Heating up in Brazil as semi-finals are approaching

The second South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) Men’s Championship is underway in Recife, Brazil with the preliminary round ending today (27 January). 

After two days of action, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina are unbeaten and have already booked their places in the semi-finals, thanks to their top two confirmed finish in their respective preliminary groups.

With their final ranking among the top four confirmed, they have also grabbed the four qualification spots on offer for the 28th IHF Men’s World Championship, set to be held in Poland and Sweden in January 2023.

In Group A, Mateo Garralda’s Chile side beat championship debutants Costa Rica (34:16) and then, thanks to 11 Erwin Feuchtmann goals, defeated Paraguay 43:25. Brazil dispatched both Paraguay (46:19) and Costa Rica (49:13), with Fabio Chiuffa getting to double figures against the Costa Ricans, scoring 10 times. However, it is his teammate Rudolph Hackbarth who leads the championship scoring so far, with 19 goals in their two games. Brazil play Chile today to decide the group winners.

Coached by Maria Caceres, Bolivia have just 10 available players and with it, two tough losses in Group B, but a best player award for goalkeeper Herbert Rosales in their clash against Uruguay highlights the potential of the team. 

Bolivia faced Argentina in their very first match with the title-holders being dominant, restricting them to just eight goals in total. After a day off, Argentina get back to action today against Uruguay to decide the top team in the group.

Colombia had been due to make their debut in the championship but had to cancel their appearance due to a number of COVID-19 cases within their squad during the preparation period before travelling to Brazil.

In addition to a number of SCAHC referees and delegates, including IHF officials, the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) referee pair of Amar Konjicanin and Dino Konjicanin are also in Recife.

All games can be watched on the ‘Fanatiz’ streaming platform, go to watch.fanatiz.com/register for more information. On TV, fans in Argentina can watch on DeporTV, those in Brazil can watch on Canal Olimpico do Brazil/N Sports and fans of Costa Rica catch the event on CRC.sport.

For more information on the championship, visit the official SCAHC Facebook page. 

Photos: South and Central America Handball Confederation