After being absent from the Paralympic Games in Tokyo last year, the first big challenge for Brazilian wheelchair basketball towards the Paralympic Games in Paris (2024) begins this Wednesday (13). Starting at 3:00 p.m. (Brasilia time), the women’s team makes its debut 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 take place at the São Paulo Paralympic Training Center. Admission is free and can be purchased upon prior registration. Another option is to follow him online, on the Brazilian Wheelchair Basketball Confederation (CBBC) YouTube channel. The opening ceremony will take place at 5:00 p.m., but the ball was up this morning, with Venezuela and Puerto Rico opening the men’s tournament.

The Copa América brings together seven teams for men and eight for women. The top four male and three female participants guarantee their place at the World Cup in Dubai (UAE) in November.

In the first phase, the teams are divided into two groups, where they play against each other. All progress to the next phase in the gentlemen, serving the duels to define the qualifying matches. The leader of group A (the only one with four teams) goes directly to the semi-finals. For women, only the first two of each group qualify for the semi-finals.

On the men’s side, 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 at 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 led by Ana Cardoso, from São Paulo, who took charge of the green and yellow men’s team after the competition on Japanese soil.

On the women’s side, the hosts will have Bolivia, Guatemala and Canada as rivals, also for Group B. The main competitors in Group A of the first phase include the United States (four-time Paralympic champions), Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Brazilian women, as well as men, have changed direction since the second half of last year. The current coach is Rogério Pinheiro, who made his debut with the South American title, won in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires against the hosts.

Ana and Rogério both have the mission of renewing their respective teams to go to Paris. The Male, according to the DT, has half the cast made up of new faces. Some were even part of the qualified group for the U-23 World Cup (in Thailand, at the end of this year, no fixed date), such as Sérgio Júnior (18) and Cristiano Clemente (23). 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 called up have already represented the country in previous editions of the Copa América and six others will participate in the tournament for the first time. The last edition took place five years ago, in Cali (Colombia). On this occasion, the women won the bronze medal and the men’s team finished fourth. Both qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Hamburg (Germany).