Paraguay and Argentina seal continental titles in Under-15 and Under-16 South and Central America Championships

Six men's teams and seven women's teams took part between 4 and 8 August in the South and Central America Under-16 Men's and Under-15 Women's Championships in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, with Argentina winning the men's title with a flawless run, while Paraguay's A team claimed continental gold in the women's competition.

Seven teams lined up in the female competition - Argentina, Uruguay and Chile in Group A, and Paraguay A, Paraguay B, Brazil and Peru in Group B, with the host federation fielding two teams – who played a round robin within their groups, before the top two in each progressed to the semi-finals, and the remaining sides played off for the minor placings.

Argentina won both their matches in Group A, beating Chile 36:15 before adding a 30:24 win over Uruguay to finish top, while Uruguay took second courtesy of a 26:20 win over Chile.

In Group B, Paraguay A went through their three matches unbeaten, opening with a 26:22 win over compatriots Paraguay B, following up with a commanding 52:28 win over Peru, and closing out the group with a 25:22 win over Brazil. Paraguay B secured second place, with wins over Brazil (20:18) and Peru (36:25) either side of their opening defeat to Paraguay A.

Paraguay A continued that form into the semi-finals, cruising past Uruguay, 35:19, while Argentina got past Paraguay B, 26:22, to set up an all South American final between the tournament's two group winners. Paraguay A completed their unbeaten run in the final, edging Argentina 27:24 to seal the continental title, with a 5:2 run between the 39th and the 45th minutes being decisive, taking the score from 19:19 to 24:21. Uruguay beat Paraguay B, 28:22, to take the bronze medal, with the hosts' second team finishing fourth.

The final standings were decided by a classification round involving the third and fourth-placed sides from the two groups, with Brazil beating Chile 25:15 and Peru beating Chile 20:24, results which, combined with Brazil's earlier 39:21 win over Peru in the group phase, saw Brazil finish fifth, Peru sixth and Chile seventh.

Paraguay A's Tiziana Devaca was the top scorer of the female competition, with 38 goals, followed by Argentina's Rebeca Lopes, with 23 goals, and Paraguay A's Nicole Parra, with 21 goals.

Six teams contested the male competition - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay - in a single round robin, with every side facing each other once across five matchdays.

Argentina delivered a flawless performance, opening with a clear 39:12 win over Peru, before adding a further win over Paraguay, 27:19. The tournament's decisive match came on matchday three, when Argentina met a Brazil side that had also started with two wins. Argentina led from start to finish, with Gonzalo Perznianko scoring eight goals, to seal a 28:24 win that proved to be the deciding result of the competition. Argentina closed out their campaign with further wins over Uruguay (31:18) and Chile (31:21), rounding off a perfect five wins from five.

Brazil finished second, their only defeat coming against Argentina, having also posted big wins over Uruguay (26:19), Peru (39:11), Chile (28:24) and Paraguay (38:23). Chile completed the podium in third, beating Paraguay (28:17), Uruguay (22:14) and Peru (25:18), against their two defeats to Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay finished fourth, Paraguay fifth, and Peru ended the competition winless in sixth place.

Chile's Tomas Lladser was the top scorer of the male competition, with 26 goals, followed by Paraguay's Alexander Velázquez, with 23 goals, and Argentina's Gonzalo Perznianko, with 22 goals.

Photo credit: Jorge Olmedo / SCA