Brazil won the 2018 Women’s South and Central American Championship title yesterday with four wins from four, after they defeated Argentina 24:19 in the final match at the SESI Arena in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil.
The result meant they ended on eight points, having scored 131 goals and conceding just 54 (+77 goal difference). Argentina finished runners-up with six points, scoring 108 goals and conceding 92.
"After we opened an advantage, I saw that the girls were excited about the heat of the fans and that got in the way a bit", said Brazil coach Jorge Duenas about the match against Argentina to the Brazilian Handball Federation website. “It was a great test for Pan-American championships next year and for Japan 2019.”
Thanks to Uruguay’s 27:26 defeat of Paraguay in the other match yesterday, Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay all ended on two points after each having won a solitary game.
Therefore, the final ranking went down to a mini-league between all three sides, won by Paraguay thanks to an overall goal difference of +6. Chile finished in fourth, with a goal difference of -2 and Uruguay in bottom spot, with -4.
Mariana Costa (BRA) ended as the tournament top-scorer with 25 goals in four games, narrowly beating Martina Barreiro Guerra (URU) into second place, with 24 goals and Maria Paula Fernandez Estigarribia (PAR) with 23 strikes.
Final Ranking
1 – Brazil
2 – Argentina
3 – Paraguay
4 – Chile
5 – Uruguay
Match Results
Thursday 29 November
ARG vs PAR 28:26 (16:16)
CHI vs URU 24:19 (13:9)
Friday 30 November
CHI vs PAR 21:28 (9:12)
BRA vs URU 28:9 (11:3)
Saturday 1 December
URU vs ARG 25:31 (10:16)
BRA vs CHI 39:9 (17:6)
Sunday 2 December
Rest Day
Monday 3 December
ARG vs CHI 30:17 (12:8)
BRA vs PAR 40:17 (18:7)
Tuesday 4 December
PAR vs URU 26:27 (12:11)
BRA vs ARG 24:19 (15:10)