Montevideo (Uruguay), Aug 4 (IANS) The Pan American Cup 2025 came to an end at Montevideo, Uruguay, with Argentina men and women winning the gold medals. United States men and women took the silver medals in both competitions, with Canada men and Uruguay women winning bronze.

Argentina men and USA women also secured a place at the upcoming FIH Hockey World Cup, Belgium and Netherlands 2026, through their first and second-place finishes, respectively, at the competition. Argentina women had already secured their place in the World Cup via the FIH Hockey Pro League, leaving second-placed USA to get the one available women’s World Cup spot through the continental competition.

In the men’s competition, Argentina were the dominant team in Pool A, winning all three matches to finish in first place. They scored 28 goals through the league stage while keeping three clean sheets! The USA finished in second with two wins and one loss. In Pool B, Chile finished atop the table with three wins, followed by Canada in second with two wins.

In the first semifinal, Argentina dispatched Canada with consummate ease, winning 9-1, despite Canada scoring the first goal of the game. Tomas Domene with 4 goals and Nicolas della Torre with 3 starred for the Leones. The second semi-final was a tightly contested affair with the USA and Chile playing out a 1-1 draw in regulation time. The ensuing shoot-out saw the USA prevail 3-1 to earn a chance at the gold medal against Argentina.

The final once again highlighted Argentina’s continental supremacy as they ran a rout against the USA defence, winning the contest 10-0 to secure a fourth consecutive Pan American Cup title, and their fifth title overall.

Tomas Domene was awarded player of the tournament and said, “I am very happy with the win today. I think we are so excited because we have qualified for the World Cup, which was ultimately our goal. I’m proud of this team, and now we will celebrate and then look forward to preparations for the next tournament.”

In the women’s competition, Argentina finished at the top of Pool A, winning all three of their matches, ahead of hosts Uruguay in second. In Pool B, it was the United States finishing in first place, followed by Chile in second place, with all four teams securing a semi-final spot.

In the first semifinal, Argentina got the better of Chile in a closely contested match that ended 2-0 in favour of the eventual champions. Victoria Granatto put the Leonas ahead in the first quarter, and Agustina Gorzelany added a second in the third quarter to secure the victory. The second semi-final was a nervy affair with the winning team assured of World Cup qualification. USA scored the first goal of the game in the second half, but Uruguay fought back to equalise in the final quarter, sending the match into a shoot-out. USA keeper Kelsey Bing’s shoot-out heroics sent the hosts out, and punched USA’s ticket to the final and the upcoming World Cup.

Argentina were largely comfortable in the final against the USA, scoring early through Agustina Gorzelany, who top-scored in the competition with 10 goals. Eugenia Trinchinetti and Julieta Jankunas added two more goals in the second half as Argentina came away with a 3-0 win to claim their seventh consecutive Pan American Cup title.

Speaking after the match, Leonas’ star Juli Jankunas said: “We are very happy right now. The Pan American Cup is coming home to Argentina! I think it was a game where we had to work on the details and on defending well. That was the most important thing. It’s always good when the goals come, so we are really happy and ready to celebrate.”

Through the men’s competition, Argentina became the fifth team to secure qualification to the FIH Hockey World Cup, Belgium & Netherlands 2026. Belgium and the Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, secured direct qualification. At the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24, it was Australia who qualified for the World Cup as champions of the season.

Spain were the fourth team to secure their spot, finishing second behind already qualified Netherlands in the 2024/25 season of the Pro League. Continental championships in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania over the coming months will determine four more direct qualifiers for the event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.

–IANS

bsk/