The Puerto Rican wheelchair basketball team set to compete at the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games has been announced.
The Parapan Am Games take place this month between the 23rd August – 1st September at the National Sports Village - Videna in Lima, Peru, and is the zonal qualification tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
There are three changes from the team who finished second at the 2018 Central America and Caribbean Championship earning them the place in Lima 2019, with Adam Cruz, Carlos Soto and Zachary Blair all coming in to the squad.
The experienced Carlos Ocasio, who was the flagbearer for the Puerto Rican contingent at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto, Canada, will once again lead the side as captain.
The eight players completing the roster are: Carlos Pijuan, Danny Colón, Kermit Vázquez, Jesús Cruz, Carlos Martínez, Giovanni (Hector) Pérez, Héctor Maldonado and Ralffy Díaz.
They will be managed by the following team of staff: Armando Belaval (Head Coach & Athletic Therapist), Héctor Pérez (Assistant Coach & Administrator), Marcos Hernández (Assistant), Sigfredo Vázquez (Assistant), and Dilka J. Benítez (President & Team Manager).
President of the Puerto Rican Wheelchair Basketball Federation (FEBASIRU), Dilka J. Benitez, said:
“There are only 22 days to go until our Puerto Rican wheelchair basketball team are ready to proudly represent Puerto Rico at Lima 2019. It should be noted that each of the athletes and the technical team have something valuable to contribute and it is teamwork that will guarantee us we put on a good sports performance."
Puerto Rico, who have been drawn in pool B, face current Paralympic Champions USA in their opening game on Saturday (24th August), followed by a match-up against Brazil on the Sunday, and hosts Peru in their final group game on Monday. Full competition schedule for the wheelchair basketball at Lima 2019 can be found here.
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