Brazil wins wheelchair rugby qualification tournament for Toronto 2015

Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile all qualify for next year’s Parapan American Games 04 Sep 2014

A player wearing blue seated in a wheelchair with a white ball on his lap about to collide with an opponent wearing white.

Canada's Zak Madell on the attack against USA in the 2014 World Championships semi-finals. The host nation's team has a safe spot at the Toronto 2015 Parapans.

ⒸBrian Mouridsen

By IPC

With four wins in as many games, the Brazil’s wheelchair rugby team finished on top at the Big Maximus Championships in Niteroi, Brazil, and qualified for the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games.

The Big Maximus Championships, which served as the South American sub-regional qualification tournament, took place from 27 August to 1 September and brought together teams from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The top four finishers of the tournament gained direct qualification slots for the Parapan American Games.

Argentina took second place in the final rankings, winning three out of four games and recording their only loss against Brazil. Colombia finished third, winning their first two games against Peru and Uruguay and losing to Brazil and Argentina.

Chile took the final qualification spot, by winning against Paraguay and Peru.

The wheelchair rugby tournament at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games will consist of six teams in total. The missing two spots will be filled by host country Canada, and the USA as the top ranked team at the 2013 IWRF Americas Championship.

The Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games will take place from 7-15 August. Around 1,600 athletes from 28 countries and territories will be in Toronto for the Games which will feature 15 sports, all of which will be qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

For more information on wheelchair rugby, visit the IWRF website.

For more information on the Parapan American Games, visit the Toronto 2015 website.