BRANDENBURG - The stage at the European championship 5 pins already was coloured Italian azure blue with four Italians in the best four. The azzurri 5 pins team was also unbeatable in the championship for nation teams today. The Danish team was beaten in the final 3-0, the relay-match wasn't even played because of the score. When you speak about 5 pins in Europea, actually there is only one country: Italy. The game with the five pins is played in many bars and clubs since the beginning of the last century.
The estimate is that between one and two million people are playing 5 pins. The Italian federation has 40.000 playing members of which about twenty have the professional status. Many years ago, it was especially in the bars that 5 pins was played. Stefano Gibertoni, the national team coach: ,,The most 5 pins tables are now in clubs, often with ten to twenty billiard tables.
To compare with other countries in Europe: in Denmark, the silver medal, about fifty players are members of the federation. There is another game more popular: Danish 5 pins.
In addition to 5 pins in Italy, there is another game type very popular in Italy: 'Boccette', which also has about 7000 members in the federation. It is played by hand, not with a cue, with 4 white, 4 red and one blue ball.
The two undisputed best countries in the world are Italy and Argentina. The players of those two countries alternate at the World championship. Matteo Gualemi, who won the European championship, is also the current world champion. Two years ago, Gustavo Torregiani from Argentina was the best in the world.
The Italian 5 pins has known three to four 'Ceulemansen' over the years: players who won the Italian championship for more than ten years. The national champion comes from six tournaments per season with thousands of players. The best eight play the title. The last Italian champion is Andrea Quarta, who was part of the winning team at this EC.
The team consisted of Ricardo Belluta, Andrea Quarta, Antonio Buta, Matteo Gualemi and Carlo di Renzo. The coach was Stefano Gibertoni. The youngest player of the winning team is Matteo Gualemi (29), the oldest Ricardo Belluta (55).
For the Danes, who lost the final, played Finn Mortensen, Erling Sjörup, Christian Sönderby and Kim Henriksen. The other teams in the semi-finals were Germany and Switzerland.
The European 5 pins podium with the Italians on top