The 2007 Women’s Pan American Championships will start this Thursday, 31 May, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Courtesy of Brazil’s 7th place finish at the last World Championships, four teams will qualify for the World Championships this December in France. Eight teams will be participating and they have been divided into two groups of four.

Group A: Argentina, Uruguay, Dominican Republic and Mexico (Mexico is a late replacement for Puerto Rico)
Group B: Brazil, Canada, USA and Paraguay

Each group will play a round robin, with the top 2 teams advancing to the semifinals. As these four teams will qualify for the World Championships these group play games will be critical.

[b]Schedule[/b] (Note: Santo Domingo is on the same time as the US East Coast)

[b]Thursday, 31 May [/b]
1400 Canada vs. USA
1600 Argentina vs. Mexico
1800 Brazil vs. Paraguay
2000 Uruguay vs. Dominican Republic

[b]Friday, 1 June[/b]
1400 Canada vs. Paraguay
1600 Mexico vs. Uruguay
1800 Brazil vs. USA
2000 Dominican Republic vs. Argentina

[b]Saturday, 2 June [/b]
1400 Paraguay vs. USA
1600 Argentina vs. Uruguay
1800 Brazil vs. Canada
2000 Dominican Republic vs. Mexico

[b]Sunday, 3 June[/b]
1400 3A vs. 4B
1600 4A vs. 3B
1800 1A vs. 2B
2000 1B vs. 2A

[b]Monday, 4 June[/b]
1400 7th Place
1600 5th Place
1800 3rd Place
2000 1st Place

Analysis: For Group A, Argentina and the Dominican Republic, with their home court advantage, will be favored to advance. In Group B, Brazil is an overwhelming favorite and Canada should have the edge over the USA and Paraguay. The first game of the tournament Canada vs. USA, will be pivotal for those two rivals. Canada has dominated the USA recently, but the USA’s victory in the USA cup last summer shows that they can beat Canada with a good performance.