Preliminary stages successfully completed and excellent placements for the Air Force athletes
They ended with excellent results for the athletes of Italian Air Force Sports Centre The World Beach Volleyball Championships in Rome, which took place from June 10 to 19. 96 male and female teams from all over the world competed in the beautiful setting of the Foro Italico, where the Aeronautica Militare also set up a promotional stand. The Norwegian Olympians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum won the tournament in the men’s category, while the Brazilian duo of Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos won in the women’s category.
The results of almost all the Italian pairs were brilliant, who surpassed the preliminary rounds, except for the two youngest federations, which narrowly missed the passage to the sixteenths by a few points, and the new pair of sisters Orsi Toth, forced to end the tournament due to an injury to Aviere Capo Viktoria Orsi Toth.
Two well-played matches by the pair Primo Aviere Scelto Daniele Lupo – Aviere Capo Alex Ranghieri and Primo Aviere Scelto Paolo Nicolai with the young Samuele Cottafava, who overcame the first step of the knockout phase, respectively against the French Krou-Gauthier and the Cubans Diaz-Alayo; while the pair Aviere Capo Adrian Carmbula – Aviere Scelto Enrico Rossi could do nothing against the Chilean brothers Grimalt, who scored a 2-0 victory in a well-prepared match, taking advantage of the injury to Carambula’s thigh, a strain with which he had to contend throughout the entire tournament and which did not allow him to perform at his best. Therefore, a final 17th place for both of them.
Excellent performance by First Aviere Head Marta Menegatti in a pair with the young Valentina Gottardi, who advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating the Argentines 2-0.
Thursday 16th was an entirely unexpected evening, in which the Italian favorites Nicolai-Cottafava faced the Brazilians Renato-Felipe (who would later win silver at the World Championships), after dominating the first set 21-11 and giving way to the other two. The pair of Lupo-Ranghieri also had no chance against the impassive Dutch pair Brouwer-Meeuwsen, who played a perfect match, preventing the two players from emerging. Both teams finish this World Championship in 9th place. In the women’s category, however, a well-played derby between Menegatti-Gottardi and Scampoli-Bianchin, coached by Aviere Capo Laura Giombini, allowed Primo Aviere Capo Menegatti to advance to the round of 16 and be the only Italian team to reach the quarterfinals, where, however, they would surrender the next day to the Canadian pair Bukovec-Brandie (who would then win silver in the final against the Brazilian World Champions), playing a tactically well-prepared match and not allowing the Italians to overtake them in points for the two sets played. The World Championship thus ends for them in 5th place.
A good overall result, considering the injury of Aviere Capo Adrian Carambula, with whom he lived together throughout the tournament, and that of Aviere Capo Viktoria Orsi Toth. It is worth highlighting the speed with which the newly formed pairs leveled the international level. After the separation of the historic pairs Lupo-Nicolai and Menegatti-Orsi Toth, in fact, several new federal and non-federal projects were created, which saw the birth of the current Italian pairs participating. It is also worth highlighting the incredible rise in the world ranking of the Nicolai–Cottafava pair, which jumped to sixth place from the 18th starting position. The early results and the great qualities demonstrated in this event give us great hope for the national Beach Volleyball movement, for the Air Force athletes and for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
