In Group A, Puerto Rico easily defeated Guatemala to join hosts, Dominican Republic as the semifinal qualifiers from that group. Puerto Rico will play the Dominican Republic to determine which team will be seeded first tomorrow.

In Group B, Mexico narrowly defeated Venezuela, 29-28, to remain unbeaten while Canada stumbled to a 21-21 draw against Colombia. With these results Mexico leads Group B with 4 points and is assured of a berth in the semifinals. Canada’s draw puts them in 2nd place with 3 points and they still control their own destiny. With a win against Mexico tomorrow they will take 1st place in the group. A draw will give them 2nd place and even a loss could still put them in 2nd place if they stay ahead of Colombia on goal differential. They currently have an 11 goal lead and as Colombia plays Venezuela first they will know exactly how many goals they will need to win by.

Both Canada and Mexico will certainly be going for the win as placing 1st in their Group will likely mean an easier semifinal match up against Puerto Rico, while a 2nd place standing will mean a match against the host, the Dominican Republic. In many respects, winning the semifinal match is the critical game as placing 1st or 2nd overall will result in qualification for the Pan American Elite Championships this summer.

Results: Wednesday, 04 November 2009

Group A
Puerto Rico – Guatemala 44 : 24 (23:8)

Group B
Colombia – Canada 21 : 21 (10:7)
Venezuela – Mexico 28 : 29 (13:13)

Group A
Team Points W D L Goals Diff.
1 Rep. Dominicana 2 1-0- 0 46:23 23
2 Puerto Rico 2 1-0-0 44:24 20
3 Guatemala 0 0-0-2 47:90 -43

Group B
Team Points W D L Goals Diff.
1 Mexico 4 2-0-0 60:55 5
2 Canada 3 1-1-0 46:39 7
3 Colombia 1 0-1-1 48:52 -4
4 Venezuela 0 0-0-2 46:54 -8

PATHF website: Results: http://www.panamhandball.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=showresultsrank&p=5&Itemid=19&r=2#jl_top

Canadian Federation Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Team-Handball-Federation/165918018883