The best representatives of rugby in the Americas will bring the thunder to the stadium built in Villa Maria del Triunfo again. After a successful test event that brought 3500 spectators back in June –at the Villa Maria del Triunfo Sport Center–, fans were thrilled with the sport and showed their support from the stands.
In fact, more than half the tickets available at authorized selling points in 10 districts of Lima and at the website www.lima2019.pe/tickets have been sold. The fourth place reached by the Peruvian team ‘Las Tumis’, at the Tokyo 2020 pre-Olympics, is a strong reason for the growing expectation.
The competition will take place from July 26 to 28 and it gathers the best teams in the continent grouped according to their ranking. Peru (fourth in South America) is in group B, one of the toughest, with current Pan American champion, Canada, the current South American champion, Brazil, and Mexico. While United States, Colombia, Argentina and Trinidad and Tobago will battle in group A.
In men’s event, United States, Brazil, Chile and Guyana will face each other in group A; while in group B, Argentina, the two-times Pan American champion Canada, Jamaica and Uruguay will fight to advance to the next stage. To sum up, Lima 2019 has the presence of at least four of the best rugby sevens teams in the world.
Next Monday, the complete schedule for men’s and women’s competition will be revealed in a press conference. The event will also serve to present the official ball to be used at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games at a ceremony in Villa Maria del Triunfo.
RUGBY IN LIMA 2019
The rugby tournament will be held on July 26, 27, with two groups of four teams each for men and women. Teams will advance to quarterfinals according to their places and winners will compete in the semifinals. The best two will advance to the final on the last day and compete for the gold medal.
Unlike Rugby Union (15 players), rugby sevens is played in two periods of seven minutes each with a two-minutes rest period. In case of a tie, there will be a sudden-death extra times of five minutes. The competition will last for only three days and each team will play two games per day.
ABOUT LIMA 2019
The Lima 2019 Pan American Games is a continental competitions reuniting 6 648 athletes from 41 countries and it will be open on July 26 at the National Stadium. It will have 19 days of competitions held in 14 districts from 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 Lima 2019 Pan American Games will include 39 sports and 61 disciplines, where athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. A total of 22 Pan American disciplines are qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 the Olympic Games.