The junior European championship ended in its various specialties in Desio, with great satisfaction for the Italian junior team who managed to win a gold, two silvers and a bronze, obtaining a tricolor “booty” well beyond expectations.
In the three-sided carom, the three Iblean athletes performed well, holding up the comparison with older European athletes more accustomed to competitive competitions. Mirko Russino in the three shores of the ‘small table’ loses by only one point against the Dutch athlete and gives in to his opponents while playing a good match at par until halfway through the race. Paolo Turlà and Giuliano Di Gabriele despite losing the two matches in their respective groups, manage to do well paired with De Girolamo and Cucchiara in the Biathlon specialty (combined three sides and five pins). Turlà plays his first portion of the game very well against the most popular Netherlands, and Di Girolamo completes the victory, while Di Gabriele and Cucchiara manage to win the group of three against France, only to yield to Denmark in the final. winning an unexpected but more than deserved Silver medal. The Italian Palmares in the five pin specialty is filled with gold from Marsala Emanuel Cucchiara, silver from Felice Izzo and bronze from Luigi De Girolamo.
Great satisfaction for the coaches / coaches of the junior national team Libero Picciano and Roberto Turlà and for the managers of the Italian Sports Billiards Federation, for the medals won and above all for the splendid experience that the young Iblean talents have lived, competing on a par with European athletes and experiencing important moments of confrontation, aggregation and sharing. I am very happy – declared CONI delegate Maria Monisteri – for our boys, who have managed to bring the colors of our province higher and higher even in this important international competition.
