Costa Rica win SCAHC Men’s Central American tournament

16 Nov. 2021

Costa Rica win SCAHC Men’s Central American tournament

Costa Rica have won the SCAHC Central American Qualification tournament for the 2022 Men’s South and Central American Championship after beating both El Salvador and hosts Honduras at Polideportivo UPNFM in Tegucigalpa.

As well as the regional honour and title, Costa Rica have now qualified for the 2022 SCAHC Men’s Championship in Recife, Brazil next year, where SCAHC continental qualification places for the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship in Poland and Sweden will be up for grabs.

The round-robin tournament in Tegucigalpa saw the Costa Ricans defeat both El Salvador and Honduras comfortably, with Justin Gutierrez (10 goals) and Freddy Vargas (8) top-scoring in their victories against El Salvador (35:23 and Honduras (44:27), respectively. 

Both Honduras home games were played in front of the maximum-allowed 150 spectators after the “…incidence rate of positive cases of COVID-19 decreased in the last month within Honduran territory,” according to a statement from the Honduras Handball Federation released before the tournament.

The top three scorers in Tegucigalpa were Espinoza (14 goals in two games) along with Gutierrez and Vargas (both 13).

Results

Thursday 11 November
El Salvador vs Honduras 25:19 (11:8)

Friday 12 November
Costa Rica vs El Salvador 35:23 (18:15)

Saturday 13 November
Honduras vs Costa Rica 27:44 (12:19)

Final ranking

1. Costa Rica – 4 points
2. El Salvador – 2
3. Honduras – 0 

Photo: Honduras Handball Federation