After being out of the Tokyo Paralympic Games last year, the first major challenge of Brazilian wheelchair basketball towards the Paris Paralympic Games (2024) begins this Wednesday (13). Starting at 3:00 p.m. (Brasilia time), the women’s team debuts in the Copa América against Canada. Later, at 7:00 p.m., it will be the turn of the men’s team, also against the Canadians.
The event will be held at the São Paulo Paralympic Training Center. Admission is free and can be purchased with prior registration. Another option is to follow him online, on the YouTube channel of the Brazilian Wheelchair Basketball Confederation (CBBC). The opening ceremony will be at 17:00, but the ball was up this morning, with Venezuela and Puerto Rico opening the men’s tournament.
The Copa América brings together seven teams in the men’s tournament and eight in the women’s. The four best-ranked male and three female participants guarantee their place at the World Cup in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in November.
In the first phase, the teams are divided into two groups, where they play against each other. All go to the next phase in the men’s, serving the duels to define the qualifying matches. The leader of Group A (the only one that has four teams) goes straight to the semifinals. In the women’s, only the first two of each group qualify for the semifinals.
Among the men, Brazil is in Group B. In addition to three-time Paralympic champion Canada, Argentina (current South American champion) is in the group. Mexico would be the fourth member, but withdrew from the tournament. In Group A are the United States (nine gold medals in the Paralympic Games, including in Tokyo), Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Colombia. The latter beat the Brazilians in the quarterfinals of the Parapan American Games in Lima (Peru), in 2019, which served as a qualifier for the mega-event in Japan. The Colombians were directed by Ana Cardoso, from São Paulo, who took charge of the men’s green and yellow team after the competition on Japanese soil.
In women, the hosts will have as rivals Bolivia, Guatemala and Canada, also for Group B. The Canadians, rivals of the debut, are the current Parapan American champions, responsible for leaving Brazil out of Tokyo, and emerge as the main competitors in the first phase Group A includes the United States (four-time Paralympic champions), Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Brazilian women, as well as men, have been under new management since the second half of last year. The current coach is Rogério Pinheiro, who debuted with the South American title, won in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires against the hosts.
Both Ana and Rogério have the mission of renewing their respective teams to get to Paris. The male, according to the DT, has half the cast made up of new faces. Some were even part of the group that qualified for the U-23 World Cup (in Thailand, at the end of this year, with no set date), such as Sérgio Júnior (18 years old) and Cristiano Clemente (23 years old). The other half are veterans, like Anderson Ferreira, 43, who after 16 years defending Brazil dreams of reaching the first Paralympic Games of his career.
In the women’s team, according to Rogério, six of the 12 summoned already represented the country in previous editions of the Copa América and another six will compete for the first time in the tournament. The last edition took place five years ago, in Cali (Colombia). On the occasion, the women won the bronze medal and the men’s team finished fourth. Both qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Hamburg (Germany).
