2024-03-26 03:01:00
Juan Ignacio Eleicegui from Fuegian was chosen as the best player of the Pan American Rink Hockey Cup held in Calgary, Canada, where the Argentine Men’s National Team was crowned champion and qualified for the World Cup in the category.
The one born in Ushuaia 26 years ago, captain of the team, finished with 11 goals in six games, just one below the Agustín Ceballos from San Juan, who with 12 was the top scorer of the championship. As if that were not enough, between them they scored the five winning goals in the final of the tournament, 5-2 against Trinidad and Tobago with a hat trick from Ceballos and two from Eleicegui.
The Argentine path to the title was impeccable, despite how complicated the road to the contest turned out to be, with several twists and turns due to financing issues. In the group stage, the team led by Massimo Lanzano beat Guyana (9-5), Canada (8-0), the United States (8-1) and Trinidad and Tobago (12-2). While before the aforementioned final, they were beaten against the Guyanese in the semis (10-0).
On the side of The women’s team, although they did not get a World Cup ticket, the Ushuaian goalkeeper Camila Zuk was awarded as the best of the tournament in her field.. The Argentinian women finished as runners-up but since there was only one ticket at stake (for the men there were two), second place was not enough.
In the final it was a great 5-5 draw with the United States, who took the title after winning 3-2 on penalties. The Argentine team had eliminated the local team Canada in the semis (6-2) while in the initial round they recovered from an adverse debut against the Americans (1-7) and moved on to the phase thanks to the triumphs over Uruguay (8-1 ) and Canada (4-1).