Setterosa flies to Paris Olympics
Setterosa flies to Paris Olympics
The Setterosa beat Canada in the final for seventh place at the World Championships in Doha, winning the Olympic pass at the sixth and final opportunity. Excellent defensive performance by the Azzurre, who saved six out of nine numerical inferiorities, and attacked with decisiveness with Bianconi’s five and Avegno’s and Giustini’s four goals. Setterosa ended the World Cup in seventh place and qualified for the Paris Olympics.
For Italy, gold in Athens 2004 and silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016, è a return to the Games after missing the Tokyo edition, held in 2021, to which it did not qualify. Only Tabani and Bianconi had participated in an Olympic event. In the final for third place Spain overcame Greece at the last breath with a score of 10-9, getting the bronze medal.
"It has been a very intense two months. We have been experiencing this pressure of the Olympic pass since Fukuoka. In Japan we were close to getting it, already we were in quotes a little bit nervous. Twice we could achieve it at the Europeans in Eindhoven and also theì è went wrong. Twice here and it went bad. Let's say there was this nightmare of the Olympic pass,” coach Silipo admitted to the microphones of Rai Sport, “which then did not allow us to express our game at its best during the competition. We tried everything to dampen the tension a little. I had told the girls before we left for Doha that the important thing was to win the world championship to try to distract from the Paris goal. However, that's fine. This group comes from a big disappointment".
"I want to remind the girls that in these two and a half years, besides getting an Olympic pass, albeit not in the best condition, they have won two important medals, at Europeans and Worlds, and in the other two competitions they finished fourth. So if they start believing a little more in their strength, in their abilities, they will be able to be a really good team. Apart from Bianconi and Tabani, the rest of the girls are all first-timers: none of them have experienced this adrenaline, this stress. Now we enjoy it, the girls have to get rid of this burden. We will have a very busy summer ahead of us to get back to being stronger than before. The hug to Mino was a hug to the whole staff. Thanks to Fabio Conti, who has always supported us. We go to Paris!" concluded Silipo.
