Ten women's rugby teams from the Americas will compete on June 1 and 2 at the official court of the Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center, in the pre-Olympic tournament. In this event, they will not only test the facilities that will be used at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, but will also try to qualify for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Brazil (current South American champion), Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Peru will compete on Saturday, June 1 at 9:00.
The ten teams will be divided into two groups of five countries each. They will play in a round-robin format. The two best of each group will play the semifinals and, then, the finals on Sunday, June 2 afternoon, to define which one will qualify for the Olympic Games.
This tournament is also a “test event” for the Lima 2019 Organizing Committee, which will allow to prepare the operations of the different functional areas for the Pan American Games. Lima 2019 competitions, in both categories, are scheduled for July 26, 27 and 28 Lima 2019 in the stage built for the continental event at the Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center.
Peru has been working intensely to arrive in the best conditions at the event. The team is led by Rosemary Quesada, and made up by Melissa Vargas, Nayeli Sánchez, Raysa Gonzales, Natali Correa, Michelle Flores, Lucy Granda, Paula Pacheco, Camila García, Beatriz Orcotoma, Andrea Masias, Karoline Henderson, María Gracia Domínguez, Samantha Chuquivala, Melissa Álvarez, and Lieneke Ratto.
Rugby-7 has been part of the Pan American Games sports program since Guadalajara 2011, although only men participated in that edition. Canada took the gold medals in that edition and at Toronto 2015. In women's, Canada also won first place at the event held four years ago in Toronto.
The Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center will also house disciplines such as hockey, Basque pelota, frontón, softball, baseball, water polo, archery, as well as football 5-a-side and football 7-a-side during the Parapan American Games.
ABOUT LIMA 2019
The Lima 2019 Pan American Games is a continental event that will gather 6680 athletes from 41 countries, and will open on July 26 at the National Stadium. There will be 17 days of competitions which will take place in 14 districts of Lima and Callao. Some of the main venues will be VIDENA, Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center, Callao Regional Sports Village, Villa El Salvador Sports Center, Punta Rocas, among others.
The Lima 2019 Pan American Games will include 39 sports and 61 disciplines, in which athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. A total of 22 disciplines are qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Parapan American Games will gather 1890 Para athletes from 33 countries, who will participate in 17 Para sports and 18 disciplines. Competitions will take place from August 23 to September 1, 2019. Additionally, 13 sports will be qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.