Playing at home, Brazil's Paralympic basketball aims the top America
After being out of the Games in Tokyo (Japan), last year, the first big challenge of Brazilian wheelchair basketball towards the Paralympics in Paris (France), in 2024, starts this Wednesday (13). Playing at 15:00 (Brasília time), the women's team debuts in the Copa América against Canada. Later, at 19:00, it will be the men's team's turn to debut, also against the Canadians.
The event will be held at the Paralympic Training Center in São Paulo. Admission is free and can be purchased upon registration. The Center is located at kilometer 11.5 of Rodovia dos Imigrantes, south of São Paulo. Another option is to follow it online, on the Brazilian Wheelchair Basketball Confederation (CBBC) channel on YouTube. The opening ceremony will be at 5pm, but the Copa has already begun 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-placed participants in the men's and the three in the women's qualify for the World Championships in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), in November.
In the first phase of the Copa América, the teams are divided into two groups, where they play against each other. All go to the next stage in the men's, with the duels serving to define the eliminatory clashes. The leader of Group A (the only one that has four teams) goes straight to the semifinals. In women's, only the top two of each bracket qualify for the semifinals.
Among men, Brazil is in Group B. In addition to Canada, three-time Paralympic champion, 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 Paralympics, 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 over the green and yellow men's team after the competition on Japanese soil.
In the feminine, the hosts will have Bolivia, Guatemala and Canada as opponents, also for Group B. The Canadians, rivals of the debut, are the current Parapan American champions, responsible for leaving Brazil outside Tokyo and emerge as main competitors in the first phase. In Group A, the United States (four times Paralympic champions), Argentina, Chile and Mexico appear. The Brazilian women, as well as the men's, 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, achieved in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, against the hosts.
Both Ana and Rogério had the mission of renewing their respective teams on the journey to Paris. The men's, according to the coach, has half of the cast formed by new faces. Some were even part of the group that qualified for the U-23 World Championship (in Thailand, later 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 Paralympics of his career.
In the women's team, according to Rogério, six of the 12 called up have already represented the country in Copa Americas and another six will compete in the tournament for the first time. The last edition of the tournament 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).
