Colombia (COL) continued on their winning path to book a place in the semi-finals of the IHF South and Central American Emerging Nations Championship with a dominant 45:17 win over Honduras at the Pavilion Blanco in Palmira.

Colombia actually went behind first, 1:0, but by the seventh minute they had opened up a 6:2 lead and at the break it was an 11-goal lead as the first period finished in favour of the hosts 20:9. In the end Honduras could not cope with the firepower of the Colombians, who ended with an impressive 80% scoring ratio with Santiago Bedoya Rivera top-scoring with 14 strikes.

In the other last eight matches, Paraguay beat Costa Rica 33:22 with Diego Melgarejo and Guillermo Benitez top-scoring with seven each. Guatemala just about overcame French Guiana 28:26 as Edwin Josue Martinez grabbed 12 goals and in the tightest quarter-final, Peru staged an incredible comeback as they came back from a two-goal deficit in the last five minutes to win 32:21 – which had come after they saw their third quarter lead of 25:20, switch to a 27:25 deficit after Ecuador staged a 7:0 unanswered run.

The first match of the 9-11 Placement Round also took place with El Salvador beating Bolivia 33:29.

The semi-finals will take place tomorrow (Saturday 27 October).

Quarter-Finals

GUF vs GUA 26:28 (12:15)

ECU vs PER 31:32 (15:15)

COL vs HON 45:17 (20:9)

CRC vs PAR 22:33 (8:13

Placement Round 9-11

ESA vs BOL 33:29 (13:13)