On a busy day, the Bologna team had to contend with the calibre of the international field, but found some excellent moments in the men’s doubles.
All eyes were on the pair of Andrea Belardinelli and Jonas Micocci. In the round of 32, the two Alma Mater representatives gave their opponents no quarter, defeating the Azerbaijan Sports Academy duo of Ahmadzada and Hajili by a clear 3-0 (11-5; 11-3; 11-8). Their run then came to an end in the round of 16, where they put up a creditable fight before losing 3-0 to the solid Swiss pair Rebelez and Scharrer.
The Bologna players had less luck in the singles and women’s doubles draws, facing top-class opponents. In the men’s singles round of 32, Pierpaolo Rossi was beaten 3-0 (11-4; 11-9; 11-9) by the Turkish player Sahin Gul (Istanbul Aydin Universitesi), whilst Daniele Rossi put up a fight before losing 3-1 (9-11; 12-10; 11-9; 11-8) to the Polish player Jakub Stecyszyn of Akademia Zamojska.
In the women’s competition, the doubles pair of Irem Balbay and Nefeli Ppali were defeated 3-1 (7-11; 11-9; 12-10; 11-7) by the Beridze-Lipartia pair. Rachele De Luca also failed to progress in her singles match, losing 3-0 (11-3; 11-4; 11-1) by Dora Cosic, and for Irem Balbay, who was defeated by the same score (11-6; 11-4; 11-1) by the Portuguese player Ines Matos from the University of Porto.
This European experience has therefore come to a successful conclusion, marked by a place amongst the top ten universities in Europe, which recognises the value of the whole team’s efforts.
