Havana, September 29.- The Cuban archery teams that will participate in the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile will begin the conclusion of their preparation on Friday at an event in Brazil.

Led by Hugo Franco and Maydenia Sarduy, the recurve specialty teams will host the I Maricá 2023 International Archery Challenge, alongside teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile, in addition to the hosts.

“The competition takes place at the same time as the Brazilian national championship and even if some invited countries are not here with their main characters, it will be important for us to prove ourselves a few weeks before the Pan American Games,” assured the coach Vladimir Quintas at JIT. Headquarter.

Hugo is accompanied by Juan José Santiesteban and Javier Vega, a group identical to the one that left a very good taste during the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023, under the command of Reiter Téllez.

For the girls, there have been changes regarding the regional multi-sport event. The experienced Larissa Pagán joins Maydenia and Yailín Paredes in a formation that will be very useful in gauging her possibilities during the Brazilian tournament.

“For everyone, it will be a crucial moment, a good opportunity to check our performance as a team. In Cuba we did competitive modeling, but here we will participate in an official event, where we will be able to measure responses in moments of tension and in other aspects,” Quintas commented.

The South American Giant’s joust will have different characteristics, since the organizers have decided not to define the order with the usual double round at 70 meters. Instead, they will draw lots to establish the matches on mixed, individual and team modalities.

The Cubans had their first encounter with the competition scene, participating as guests in the 70-meter double round of the Brazilian national championship. The results were satisfactory.

“We arrived tired from a very long journey and the weather was bad, with a lot of wind, but we decided to do it because it is a preparatory competition. The most important thing is to prepare before the Pan American Games,” explained the experienced coach.

For Quintas, the Santiago 2023 event will be very demanding. Countries like the United States, Mexico, Canada and Brazil have figures located in prime positions in world rankings and some have won medals in Olympic and world competitions.

The Canadian Crispin Dueñas and the Mexican Alejandra Valencia won the individual titles of the Lima 2019 edition. The collective titles ended up in the hands of the Canadians and the representatives of the United States.

The fifth places of the women’s trio and the mixed couple composed of Maydenia and Adrián Puentes were the most important on the island.

Cuba reached the podium for the last time in continental competitions with the teams present at Guadalajara 2011 winning bronze medals. Hugo, Maydenia and Larissa repeat these selections.

The best individual result is the gold and silver medals in this historic final that Adrián Puentes won against Juan Carlos Stevens in Rio de Janeiro 2007. (Text and photo: JIT)