Brazil have won both the men’s and women’s competitions at Stage 1 of the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT) in Maricá, Brazil.

The third season of the BHGT got underway last week, before concluding on Sunday with wins for both home teams in their respective finals – a repeat of the 2023 men’s and women’s.

In total, 40 matches were played in the Brazilian city based in Rio de Janeiro state – 20 in the women’s competition and 20 in the men’s.

Hosts Brazil, along with Argentina, United States of America and Uruguay fielded both men’s and women’s teams with Germany and Qatar competing in the men’s event in addition to Portugal and Puerto Rico in the women’s event.

Brazil defeat Argentina in women’s final for second year running

Hosts Brazil won their home stage for the second year running, with seven straight wins on their way to top spot in the women’s competition. However, unlike 2023 when they won all six games 2-0, they were taken to shoot-outs twice.

 

 

 

 

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Beatriz Cruz was in scintillating form for Brazil, scoring 18 points in their opening 2-0 (24:4, 14:12) win over Puerto Rico before following it up with 20 in their second game, a 2-0 (18:10, 24:14) win over Uruguay. 

A third 2-0 win, over the USA (24:4, 26:2) came soon after with the North America nation fielding a team of new players looking to gain valuable international experience as they to widen and deepen their talent pool.

In the last two preliminary games for Brazil both went to shoot-outs. After Portugal took a tight first set, but then missed their first three shots in the shoot-out, the home side ensured a 2-1 (24:25, 19:10, SO 7:4) victory, and it what would be a forerunner of the final, shoot-out misses from Maria Gallo and Zoe Turnes saw Argentina lose to their neighbours 1-2 (12:14, 24:16, SO 6:9).

Portugal lost two other games by shoot-out in the initial stage of competition, against Argentina (6:4) and Uruguay (9:2), with the Europeans missing their first three shots against Argentina and four of their five against Uruguay.

By the end of the round-robin, Brazil topped the group on 10 points with five wins from five, Argentina finished second (8 points, 4 wins), Uruguay (3/2), Portugal (2/4), Puerto Rico (1/2) and USA (0/0)

Both semi-finals were one-sided, with Argentina seeing off Uruguay 2-0 (30:18, 20:18) and Brazil taking down Portugal 2-0 (24:12, 26:18) in front of 1,400 spectators.

Despite 14 points from Theresa Mapp, the USA could not overcome Puerto Rico in the fifth place play-off, losing in a tight game 0-2 (14:16, 14:15). Uruguay recovered quicker from their last four defeat, claiming bronze with a 2-0 (18:16, 17:14) victory over Portugal and in the final, Beatriz Cruz delivered again for the home side, scoring 12 points in a 2-0 (20:14, 19:17) victory.

Host nation men join women on top of podium

Just like their women’s side, the Brazilian men won all seven of their games on their way to defending their 2023 stage win and they did it with six 2-0 wins, being taken to shoot-out only once.

In the preliminary round-robin stage, the hosts started with three 2-0 wins in a row – against the USA (18:10, 24:12), Argentina (18:14, 23:20) and Uruguay (18:12, 20:8) – but Germany proved a tougher test in their fourth match, winning the first set, before missing three times in the shoot-out as Brazil won 2-1 (16:19, 16:14, SO 7:4) thanks to 12 points from Nailson Amaral, who returned to national team action after missing for the past few seasons. They concluded their preliminary round campaign with an easier-than-expected 2-0 (20:14, 18:8) victory over Asian champions Qatar.

Qatar finished third in the group on six points, with three wins from five, starting with a tough test in their opener, against Argentina, eventually won 2-1 (16:18, 17:16, SO 9:6) after the South Americans missed two shots in the shoot-out. Hani Kakhi top-scored for Qatar on 14 points.

But Germany proved too much for Qatar in their second game, the European side taking a 2-0 victory on their way to second place in the group (eight points, four wins from five), which included a 9:8 shoot-out win over Argentina.

Argentina joined Uruguay and the USA on two points with all teams winning one game each, the USA impressing with an 8:2 shoot-out win against Uruguay. With teams beating each other, it meant a mini-group and eventually goal difference pushed the United States into sixth spot, Uruguay into fifth and Argentina into fourth, and with it, the last semi-final spot.

Juan Sanchez’s 14 points secured a 2-0 (18:14, 19:14) win for Uruguay to claim fifth, ahead of the first semi-final between Germany and Qatar, which went to shoot-out and eventual 7-4 win for the Europeans, who had Tim Krauth’s 18 points in the game to be thankful for.

Amaral did four better, scoring 22 points for his Brazil side in their semi-final against Argentina, winning for the second time, 2-0 (23:16, 29:16). Argentina regrouped to win bronze, despite 18 points from Qatar’s Amir Denguir, ensuring a podium spot with a 2-0 (13:12, 21:16) victory.

And in the final match of the stage, over 1,000 fans went home happy as Amaral (12 points) and Renan Carvalho (13) joined forces to dispatch Germany 2-0 (19:16, 16:10) and claim gold for the home team.

All matches can be watched again on the IHF YouTube Competitions channel.

RANKINGS

Women’s Competition
1 Brazil (BRA)
2 Argentina (ARG)
3 Uruguay (URU)
4 Portugal (POR)
5 Puerto Rico (PUR)
6 United States of America (USA)

Men’s Competition
1 Brazil (BRA)
2 Germany (GER)
3 Argentina (ARG)
4 Qatar (QAT)
5 Uruguay (URU)
6 United States of America (USA)

RESULTS

Women’s Competition

Preliminary Group:
BRA-PUR 2-0 (24:4, 14:12)
ARG-URU 2-0 (18:10, 24:11)
POR-USA 2-0 (18:6, 28:2)
ARG-POR 2-1 (16:19, 20:14, SO 6:4)
PUR-USA 2-0 (19:8, 18:2)
URU-BRA 0-2 (10:18, 14:24)
BRA-USA 2-0 (24:4, 26:2)
URU-POR 2-1 (15:10, 13:16, SO 9:2)
PUR-ARG 0-2 (2:26, 8:11)
URU-PUR 2-0 (12:10, 18:8)
USA-ARG 0-2 (4:26, 4:30)
BRA-POR 2-1 (24:25, 19:10, SO 7:4)
USA-URU 0-2 (6:16, 8:26)
ARG-BRA 1-2 (12:14, 24:16, SO 6:9)
POR-PUR 2-0 (16:4, 16:15)

5/6 Placement Match: PUR-USA 2-0 (16:14, 15:14)
Semi-Final 1: ARG-URU 2-0 (30:18, 20:18)
Semi-Final 2: BRA-POR 2-0 (24:12, 26:18)
Bronze: URU-POR 2-0 (18:16, 17:14)
Final: ARG-BRA 0-2 (14:20, 17:19)

Men’s Competition

Preliminary Group:
BRA-USA 2-0 (18:10, 24:12)
QAT-ARG 2-1 (16:18, 17:16, SO 9:6)
GER-URU 2-0 (21:18, 18:4)
QAT-GER 0-2 (16:17, 18:24)
USA-URU 2-1 (11:10, 20:22, SO 8:2)
ARG-BRA 0-2 (14:18, 20:23)
BRA-URU 2-0 (18:12, 20:8)
ARG-GER 1-2 (20:18, 18:23, SO 8:9)
USA-QAT 0-2 (22:28, 14:19)
ARG-USA 2-0 (16:14, 14:13)
URU-QAT 0-2 (14:17, 16:19)
BRA-GER 2-1 (16:19, 16:14, SO 7:4)
URU-ARG 2-1 (8:16, 17;16, SO 7:6)
QAT-BRA 0-2 (14:20, 8:18)
GER-USA 2-0 (24:18, 28:20)

5/6 Placement Match: URU-USA 2-0 (18:14, 19:14)
Semi-Final 1: GER-QAT 2-1 (16:17, 22:12, SO 7:4)
Semi-Final 2: BRA-ARG 2-0 (23:16, 29:16)
Bronze: QAT-ARG 0-2 (12:13, 16:21)
Final: GER-BRA 0-2 (16:19, 10:16)

About the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour
The first edition of the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour consisted of one stage, held in 2022 in Gdansk, Poland with Croatia’s men and Spain’s women aking the top spots.

A total of 28 teams from 19 nations competed across four stages for the second edition of the tour, the 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour, which visited Brazil, Tunisia and Poland before the Finals in Doha, Qatar. Qatar’s men and Brazil’s women took the overall titles.

The third edition of the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour threw-off in May 2024 with Stage 1 in Maricá, Brazil and featured teams from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, United States of America and Uruguay. Brazil won both the men’s and women’s events.

Photo: Bruno Ruas / CBHb Praia