PORCIA - The Italian top team Green Planet Gold with its star players Marco Zanetti and Dani Sánchez won the 19th championship of Italy. The finalof the tournament, which was played at the Green Planet club in Porcia, was the encounter between the reigning champion and La Biglia. The Fabio Gaiotti team, Green Planet, won 8-0. Marco Zanetti and Dani Sánchez won their matches to 40 points in 15 innings. It was the third title in a row for Green Planet Gold.
The championship started with nine teams, divided into groups of five and four, playing a round robin. Green Planet (Sánchez, Zanetti, Oddo, Gaiotti) and Smile Club (Bulut, Sciacca, Mancini, Orlando), the two main contenders, finished up first and second in the strongest group. The matches were played to thirty points. Zanetti played the best match in nine innings.
Green Planet ended 1.097 of average, Smile Club from Trapani 0.967. The numbers one and two of Group B, which qualified for the semi-finals, were La Biglia from Modica and SB Revival from Barletta. In the semi-final was played to 40 points.
Green Planet had a walkover in the semis against SB Revival with victories at all the tables. The other favorite, Smile Club, had to battle it out in a hard fight with La Biglia. After two matches, the score was 1-1. Savas Bulut came strong out of the blocks against Papa in the second part (21-15 in 12), Cortese led against Sciacca (23-14 in 18). Bulut won his match 40-23 in 26, but Cortese, including a run of six in the 26th inning, defeated Sciacca and advanced for the finale with his team. The final result was 4-4, with a small points balance for La Biglia.
The finale was a high class demonstration of the champion Green Planet Gold.
The final score:
1 Green Planet Gold (1.145, new Italian record)
2 La Biglia 0.780
3 Smile Club 0.967
Individual top four:
1 Zanetti 1.940
2 Sánchez 1.775
3 Bulut 1.404
4 Cortese 1.323.