A three-day tournament hosted by the Brazilian city of Taubaté, helped the South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) decide its representative for the 2021 IHF Men’s Super Globe, which will be hosted in Saudi Arabia between 5 and 9 October.

With three Brazilian sides, HC Taubaté, EC Pinheiros and Nacional, and one from Paraguay, Olimpia, the hosts were overwhelming favourites, but everything was decided in the last match of the tournament, between Taubaté and Pinheiros.

On the first day of the tournament, 24 August, Pinheiros took a 36:17 win against Olimpia, while Taubaté had little trouble against national rivals Nacional, taking a 30:20 win.

The favourites continued their march on the second day of the tournament, 25 August, with Taubaté steamrolling Olimpia 45:21, while Pinheiros took a 43:32 win against Nacional.

A draw would have been enough to proceed to the 2021 IHF Men’s Super Globe for Taubaté, the team that had represented the SCAHC in the last two editions of the competitions.

However, Pinheiros started the game better and took a narrow 13:12 lead at the break. Despite Taubaté’s superior experience, Pinheiros stayed true to their course and shocked the favourites with a 27:26 win, registering a superb win on Taubaté’s home court.

Pinheiros’ last presence at the IHF Men’s Super Globe came in 2017, when they lost against Füchse Berlin 31:33 in the quarter-finals, taking the fifth place after a 32:26 win against Sydney and a 32:29 win against Tunisian side Espérance Sportive de Tunis.

Olimpia’s Guilherme Fernandes was the top scorer of the competition, with 17 goals, despite his team scoring the lowest number of goals in the competition, 64.

Pinheiros’ Caue Ceccon Baptista scored 14 goals, as many as Taubaté’s Leandro Alves Monte de Silva.

South and Central America Club Championship results:

EC Pinheiros vs Club Atletico Olimpia 36:17
HC Taubaté vs Nacional HC 30:20

Club Atletico Olimpia vs HC Taubaté 21:45
Nacional HC vs EC Pinheiros 32:43

Nacional HC vs Club Atletico Olimpia 31:26
HC Taubaté vs EC Pinheiros 26:27

EC Pinheiros join reigning IHF Men’s Super Globe reigning champions Barça, two clubs representing the host country – Alwehda and Alnour –, EHF Champions League Men finalists Aalborg Håndbold, Qatar’s Al Duhail, and wild card team SC Magdeburg at the 2021 event in Saudi Arabia.

For more information about the tournament, visit the South and Central America Handball Confederation Facebook page.

Photo: @ruasmídia / EC Pinheiros