Brazil claimed their 12th consecutive trophy at the Pan American Women’s Youth Handball Championship with a perfect winning run through the four-day competition in Buenos Aires. The team finished the round-robin tournament with five victories and the maximum 10 points, thereby ranking on top and claiming one of the continent’s three available places at the Youth World Championship in Poland this August.

 

The remaining two tickets to the Youth World Championship went to Chile and Argentina, who ranked second and third, respectively. It is the first time Chile won the silver medal at the Pan American Women’s Youth Championship, and is only the second time they celebrated a medal, after claiming bronze in 2003.

 

Brazil began their campaign with what was perhaps their most important victory, defeating Chile 26:23 on the opening day of the competition – a win that later proved vital in deciding the title. They went on to beat Uruguay 35:15, Peru 48:12, Argentina 21:16 and finally Paraguay 31:23. Chile recorded four victories: 26:22 versus Paraguay, 27:13 against Uruguay, 49:14 over Peru and Argentina 20:11, the latter of which determined second place overall in an exciting ‘final’ on the last playing day. Argentina claimed third thanks to a 20:18 win versus Uruguay, a 53:13 victory over Peru and a close 18:17 result against Paraguay.

 

Uruguay recorded two wins, against the two lowest-ranked sides, to secure fourth, while Paraguay’s clear victory against Peru on the opening day of the Pan American Championship meant they placed fifth ahead of Peru.

 

Second Youth World Championship for Chile

 

Brazil, Chile and Argentina will represent the continent at the Youth World Championship this summer. The same three nations travelled to the previous Youth World Championship, in Slovakia, where Brazil ranked 12th, Argentina finished 18th and Chile placed 22nd. The 2015 Championship marked Chile’s debut on the world stage in this age category.

 

The best result for a Pan American team at the Women’s Youth World Championship was the seventh place achieved by Brazil in 2014 in FYR Macedonia.

 

More information can be found on the Argentinian Handball Federation website.

 

Photo: Argentinian Handball Federation