Chile return for their second, successive four-a-side IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship hoping to at least repeat their fourth-placed finish at Egypt 2022.

Two years ago, Chile had a mixed preliminary round, winning two and losing three – against Netherlands (0-2), India (2-0), Egypt (0-2), Slovenia (2-0) and Brazil (0-2) – but this was enough to secure a bronze medal play-off against Slovenia.

However, the Europeans proved too strong the second time around as Chile could not make the podium, losing 0-2.

Two years later, the format, venue and coach – William Andrade Menezes – are all the same for the South American side, but the team has undergone a big change with just four players from 2022 named in the 2024 squad.

The Vikingos Adaptado pair of Juan Carlos Pena and Jonathan Veas return to national team action where they are joined by DACh’s Luz Maria Carrasco and Cruz del Sur’s 21-year-old, Angel Hernandez. In addition, Catalina Jimeno Arroyo, who was part of the playing staff at Egypt 2022, is now assistant coach.

At Egypt 2024, Chile find themselves amongst familiar teams in Preliminary Group B, facing India and Egypt again, plus a debut clash against Portugal.

“Ours is a strong group with very different styles of play which promise to generate great interactions between the national teams,” said coach Andrade Menezes to ihf.info ahead of the championship.

“Two years ago, we had the opportunity to play against India and Egypt, so we have material to study them, but Portugal, who have a lot of competitive experience in the six-a-side game – where they are world and European champions – are new to the four-a-side game.

“It’s a good opportunity to study, participate and contribute to the development of full-performance Wheelchair Handball at a world level,” he added. “We hope that there will be a high level of competition, but we are working to be among the four finalists of the competition like in 2022 – we firmly trust in the team we formed to represent Chile in the best way.”

Those tasked with progressing Wheelchair Handball in Chile continue to develop their work plan, initially started in 2023, with a new period (2025-2028) planned to include the introduction of a mixed four-a-side national league across the northern, central and southern zones of the country, leading to a national final. In addition, a mixed six-a-side national championship, two women’s four-a-side competitions a year and mixed youth training programmes are also under discussion.

Away from the playing side, training courses for referees, coaches and functional classifiers at national level are planned to be held with the entire goal of all the work leading to future expectations of Chile appearing in international competitions and the competitions themselves being hosted by the South American country.

“In Chile, we began to practice Wheelchair Handball in 2008 and have participated in South American, Pan American and global competitions,” explained Jimeno Arroyo, who is also President of the Chilean Sports Federation of Wheelchair Handball, to ihf.info.

“Currently there are 12 mixed national teams and five women's teams competing in the northern, central and southern zones of the country so therefore it is important to represent Chile at an international level because it allows us to strengthen and encourage the development of our sport at a national level and promote development in our south-central zone.

“Furthermore, competing at the highest, global level gives us the possibility to compete with the best international teams, learn and share experiences.”

Coach: William ANDRADE MENEZES

Previous appearances: 2022 (4-a-side): DNQ, 2022 (6-a-side): DNQ

Preliminary Group at Egypt 2024: Group B – India, Chile, Portugal, Egypt