Sitting down to speak with Argentina’s most experienced beach handball player, Luciana Scordamaglia, at The World Games Athletes’ Village just a stones throw away from Chengdu’s Tianfu airport, was a moment to take in all what The World Games is all about.

One moment the Austrian fistball team walks past, the next Great Britain gymnastics and Japan’s lifesaving side. Then, some familiar faces – the Brazilian men’s beach handball team, some of whom know members of the Brazilian orienteering team who are also walking somewhere.

A truly global event full of a variety of sports.

And Scordamaglia knows all about the atmosphere in the athletes’ village at The World Games – she has been at all three of them that the Argentina women’s team have been at so far: Wroclaw 2017, Birmingham 2022 and now Chengdu 2025.

“The World Games is most similar to the Olympic Games. I enjoy being part of this and I live this absolutely,” says Scordamaglia in Spanish, translated by her coach Leticia Brunati. “It’s important to enjoy The World Games and interact with other athletes and sports, but important you don’t lose your focus in what we come to do.”

What they have come to do is win and with silver in 2017 and bronze in 2022, if they do, it will complete their The World Games medal collection.

“My best memory of The World Games was to get to the final in 2017,” says the 31-year-old about their 2-0 loss to neighbours Brazil eight years ago in Poland. 

“We believed that we could achieve the final, but first we tried to pass the quarter-finals. We knew it would be difficult, but not impossible. It was amazing. It was the final that we always wanted to get to. But it was our first final and we had a lot of feelings around it.

“For Birmingham 2022 we went with a different mentality and it showed that all our hard work had an achievement – a medal, but 2017 was incredible for us and for also growing and the development of the beach handball in Argentina.”

That development of beach handball back in 2017 continued the following year, with gold in the women’s beach handball competition in front of their home fans at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

A quartet of those young Olympic winners from seven years ago – Lucila Balsas, Fiorella Corimberto, Zoe Turnes and Gisella Bonomi – are in the squad of 10 at Chengdu 2025, in addition to Brunati, who was then the youth team head coach.

And Scordamaglia is quick to highlight the work of the younger generation and coach Brunati in the development of the sport which has seen Argentina now overtake Brazil as the continent’s pre-eminent women’s beach handball team.

“Buenos Aires 2018 helped a lot to the people in Argentina to get to know the sport and the girls who played in Buenos Aires helped to grow the sport a lot in Argentina,” she explained.

“’Leti’ has helped me a lot, she is very important. She was assistant coach in 2017 and has achieved the transformation of beach handball in Argentina. She made us look for more goals in the future and taught us all to have another vision of the sport.”

That sport was first discovered by Scordamaglia back in 2015 when she was playing in the junior indoor national team. After being told that she would likely not make the step up to the senior team the following year, the Argentina Handball Confederation gave her the option to continue representing her country, but on the sand.

“It was 2016 and I had not played before. The sport was completely new for me, so it was tough,” she said.

“My first tournament was in Venezuela at the PanAmerican Beach Games (Argentina won silver in April 2016) and then a few months later we had the IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Budapest and I felt much better (Argentina finished seventh).

“I used to play in the centre when I started, but always in defence. A long time has passed since then – I cannot believe it has been 10 years. It’s been a long time and I am happy for these steps.

“I believe I have a lot to give to the team and can also help with the development of beach handball in Argentina and around the world – I watch how Argentina are growing year after year. I don’t think about retiring but the day I think that I can’t do it anymore, or give anything to the team, I will quit.

Scordamaglia has been there for Argentina’s journey to the top of the beach handball global elite, part of the squad which finished second at the 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in China last year.

And the passion she has for her sport, her country and her teammates is evident in any language – her face full of happiness when asking about what her beach handball career has meant to her and the sheer joy, happiness and camaraderie that her Argentina team have around The World Games Athlete’s Village. 

One such moment involved the South American team getting new Croatian men’s debutants to dance the tango with them at lunch and sing a Croatian song in front of the whole dining hall as their initiation.

“The most important, the most emotional, thing is representing my country. I feel much emotion, much adrenaline when I see the flag, hear the national anthem and see our shirts,” said the player who will move to Italy this coming indoor season to play.

“I had to leave a lot of things and had a job to support my training but I always do everything with love to the shirt and its colours. Wherever we play it’s important to show us, Argentina. We show to the others, what we really are; we are happy, we have friendship, with each other and our companions – that is very important, because when we do that, we feel full of energy, for us and for everyone else.”

And following her side’s opening 2-0 win against Portugal at Chengdu 2025, Scordamaglia had the ultimate honour – being a flag bearer for her country at The World Games Opening Ceremony, representing her country on a global level in a different way.

“Having the opportunity to be the flag bearer at such an important tournament like The World Games fills my heart with pride and emotion,” said the defender. “After so many years of sacrifice defending this flag, being able to represent my country and carry the flag in my hands on this occasion was a true honour and one for which I’ll always be grateful. I will carry it with me forever.”

And finally, the big question – especially in front of her coach. What can Argentina achieve at Chengdu 2025?

“Any team can win the tournament, but we have confidence in ourselves,” she says. “I have my The World Games medals in my house in my box; a silver and bronze. The next one, I hope, is gold.”

Head coach Leticia Brunati on Luciana:
“She's a very good person, kind with her teammates and the team. She is one of the players with the most experience and is our ‘saviour’ in the team.

“She helps me as a coach; sometimes she says to me ‘hey Leti, we have to do this, do that’. She has a lot of feelings that she feels playing inside the court and talks with me about that, about the other team and their players and about how to play. She's very important in the team.”

Captain Gisella Bonomi on Luciana:
“It gives me goosebumps talking about her. She is one of our most valuable players because of her experience – Chengdu 2025 is her third time in The World Games.

“She really lights us up in moments where we can't see clearly; she gives us that. She's really inspiring. It's really important for us to have her.”


Credit photo: Cover photo: Xinhua/Du Zixuan; Main photo: CAH