Today, Lima 2019 achieved another major milestone which will remain as a historic legacy for the Peruvian sport, by delivering the Peruvian fronton and Basque pelota courts to the Peruvian Federation of Paleta Fronton. This is the fifth competition venue delivered by the Pan American Games organization this month.
Wilhelm Funcke, Lima 2019 Project and Infrastructure manager, and Arnaldo Chávez, president of the Peruvian Federation of Paleta Fronton, participated in this ceremonial event. Peru’s fronton and basque pelota players, who will try to make it to the podium in the ten disciplines of this sport, also attended the ceremony.
“This huge investment in the Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center is designed so that our athletes have a high-performance center, but also to contribute to society with a recreational facility for the community. We have a great challenge in front of us,” said Funcke, representative of the Organizing Committee.
Thanks to the Lima 2019 Organizing Committee, Peruvian fronton was included, for the first time ever, in the Pan American Games program as a discipline of Basque pelota. Fronton is played in Peru since 1945. It is a popular sport played in clubs throughout the country, and this new infrastructure will be very useful to boost its practice.
“We’re truly grateful to Lima 2019 because this wonderful sports center will be used to popularize our sport and, at the same time, Basque pelota. In addition, it has a stand for 400 people, which makes it a very impressive stage for athletes,” added Chávez, president of the Peruvian Federation.
PLEASED ATHLETES
The four courts built for the Games are ready to receive the fronton athletes from the 11 countries that will compete for the ten gold medals being contested. There are high expectations for the Peruvian fronton champions Kevin Martínez and Claudia Suárez, who expect to win the gold in Lima 2019.
“We’ve been training in these first-level facilities since a couple of weeks ago and we are looking forward to competition day and to winning the medals we had set for ourselves. Only imagining the packed stands during the competitions motivates us to give 200% for our country,” said Martinez.
COMPETITION SYSTEM
Singles matches will be played for the Peruvian fronton competition, which will have a first stage in a round-robin format. In men’s, Kevin Martínez will face athletes from Cuba, Argentina, USA and Mexico. While Claudia Suárez will face athletes from Argentina, Cuba, Chile and Uruguay starting August 4.
The top two athletes in the group stage will compete for gold on August 10; while the round robin’s third- and fourth-place athletes will compete for the bronze medal the day before the final competition. The other eight Basque pelota disciplines will have two groups in the qualifying round and the top four of each pool will pass to the finals.
ABOUT LIMA 2019
The opening ceremony of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games will be held at the National Stadium on July 26, 2019. This continental event will gather 6680 athletes from 41 countries and delegations from the Americas.
There will be 17 days of competitions and ceremonies, between July 26 and August 11, 2019, which will take place in 14 districts of Lima and Callao at various venues like VIDENA, Villa María Sports Center, Callao Regional Village, Villa El Salvador Sports Center, Punta Rocas, among others.
The Parapan American Games will gather 1890 Para athletes from 33 countries, participating in 17 sports and 18 disciplines. Competitions will take place between August 23 and September 1, 2019. Fourteen sports will be qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.