After the first two days of
competition at the 2018 Pan American Women’s Junior Championship, defending
title holders Brazil, 2016 runners-up Argentina and 2016 bronze medallists
Chile are on the road to claiming the three places available for the continent
at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship. All three sides opened their
campaigns at the tournament in Goiana, Brazil with two victories.
The Pan American Women’s Junior
Championship began on March 21, with Chile the first to collect a win, as they
defeated Uruguay 33:20. Argentina followed with a decisive victory over
Dominican Republic, 38:19, before Brazil took a convincing 30:22 victory
against Paraguay. While Chile and Argentina’s wins were fairly one-sided,
Brazil found themselves level, 12:12, versus Paraguay at half-time and relied
on a stand-out performance from goalkeeper Renata Arruda to secure the win.
On day two of competition, Chile
recorded a second victory, 39:19 against Dominican Republic. Argentina faced a
tough challenge from Paraguay, winning by a one-goal margin at 26:25, before
Brazil claimed a 26:15 victory versus Uruguay.
“Our debut was nervous, but today
we were quieter. We studied the team a lot and we were ready for everything
they had to offer us,” said Brazil’s Iasmim Albuquerque. “The format of this
short competition makes every game a final.”
Three days of round-robin matches
remain, at the end of which the best-ranked team will be crowned champion and
the top three sides will book their places at the 2018 IHF Women’s Junior World
Championship in Hungary in July. Matches will be streamed live on the Goiana
Handball Federation’s Facebook
page.
More information on the
competition can be found Brazil Handball Federation’s official website.
Photo: Brazil Handball Federation
You can find all results by clicking on the link below.