Although the Pre-Olympic Tournament to qualify for Tokyo 2020 starts in one week, Argentina arrived at Lima 2019 with a powerful team hoping to reach a gold medal in men’s volleyball. While most of the players that will compete at the Callao Sports Center are not in the first team, they will renew the team after their participation in Japan.

The “Guerreros” began their way to the podium with a 3-0 over Cuba. It was a tight match where they managed to put themselves at the top of Group A in the Pan American Games. Many Argentinian fans were present in the grandstands of the Callao Sport Center rooting for their team with a lot of passion. Hours before, Peru lost 3-1 to Puerto Rico, and tomorrow at 12:30 they will play against the Argentinian team.

“We’re focused on the competition since we arrived at Peru. Defeating Cuba was important for us and now we have high expectations. Many of the players participating in this Games have never been to the Olympic Games, so we’re working hard every day. Also, the excitement you can feel in this coliseum is wonderful. It is worthy of these Games,” said the 24-year-old center-back, Gastón Fernández.

At 18:30, the group B will start with the match between USA vs. Chile, while the match between Brazil and Mexico will close the session at 20:30. To watch these exciting matches, buy your tickets at lima2019.pe/tickets or at the authorized points of sale.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION FORMAT

The volleyball matches at the Pan American Games will be governed by the rules of the International Volleyball Federation. The men’s competition will begin on July 31 and end on August 4, while the women’s competition will be held between August 7 and 11. The venue for the volleyball competitions will be the Callao Sports Center, with a capacity of 6100 spectators and which was built for Lima 2019.

The competition format includes a preliminary round for the two pools, A and B, of four teams each that will compete in a round-robin format. The first two teams of each group will qualify to the semifinals. The two winners of the semifinal will qualify to the final match for the gold medal. The third-place teams of each group will compete for the fifth and sixth place in the qualifying round.

Tennis, one of the most anticipated sports in the continent, starts on Monday, July 29, with the best representatives of the Americas, whose greatest reward, in addition to the glory of being champions, is their qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The international competition will take place at the Lawn Tennis de la Exposición Club courts, in Jesús María, where the matches will begin at 10:00 so that families can watch and enjoy this sport. One of Peru’s representatives, Nicolás Álvarez, will debut against Cuban Yoan Andrés Pérez at this time. 

The following players will compete at the same time: Rowland Philips from Jamaica and Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina, Alberto Alvarado from El Salvador and Stefan González from Guatemala, Kenny Turcios from Honduras and Federico Zeballos from Bolivia, and Jody Maginley from Antillas and Kyle Johnson from El Salvador.

The second round of matches will start immediately, before noon. At that time, Nicolás Mejías from Colombia and Víctor Estrella from the Dominican Republic, Manuel Sánchez from Mexico and Wilfredo González from Guatemala, and Sean Williams from Barbados and Franco Roncadelli from Uruguay will also compete. The following matches will also take place: Sam Riffice from the US against Francisco Llanes from Uruguay, Osmel Rivera from Cuba against Alejandro Obando from Honduras, and Haydn Lewis from Barbados against Juan Alejandro Hernández from Mexico.

Once these matches end, another series of matches will begin, such as Sergio Galdós from Peru against Justin Roberts from Bahamas. The women’s competitions will also begin, such as the match between Canadian Jada Bui and Colombian María Camila Osorio, seeded eighth in the tournament. 

Additionally, Bolivian Noelia Zeballos will also compete against Canadian Alexandra Vagramov, As well as Meli Reasco from Ecuador against Guatemalan Andrea Weedonm, Marcela Zacarías from México against Argentinian Catalina Pella, and Montserrat González from Paraguaya against Caroline Delohide from the US, seeded fourth in the tournament.

PERUVIAN DEBUT IN WOMEN’S TENNIS
In the afternoon, the last five matches of the opening day of the tennis competition will take place, where Peruvian Dana Guzmán will make her debut against Mexican Renata Zarazúa, seeded sixth. Moreover, Chilean Fernanda Brito will compete against Argentinian Nadia Podoroska, seeded seventh. 

Simultaneously, Chilean Daniela Seguel, seeded fifth, competes against Guatemalan Melissa Morales, and Ecuadorian Charlotte Paredes faces Argentinian Victoria Bosio. In the same time slot, the first men’s doubles match will take place between pairs Alberto Alvarado and Luis Mireles from El Salvador and Kevin King and Michael Redicki from the United States.
 
There are still tickets available for the competitions. To buy tickets please go to the Pan American and Parapan American Games website: lima2019.pe. You can also buy tickets on the Teleticket website: https://teleticket.com.pe/lima2019.

You can also buy your tickets at the booth set up at the Jockey Plaza shopping center, in Santiago de Surco. This new point of sale is an addition to the 10 points of sales already operating at Metro and Wong in the districts of Chorrillos, Independencia, La Molina, Lima, Miraflores, San Borja, San Isidro, San Juan de Miraflores, San Miguel and Surco.

The race for the Pan American podium will continue on Thursday, July 25. The Lima 2019 Pan American Games got underway with a series of riveting beach volleyball and handball matches. It is now turn for bowling, modern pentathlon, softball and squash competitions to start.

Women's preliminary handball matches, USA vs Dominican Republic (13:00-15:00), Cuba vs Puerto Rico (15:30-17:30), Peru vs Argentina (18:00-20:00) and Canada vs Brazil (20:30-22:30), are part of the sports program to take place at National Sports Village (VIDENA) in San Luis.

Beach volleyball competitions will continue today: 16 matches, in women's and men’s categories, will be held at Costa Verde Center San Miguel from 9:00 to 15:40.

JOIN US ON THE FIELD

At VIDENA, six men's doubles bowling events will be held from 9:00 to 13:00, while women’s doubles will take place from 16:00 to 20:00. Modern pentathlon will begin with the jumping events starting at 10:00 at Chorrillos Military School.

Men's softball preliminary round game between Mexico vs Argentina will go from 10:00 to 12:30 at Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center. Right after that, Venezuela and United States will clash from 13:00 to 15:30. Peru will close the session as they face off Cuba (16:00-18:30).

Finally, squash events in women’s singles, men’s singles and men’s doubles will be held from 9:00 to 15:00 at VIDENA In the quarterfinals, women’s singles will start at 18:45, while men’s singles will do so at 19:45. To learn more about the program, check out www.lima2019.pe

Let us not forget that Peruvian and international athletes need strong encouragement from us, sports fans, to win as many medals as possible.

You still have the chance to buy your tickets for any of the 26 sports that are available at lima2019.pe/tickets Some of them are: Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, softball, boxing, archery, baseball, taekwondo, hockey, squash and surf.

Tickets for beach volleyball, shooting, volleyball, racquetball, basketball 3x3, cycling, badminton, track cycling, Basque pelota, karate, tennis, swimming, handball, table tennis and weightlifting are also available.

Lima will host the largest multi-sports event in the Americas in just three days. You cannot miss it! The Lima 2019 Pan American Games will be a colorful celebration. There are still chances for the best fanbase in the world to get tickets and root for Peruvian athletes. You will also see the continent’s best athletes in action. Some of them will compete to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Football is one of the most anticipated events for Peruvian fans because the U-22 team, made up of the best talents from the Peruvian league, will go for the gold medal under the guidance of Nolberto Solano. Alianza Lima players Kevin Quevedo and Aldair Fuentes, along with Sporting Cristal's Gianfranco Chavez and Jesus Pretel are part of the team that will seek glory in the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos stadium.

Likewise, there are other events that you cannot miss. The best wrestlers, like American world star Kyle Snyder, as well as Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion and Cuban legend Mijain Lopez, will compete at Miguel Grau Coliseum in Callao.

You can also watch the current men’s softball champions at the Villa María del Triunfo venue: Argentina. Meanwhile, the biggest stars of Central American and Caribbean baseball will also shine in Southern Lima. Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center will also bear witness to the excellent level of the current Olympic men’s hockey champions, the “Leones” from Argentina.

The Cuba boxing team, consisting of seven world champions and three Olympic champions, will go for the ten gold medals on the ring of Miguel Grau Coliseum. This district will also see the best taekwondo fighters in the whole world compete in the tatami of the Callao Sport Center. Peruvian representatives Marcela Castillo, Hugo del Castillo and Julissa Diez Canseco will go for the gold medal. Let’s go and cheer them up so they can achieve their dream!

Peru also has good chance of winning gold in the squash, shooting and surf events. Diego Elías, the eighth best squash players in the world, is in top form to pick up a gold medal at the VIDENA Volleyball CAR. Meanwhile, ‘Piccolo’ Clemente and nine other surfers will seek glory in Punta Rocas beach. Alessandro de Souza and Nicolás Pacheco will enthusiastically represent the Peruvian shooting team in Las Palmas shooting range.

You can also root for the women’s pair made up by Lisbeth Alca and Alexandra Mendoza, who want to earn a gold medal for Peru in the beach volleyball event. The Peruvian women's volleyball team needs support for the competition against the mighty Dominican Republic, Canada and USA teams, which will also go for the gold at Callao Sports Center.

The best female racquetball player ever will also be at the Callao Regional Sports Center. In addition, the best basketball, swimming, table tennis and karate stars will arrive in Lima to give their best performance in their respective events.

Tickets are still available for other disciplines such as Basque pelota, tennis, weightlifting and handball, with the historic derby Brazil vs. Argentina.

Ticket prices start at PEN 10, with a discount

Ticket prices start at PEN 20 or 10 for the Pan American and Parapan American Games, respectively. There will be 50% off for anyone under the age of 18, senior citizens and people with an impairment.

Fans can buy their tickets at lima2019.pe/tickets. The Lima 2019 Organizing Committee has recently installed a point of sale at Jockey Plaza Shopping Center, in Santiago de Surco. This new point of sale joins the other ten already located in Metro and Wong supermarkets, in the districts of Chorrillos, Independencia, La Molina, Lima, Miraflores, San Borja, San Isidro, San Juan de Miraflores, San Miguel and Surco.

It should be noted that 21 disciplines in the Pan American Games are qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while 13 Para sports will be qualifiers for the Paralympic Games.