1944 | Tables in a double duel Castilla-Catalonia

the duels Castile-Catalonia They were of course very important for the growth and popularization of basketball. But also, and also for this reason, they were organized by the FEB, as in previous years, because for the players they served as a prelude to their possible call for matches of the Spanish National Team. The double confrontation experienced in 1944 is framed in this context.

The first of the two games was played on the designated date of April 23 at the Gran Price in Barcelona, ​​and ended with a 51-42 victory for Catalonia. It was a great show. “Both teams performed to their full satisfaction, especially in the phases of dominance that one and the other exercised on the field. The man from Madrid, during the two thirds of the first part and the final phase of the second, and the Catalan, in the rest”. The chronicle published the following day in the pages of EL MUNDO DEPORTIVO highlights “Emilio Alonso’s elegant and practical game” and the contribution of his brother Pedro y Gámez. On the Catalan side, the best were Eduardo Kucharski and Marcelino Maneja. The match referee was the Aragonese Bergés. And proof of the importance given to the match is the presence in the presidential box of the Captain General of the Fourth Military Region and president of the National Sports Council, General Moscardó. Along with him, in addition to other political and sports authorities, the president of the FEB, Emilio Sanchez Corona.

The ‘return’ match was played three weeks later at the Frontón Recoletos court in Madrid, also in the midst of enormous expectation and the presence of authorities, and was won by the Castilians 34-32, a result as tight as the whole game, which had to be resolved in an extension.