Canada bounced back from their draw yesterday against Colombia to beat Mexico 30-26. Canada’s victory resulted in their finishing first in Group B and allows them to avoid the Dominican Republic in tomorrow’s semifinals. In Group B’s other match Venezuela beat Colombia, 30-28, to notch their first win.

In Group A, Puerto Rico played the host, Dominican Republic, close leading 21-20 at halftime before losing 37-34. It’s possible, however, that both sides “coasted” somewhat as both were assured of advancing and probably wanted to rest key players prior to the semifinal matches on Friday.

The all-important semifinals will now pit Canada vs. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic vs. Mexico. The winners of those matches will qualify for the PATHF Men’s Elite Championship next summer in Chile. All four teams can harbor hopes of qualifying based on their matches at the last PATHF Div 1 Championships. Two years ago in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Canada played to a 27-27 draw while Mexico and the Dominican Republic did the same thing 34-34.

Results: Thursday, 05 November 2009

Group A
Puerto Rico – Dominican Republic 34 : 37 (21:20)

Group B
Colombia – Venezuela 28 : 30 (10:15)
Canada – Mexico 30 : 26 (15:10)

Group A
Team Points W D L Goals Diff.
1) Rep. Dominicana 4 2-0-0 83:57 26
2) Puerto Rico 2 1-0- 1 78:61 17
3) Guatemala 0 0-0-2 47:90 -43

Group B
Team Points W D L Goals Diff.
1) Canada 5 2-1-0 76:65 11
2) Mexico 4 2-0-1 86:85 1
3) Venezuela 2 1-0-2 76:82 -6
4) Colombia 1 0-1-2 76:82 -6

PATHF website: Results: http://www.panamhandball.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=showResultsRank&p=5&Itemid=19
Canadian Federation Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Team-Handball-Federation/165918018883
THN: 2007 PATHF Div 1 Results: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.403

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

The selection of Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2016 Olympics last month denied the U.S. an automatic bid for the 2016 Olympics. This means that the U.S. will need to play its way in through qualification and historically this has meant winning the Gold medal in Handball at the Pan American (PANAM) Games the year prior to the Olympics. This week the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) will be meeting in Guadalajara and on Friday, 6 October, they will announce the host city for the 2015 PANAM Games. In contention are the cities of Toronto (Canada), Lima (Peru) and Bogota (Colombia).

Without question the preferred city for USA Team Handball is Toronto. Next door and with a familiar environment and climate it would be the next best thing to hosting the tournament in country. A South America city would require a longer trip and mean games would be played in a hotter climate with less familiar surroundings. Doesn’t mean the U.S., or Canada for that matter, can’t win in Peru or Colombia, it just means that there would be an added degree of difficulty.

The good news is that it appears Toronto is the odds on favorite to be selected for a number of reasons. First off, neither Canada or the U.S. haven’t hosted a PANAM Games since Winnipeg in 1999 (Dominican Republic (2003); Rio (2007); Guadalajara (2011)) Infrastructure wise Toronto is clearly superior. Finally, with Rio’s 2016 victory speculation is that South America doesn’t need two big events in back to back years (or 3 if you count the 2014 World Cup). Of course, as Chicago will attest, being the odds on favorite doesn’t always mean much in Olympic organization voting.

Additionally, there’s no guarantee that the path for Olympic qualification will remain the same. There’s talk of a new North American Handball Federation (NAHF) https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.814, and that could certainly change the qualification structure. But with Olympic berths at a premium such a change won’t come easily. Additionally, even if a NAHF is put in place a potential compromise might very well combine the South and North entities for Olympic qualification. The 2011 PANAM Games are scheduled for Guadalajara, Mexico and barring some major changes at the upcoming IHF Extraordinary Congress in April those games will likely determine the PATHF representative for London 2012. It also won’t be surprising if the path remains the same for 2016.

Editor's Note: It's been kindly brought to my attention that the climate in both Lima and Bogota is relatively mild, so scratch off hot weather as a factor. But for Bogota, be sure to bring oxygen as it sits at 8,661 ft above sea level. The U.S. should hold it's training camp in Leadville, Colorado should they get awarded host city.

Gamebids.com: Toronto 2015 Pan Am Bid Chief Knows Where PASO Support Lies: http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/commonwealth_games_bids/1216134810.html
National Post: Toronto confident, mostly, as Pan Am Games decision nears: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/11/02/toronto-confident-mostly-as-pan-am-games-decision-nears.aspx

The Pan American Division 1 Men’s Champions got under way yesterday with Canada and Mexico winning their matches against Venezuela and Colombia, respectively. In the other Group the Dominican Republic easily defeated Guatemala.

Results: Tuesday, 03 November 2009

Group A
Rep. Dominicana – Guatemala 46 : 23 (18:11)

Group B
Canada – Venezuela 25 : 18 (12:10)
Mexico – Colombia 31 : 27 (14:11)

PATHF website: Results: http://www.panamhandball.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=showresultsrank&p=5&Itemid=19&r=1#jl_top

The draw for the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) Men’s Division 1 Championship was held Saturday at the Parque del Este resort in the Dominican Republic. The results of the draw were

Group A: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Guatemala
Group B: Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia

As host nation, the Dominican Republic chose Group A, most likely to take advantage of the “bye” day due to the smaller group. If the tournament plays out “on paper”, the key crossover semifinal matches will be the Dominican Republic vs. Mexico and Canada vs. Puerto Rico. The winners of those matches will play for the Championship and more importantly will qualify for the Elite Championships next summer in Chile.

7dias.com: Dominican opens the tournament against Guatemala in Panam Handball: http://www.7dias.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=62229
PATHF Website: http://www.panamhandball.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=1

Earlier today, for the 4th consecutive time Brazil and Argentina met in the Gold Medal game of the Women‘s PATHF Championship. But unlike the 3 previous matches Argentina came away the victory against the heavily favored Brazilians. Tied 23-23 at the end of regulation, Argentina won in the 2×5 minute overtime period by a final score of 26-25. This victory marks the first crack in the total dominance the Brazilian women have had in recent years in all PATHF competitions.

In the bronze medal game Chile needed two overtimes to subdue the Dominican Republic by a final score of 34-30. According to an account on the Chile Federation webpage, Chile was fortunate to send the game into overtime at the end of the regulation. The Dominican Republic took a 23-22 lead when Judith Granados scored one of her 13 goals with 5.4 seconds left. Chile, however, was able to immediately strike back with a tying goal by Inga Feutchmann to send it into overtime tied 23-23. The first overtime ended 27-27 and the 2nd overtime saw Chile pull away for the 34-30 victory. The win means that Chile will attend it’s first ever World Championship later this year in China. The Dominican Republic which qualified for 2007 will stay home.

In a game to decide 5th place, Mexico and Uruguay played to a 23-23 tie. By virtue of their larger victory over Uruguay, Mexico secures 5th place. Paraguay which lost to both Mexico and Uruguay finished in 7th place. Along with Canada, which did not participate they will be relegated to the Division 1 Championship tournament tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2010.

Editor’s note: In an odd coincidence all 3 matches played on the final day ended regulation with a 23-23 tie. I estimate the odds of all 3 matches being drawn as 500-1. The odds that they would all be drawn with the same score: At least 5,000-1 and probably more.

PATHF Website: Final scores: http://www.panamhandball.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=showPlan&mode=1&p=4&Itemid=14
Chile Federation: Chile qualifies for the World Championship (Spanish): http://www.balonmano.cl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=267&Itemid=30

As expected, both Brazil and Argentina advanced to the semifinal of the 2009 PATHF Women’s Championships without losing a match. In Group A, Argentina beat the Dominican Republic 24-17 and Uruguay 29-21 to advance. The scoreline in these two matches were important, however, as the Dominican Republic and Uruguay had played to a 21-21 draw on the first match day. With 2nd place in Group A coming down to whoever lost by less to Argentina, the Dominican Republic edged Uruguay by a 1 goal, losing by 7 to Uruguay’s 8 goal loss.

In Group B, Brazil has been totally dominant, winning all 3 of their matches by an average of 21 goals. The battle for 2nd place was won by host, Chile, who won their key matches against Paraguay, 34-30 and Mexico, 27-19.

Brazil will face the Dominican Republic in the first semifinal today and Argentina will take on host Chile in the 2nd. The top 3 teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2009 Women’s World Championships in China later this month.

After a drought of a couple years the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) has reintroduced a newsletter detailing PATHF related news and events. A copy of volume 1, issue 1 can be obtained here: http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/9/15/219319/PATHF%20newsletter1.pdf

The latest edition includes an article on PATHF efforts to improve communication, news that Bolivia and Peru may join PATHF as well as a schedule of PATHF tournaments for 2009.

A recent article in the Toronto Star describes Toronto’s bid for the 2015 Pan American Games. Toronto, Bogota, Colombia and Lima, Peru are the 3 candidate cities and the selection will be made next fall by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). Speculation is that Toronto is favored to win based on its infrastructure advantages and the fact that neither Canada or the USA has hosted since 1999. (The USA isn’t bidding due to the conflict with the 2016 Chicago Olympic Bid.)

The PANAM Games Handball tournament has historically served as the Pan American region’s automatic qualification for the Olympic Games. The 2011 PANAM Games will be in Guadalajara, Mexico and the winner of both the Men’s and Women’s tournament will qualify for London 2012. If the qualification format is maintained the 2015 tournament will serve as Pan American qualification for the 2016 Olympics.

For the USA, this may be academic if Chicago is selected as the host city for 2016. (Host nations automatically qualify in all team sports.) If Chicago is not selected for the Olympics, however, qualifying for the 2016 Olympics will surely be easier for the USA in Toronto, vice Bogota or Lima.

Toronto Star: “Pan Am bid seen as economic salve”: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/557978
Wikipedia article on 2015 Pan Am Games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Pan_American_Games

According to this article http://www.nationnews.com/story/306590674506908.php from a Barbados news site, Barbados Men’s Team played their first international match against Mexico recently. Playing with several converted volleyball players, the Bajans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajan lost by a large margin, 36-9. Perhaps they can take comfort in that another island nation, Iceland, with a similar population base (~300K) won the silver medal in Beijing.

Mexico held on to beat Chile 22-20 to claim the Gold Medal. Puerto Rico overcame a 12-9 first half deficit to beat the USA 26-21 for brone.

Tue., Nov. 25 Finals
Puerto Rico 26 – 21 USA (9-12) Score Sheet: http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/9/15/219319/9%20C%C3%A9dula%20de%20Juego%20PUR-USA.pdf
Mexico 22 -20 Chile (12-10) Score Sheet: http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/9/15/219319/10%20C%C3%A9dula%20de%20Juego%20CHI-MEX%20_FINAL_.pdf
Source: Mexico Handball Forum http://handball.mforos.com/1179288/8092043-panamericano-adulto-femenino-1-division-resultados/

Final Ranking
1) Mexico
2) Chile
3) Puerto Rico
4) USA

Mexico and Chile qualify for the Women‘s PATHF Championships scheduled to be played next June in Chile. The 8 team field will consist of Brazil, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay, Canada, Mexico and Chile. The top 3 teams from that tourney will qualify for the 2009 World Championship in China.

Mexico and Chile left no doubt as to which teams deserve to advance to the Women’s PATHF Championships. In the first game Puerto Rico stayed close for a half against Chile, trailing only 17-16 at the break. Chile dominated the 2nd half, however, and cruised to a 36-23 victory. The 2nd game between Mexico and the USA was no contest as the Mexicans led 16-8 at the half and continued to extend their lead to the eventual 33-14 final margin.

Mexico and Chile will play for Gold tomorrow, while the USA and Puerto Rico will play for Bronze.

Mon., Nov. 24 Semifinals
Chile 36 – 23 Puerto Rico (17-16)
Mexico 33 -14 USA (16-8)
Source: Mexico Handball Forum http://handball.mforos.com/1179288/8092043-panamericano-adulto-femenino-1-division-resultados/

Chile blitzed Puerto Rico 43-19 and Mexico beat the USA 31-23 to wrap up pool play ahead of tomorrow’s pivotal semi-finals. As these games meant nothing in terms of seeding and the exact same teams will play each other again tomorrow it’s hard to read too much into these results.

The winners of tomorrow’s games will qualify for the PATHF Championships next year.

Mon., Nov. 24
Chile 43 – 19 Puerto Rico (18-6)
Mexico 31 -23 USA (19-9) Score Sheet: http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/9/15/219319/6%20C%C3%A9dula%20de%20Juego%20MEX-USA.pdf
Source: Mexico Handball Forum http://handball.mforos.com/1179288/8092043-panamericano-adulto-femenino-1-division-resultados/

Final Standings )
1) Mexico (6-0-0) 6 Pts 84 68 +16
2) Chile (2-0-1) 4 Pts 95 62 +33
3) Puerto Rico (1-0-2) 2 Pts 71 94 -23
4) USA (0-0-3) 64 90 -26

Sat., Nov 22
Chile 27 – 17 USA (15-8)
Mexico 27 – 20 Puerto Rico (13-9)

Sun., Nov. 23
Puerto Rico 32 ­ 24 USA (18-11)
Mexico 26 – 25 Chile (13-12)

Remaining schedule:

Tues., Nov. 25
4:30 p.m. Chile vs. Puerto Rico
6:30 p.m. Mexico vs. USA

Weds., Nov. 26
4:30 p.m. ­ Third Place Game
6:30 p.m. ­ First Place Game