The Air Force athletes won third place by defeating France L’Italia, which won third place by defeating France with a clear score of 88 to 61. Italy returned to the podium at Shape after eight years; the last time it had done so was in 2004, when it had won the silver medal.
The adventure of the Italian team, selected and managed by the Italian Air Force through the AM Sports Center in Vigna di Valle, on behalf of the General Staff of the Defense, began with the victory over Kazakhstan at the beginning of the group stage. The second match was splendid, in which the ten athletes of the Italian Air Force conceded only three points to the United States after a game that thrilled the many Italian fans of the Italian community in Shape who came to see their compatriots play. The victory over the English team in the third and final match of the group stage then allowed the “azzurri” to play the final for third and fourth place against France. The tournament saw Lithuania prevail, victorious in the final against the United States by 89 to 84. These are the names of the ten athletes of the Aeronautica Militare, led by coach Andrea Paccariè with the support of deputy coach, Lieutenant Lorenzo Moretti: Daniele Mai (captain), Massimiliano Monti, Edoardo Nesti, Saverio Cortellacci, Luca Simeone, Stefano Piazza., Filippo Mori, Andrea Storchi, Lenny Bogunovich, Pasquale Mattuozzo. The Aeronautica Militare Sports Center, based in Vigna di Valle, on the banks of Lake Bracciano, works alongside the other Sports Centers and Groups of the Armed Forces and Armored Corps of the State to protect the national sports heritage and, thanks to the contribution of its technical and specialist staff, is constantly engaged in the search for the best talents at the national level to support and maintain the value of Italian sport, as demonstrated by the results achieved at the last Olympics in London where the Aeronautica Militare Sports Group was the first uniformed sports team in terms of the number of medals won.
