The island of Pingtan in China is vibrating to the rhythm of the best men’s and women’s beach handball. The world competition, with the participation of Argentina and Brazil in both branches and Uruguay in the men’s category, had its first two days of action.
Here are the results of the competition. On the first day, the Brazilian women’s team got off to a perfect start, defeating Puerto Rico 2-0, with scores of 22:6 and 20:6. With this result, the green and yellow team scored its first points in the competition, seeking to improve the 6th place of its last participation in the World Cup.
The Kamikazes, for their part, also got off to a good start with a victory over Croatia in their fourth appearance at the global showpiece. With a solid game, the girls coached by Leticia Brunati obtained their first victory by 2-0, with a score of 24:14 and 26:16.
On the other hand, in the men’s division, Argentina started off on the right foot after beating Puerto Rico in a hard-fought match that ended 2-0 with a score of 16:10 in the first half and 16:12 in the second half.
Uruguay began its participation against Germany. In a balanced encounter, the Charrúas were unable to win and fell 2-0, with scores of 20:24 and 17:23.
Brazil did the same and was superior to Spain in shoot out. A dynamic and evenly matched confrontation took place at the end of the first day of the tournament. The first half belonged to Spain, with a 16:28 margin. In the second, the green and yellow team did not give in and by the minimum 19:18 took the match to a shoot out, winning 6-4.
On the second day, each team had two games during the day. The competition began with a 2-0 win for the Brazilians against Greece, with 16:10 and 12:7 scores, securing their place in the Main Round.
In the afternoon, they faced Germany in search of group leadership. The team coached by Vinícius Carlos de Oliveira, took control of the match from the Germans who had won the first set 20:24, and imposed their game from the second half winning 23:14 and getting the victory 7:4 in shoot out. With this result, the green and yellow team advances to the Main Round as leader of Group D and will face Norway on the third day of competition. Then it will be the turn to face the Netherlands and Denmark.
A similar case was that of the Kamikazes, who faced Vietnam to ensure their passage to the Main Round. Showing a solid game, the Argentines took the victory 2-0, with a score of 20:14 and 26:16 against the Asians.
During the afternoon session, the team coached by Leticia Brunati faced the current runners-up, Spain, for the top of Group B. In an exciting encounter, the first set was won by the Spanish team 15:18. In the second half, the Kamikazes managed to find spaces in the Spanish defense and equalize the score, taking the second set 21:20. The Kamikazes won the shoot out 10:8. With this result, the Albiceleste advances to the Main Round as group leader and will face China on Thursday. Then it will be the turn to face the Philippines and Portugal.
In the men’s division, day 2 began with Argentina’s 2-0 loss to Portugal with a score of 15:20 and 14:23.
Then, in the afternoon, the Albicelestes lost again to the defending champion, Croatia. Despite their efforts, they were unable to overcome the Croatians’ forcefulness and lost 2-0 with 16:20 and 12:19. With one win and two losses, the team coached by Sebastián Ferraro finished third in Group C and advanced to the Main Round where they will face Germany. Then they will face Qatar and the United States.
Uruguay, meanwhile, took on Qatar in search of their first points in the competition. In a well-balanced match, the Charrúa team lost 0-2 to the Asians, 18:24 and 22:23 apart.
During the afternoon session, the Charrúas played against the United States in Pool D for the pass to the Main Round. In the first set, the Americans were more precise in their attacking and took the set with a resounding 18:27. In the second half, Uruguay needed to wake up, and so it was, the team coached by Gastón Balletto began to organize their defensive line and be more precise in attack, achieving the victory 18:14, forcing the match to shoot out. In the end, the Charrúas were not able to face the North Americans and lost 7:8. With this result, Uruguay will play in the Consolidation Round and will face Norway on Thursday.
In group B, Brazil won against Tunisia by 2 sets to 0 to continue scoring points and reach the top of the group at 18:10 and 20:10.
In the afternoon, the team coached by Antonio Guerra crushed the locals, who despite their efforts could not cope with the strength and agility of the Brazilians, who won 2-0, with a score of 25:10 and 30:10, becoming the leaders of Group B. With this result, Brazil advances to the Main Round as group leader and will face Oman on Thursday. Then it will be the turn of Denmark and Hungary.
Photos: IHF
By Camila Miranda Torres.
