The Pan-American Games Handball competition started yesterday with Women’s Group matches. As expected Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba coasted to easy victories, while the Dominican Republic edged Paraguay 33-30. Those four winners are now the likely semifinalists that will come out of Group Play.

The Men’s Competition will start today. Team Canada will face a stiff test against Cuba and will likely need a victory to move on to the semifinals.

The winner of the Men’s and Women’s competition, respectively, will qualify for the 2008 Olympics. The 2nd place teams will earn a spot in an Olympics qualification tournament next spring.

Official Pan-American Games Website (Homepage): http://www.rio2007.org.br
Official Pan-American Games Website (Handball Page):
http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages/8A488A8F12D856280112D877123A6F2D.htm

(Note: More news articles on handball are available in the Spanish and Portuguese language version of the website.)