The celebration of the two selected with their medals. Photos by Joana Figueroa.
The 3×3 basketball took a good part of the attraction of the first weekend of the South American Youth Games that are played in Rosario and the merit went to the feisty Argentine cast, who won the gold between the women and the silver in men after tremendous performances.
After getting what were the first key places in the group on Friday and Saturday, the panorama paved the way for them to fight for medals when they crossed with Bolivia in the quarterfinals. The day began late to dry the floor complicated by the morning frost, while on one side of Paseo 21 the sun began to hit hard, in the other sector it felt cool.
The girls’ path to gold came with the bad news that Nicole Tapari was not going to be able to play due to medical advice, but Violeta Maggi, Angelina Giacone and Federica Lagana gave it all up and more. It was 19-6 against Bolivia to unleash the madness.
In their second presentation, already in the semifinals, those led by Ayelén Cortez defeated Colombia 16-8 and earned a place in the grand final under the guidance of an inspired Giacone.
And the final against Ecuador was really tight and tough, but once again, in addition to the game, there was intelligence and heart before an audience that took over the Park and encouraged the team. It was 8 to 5 to unleash the celebration and wait for the men’s final, since the selected ones encouraged each other at every step.
“Hanging the medal in front of this public, with the light blue and white, is the most beautiful thing that can happen to us. We always dream of it and prepare for this, so we are super happy”, explained Angelina Giacone.
To reach the final, the men won without problems against Bolivia by 22-11 with all the potential and lucid tasks of those from here, Julián García and Lucio Grimauldo.
In the semifinals came a tough mission against Brazil, but Argentina dominated with defensive work that allowed them to generate good chances and win by an 18-8 as unexpected as fair for the madness of the public that endured hours and hours under the sun not to lose their place. The expectation was tremendous.
The cast of Leo Tesido showed that all the work done was not in vain and reached the final against the rival of the debut, the tremendous Uruguay.
The enormous start of the Celestes conditioned the game, but Argentina returned to the match hand in hand with Grimauldo and with the encouragement of its people. However, this time it could not be turned around and Uruguay closed it well to the anger of the kids, who by the time of the award ceremony had already begun to understand that money is worth a lot. Nico Chiaraviglio, Facundo Wolinsky, Julián García and Lucio Grimauldo were the cast of Tesido from Rosario.
