It’s already time for the championship semi-finals in the Playoffs of the Techfind Women’s A1 Series, in fact tomorrow Saturday 4 May the two matches 1 will be played between Famila Wuber Schio – Passalacqua Ragusa and Umana Reyer Venezia – Magnolia Campobasso. Surprisingly, Virtus Segafredo Bologna is not present among the 4 best teams in Italy and immediately exited in the quarter-finals at the hands of Passalacqua Ragusa, with the Iblea dominating without any ifs or buts Game 3 at the Segafredo Arena. Famila Schio and Reyer Venezia passed the round with a 2-0 win, while the Campobasso players come from a very difficult and physically and mentally demanding series against Geas.
FAMILA SCHIO – PASSALACQUA RAGUSA SATURDAY 4TH 7.30 PM
Opening the evening of Game 1 of the Semifinal is the match between Schio – Ragusa, which has now become the great classic of Italian women’s basketball. Schio comes from a few more days of rest given that the Vicenza team closed the series against San Martino di Lupari at 2-0, while the islanders arrive with the enthusiasm of that team that knocked out Virtus Bologna in the first round at times ugly to see in a practically one-sided race 3. The eagles know that they are not the favorites to advance to the next round and therefore will go to Schio with the knowledge that they will be able to play it out until the end, trying to annoy the orange team as has already happened on some occasions. The strong point of coach Lino Lardo’s team is the defensive phase where, in fact, in Game 3 against Virtus at the Segafredo Arena they held the hosts to just 57 points scored, a statistic not to be underestimated given that the Black Vs they averaged 73.1 points in the regular season. To be able to bring home at least game 1, Ragusa will have to stop the pace of Sottana and her teammates who average 20 assists per game, on the other hand Schio must be very careful of the Iblee’s guns and will need experience and the talent of Sottana, Verona, Guirantes and Juhasz to bring it home. It will be a match to be experienced: appointment for Saturday 4 May at 7.30pm at the PalaRomare in Schio with paid live broadcast on FLIMA TV.
REYER VENICE – MAGNOLIA CAMPOBASSO SATURDAY 4TH AT 9.00 PM
Closing the evening of the championship semi-finals will be the match between Reyer Venezia and Magnolia Campobasso. As with Schio, Reyer Venezia also had a few more days of rest as they closed the series against Oxygen Roma at 2-0, while Magnolia had to overcome the Geas obstacle in Game 3 in a very difficult series on a physical and mental level given that Game 1 ended after two extra times and Game 2 was won by Campobasso alla Sirena with a somewhat lucky triple from Kacerik. The match will be to be enjoyed as the best attack (Venezia, 75.3 points) and the best defense (Campobasso, 58.9 points conceded) will compete, but for its part Magnolia has the better of Venezia also in the statistical items of the balls steals (9.1 versus 8.5), the only problem for coach Sabatelli’s team is the attack as they average just 63.3 points per game, a figure that could make the difference in this series. To conquer the Taliercio fort and to try to win the series against the Venetians, the Campobasso team will need the best performance of the season from all the players and will have to try to contain the two best big men of the season Kuier and Shepard. The gold-grenades will have to try to maintain the field factor of Taliercio who this season has only been conquered once by Virtus and despite the absence of Lorela Cubaj they have continued to dominate under the basket, resulting in one of the best teams in the championship. A fiery challenge promises to be on: Saturday 4 May for Race 1 at the Palasport Taliercio in Mestre at 9.00 pm live on Rai Sport.
Below are the official dates and times of the championship semi-finals:
Race 1:
Saturday 4 May at 7.30pm at PalaRomare Schio – Ragusa (Flima TV)
Saturday 4 May at 9.00 pm at the Palasport Taliercio Reyer – Campobasso (Rai Sport)
Race 2:
Wednesday 8 May at 8.30pm at PalaSelvapiana Campobasso – Reyer (Flima TV)
Wednesday 8 May at 9.00 pm at PalaMinardi Ragusa – Schio (Rai Sport)
EV. Race 3:
Saturday 11 May at 4pm at the Palasport Taliercio Reyer – Campobasso (Flima TV)
Saturday 11 May at 9.00 pm at PalaRomare Schio – Ragusa (Rai Sport)
Chiara Morbio
Photo credit: Ciamillo Castoria/G. Masi
In the image Awak Kuier shooting in Game 2 in Rome
