CAGLIARI, 26 MARCH 2023 – The Italian Championships of Cagliari, organized for the first time in Sardinia by the Italian Table Tennis Federation, in collaboration with the FITeT Sardinia Regional Committee and with the patronage of the Sardinia Region and the Municipality of Cagliari, concluded with the dispute of the final stages of the absolute singulars. The titles at PalaPirastu were won by Tan Wenling (CIATT Prato) and Leonardo Mutti (Aeronautica Militare).
Tan had won for the first time in 2008 and after 15 years she repeated. She beat her teammate Chiara Colantoni in the final 4-3 (11-6, 11-13, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-5), in her second final act , after that of 2021. Third step of the podium for Nikoleta Stefanova (CIATT Prato) and Debora Vivarelli (Army Sports Center). «I’m happy with this title – comments Tan – after that of 2008. At the time it was the year of the Beijing Olympics and my daughter Gaia (Monfardini, ed) was seven years old and was on my bench. After 15 years she’s still on the bench and she helped me get this win. When I was very tired and I couldn’t take it anymore, she told me “Mamy, bring out all the energy you have and give me a good example”. I wanted to be an example for her and for the other young people and I did it. I don’t train much, but my husband encourages me to go to the gym, to keep fit. When I’m on the pitch I absolutely want to win. When I arrived in Cagliari, I didn’t really think of succeeding, rather of doing what I could. It was mostly to be with Gaia. I was sad that we lost in doubles, it was my fault, because I played badly. She was good at her, in doubles, however, you have to be good in twos. I hope that next year in singles it’s your turn.”
Mutti dropped the trio, again after four years, after the successes of 2015 in Molfetta and 2019 in Bolzano. In the final he beat his team mate Mihai Bobocica by 4-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9), who remained stuck at six championships. Bronze medal around the neck of John Oyebode (Sassari table tennis) and Jordy Piccolin (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group).
«This title is special – explains the Italian champion – because in two days the Air Force will turn 100 and as far as I’m concerned this is the best way to celebrate it. It’s a great satisfaction, at the beginning of the season I was in a bad moment, but I didn’t stop believing in it and continued to work hard. I didn’t think I could win and this result gives me the energy to continue giving my best and to assert myself on the international front as well. I’m happy, it means I’m growing mentally and of course also technically. The semifinal against Oyebode was very hard and fought right up to the last point, with various match-points in favor of Johnny, who eventually led 9-4. He put in an excellent performance and I want to congratulate him. I had the strength and lucidity to win a match that seemed impossible to take home and this is a source of great emotion for me. After winning like this, I really wanted to repeat myself in the final. I know Bobo very well, we’ve met many times and from a technical-tactical and above all mental point of view I dealt with him well. He was good too, I had character and courage and I was rewarded».
Great satisfaction from the organizers. «I had the dream of bringing the tricolor review to Sardinia – explains the president of FITeT Renato Di Napoli – and I’m happy to have succeeded, thanks to everyone’s work. We teamed up and the work was fruitful, because everyone did their job in the best possible way. 600 people arrived, including athletes, coaches, managers and referees and we received very positive comments. We managed to set everything up in record time, within a month, thanks to the support, not only economic, of the institutions and CONI Sardegna and the commitment of the regional president Simone Carrucciu. Once again the federal machine worked and the media helped us to make the event known even outside our table tennis world. The representatives of the Region and the Municipality were also close to us during the competitions and also wanted to share with us the moment of the awards, together with the leaders of the military groups. For the first time we have joined the second and third categories to the absolute and the result is a week of great competition and entertainment at the highest levels. They are those events that one would like to never end and which leave beautiful memories for all those who have had the pleasure of participating».
For Simone Carrucciu «the last hours shared with the whole organizing group are perhaps the worst. A sense of nostalgia almost emerges which makes us understand how a machine so complex in its components, like the Absolute Italian Championships 2023, managed to reach the finish line with the engine intact. The initial fears haunt, but if there is a strong will to do things right, the unknowns and small mistakes disappear with the assiduous and passionate teamwork. I would say that the Italian Table Tennis Federation has won a big bet: it wasn’t easy to channel forces to Sardinia, with all the atavistic problems linked to insularity. But it is precisely from the island’s politics that fundamental support has come, precisely to make us momentarily forget our condition as forced users of ships and aircraft. The Municipality of Cagliari, the Region of Sardinia, and I put the FITeT Regional Committee with a pinch of pride, have been concrete in favoring the descent to the island’s capital of many champions of our beloved discipline. The results were not long in coming, both in terms of medals and in terms of acceptance by an attentive public, which filled up the structures involved every day. I appreciated the many visits received from local institutions and schools, which I thank so much, demonstrating how there has been a targeted involvement, tending not to exclude anyone. I warmly thank those who put up with me in these ten days of little sleep and demanding work, but it was worth it and the results are there for all to see. I thank Renato Di Napoli, the Federal Council, the personnel and the numerous staff, the audio, photo and video operators, the media, the partners, without forgetting the real protagonists, the athletes and the public. Mine is definitely a goodbye because in Sardinia table tennis is at home and I already imagine international champions immersed in places that bewitch for their beauty and culture. We are ready to get back into the game.”
Here is the summary of the podiums:
Absolute masculine singular:
Leonardo Mutti (Military Air Force)
Mihai Bobocica (Air Force)
John Oyebode (Sassari table tennis) and Jordy Piccolin (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group)
Absolute feminine singular:
Tan Wenling (CIATT Prato)
Chiara Colantoni (CIATT Prato)
Nikoleta Stefanova (CIATT Prato) and Debora Vivarelli (Army Sports Center)
Men’s doubles absolute:
Marco Rech Daldosso (Air Force) and Alessandro Baciocchi (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group)
Leonardo Mutti (Air Force) and Matteo Mutti (Top Spin Messina)
Antonino Amato (Marcozzi Cagliari) and Daniele Pinto (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group) and John Oyebode (Sassari Table Tennis) and Jordy Piccolin (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group)
Absolute women’s double:
Debora Vivarelli and Giorgia Piccolin (Army Sports Center)
Nicole Arlia (Castel Goffredo table tennis) and Nikoleta Stefanova (CIATT Prato)
Giulia Cavalli (Polisportiva Bagnolese) and Veronica Mosconi (Norbello table tennis) and Gaia Monfardini (Castel Goffredo table tennis) and Tan Wenling (CIATT Prato)
Mixed doubles absolute:
John Oyebode (table tennis Sassari) and Gaia Monfardini (table tennis Castel Goffredo)
Antonino Amato (Marcozzi Cagliari) and Nikoleta Stefanova (CIATT Prato)
Jordy Piccolin (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group) and Debora Vivarelli (Army Sports Center) and Alessandro Baciocchi (Fiamme Azzurre Sports Group) and Arianna Barani (CIATT Prato)
Second category men’s singles:
Marco Cappuccio (Norbello table tennis)
Paolo Bisi (The Prato Club 2010)
Giacomo Allegranza (Cus Torino) and Luigi Rocca (Table Tennis Stella del Sud)
Second category women’s singles:
Valentina Roncallo (Muravera table tennis)
Wang Xuelan (Marco Polo table tennis)
Le Thi Hong Loan (ASV TT Südtirol) and Miriam Carnovale (Muravera table tennis)
Second category men’s doubles:
Lorenzo Ragni (CIATT Prato) and Paolo Bisi (Il Circolo Prato 2010)
Romualdo Manna and Giacomo Allegranza (Cus Turin)
Damiano Seretti (Turin Table Tennis) and Maxim Kuznetsov (Santa Tecla Nulvi Table Tennis) and Antonino Amato (Marcozzi Cagliari) and Danilo Faso (Top Spin Messina)
Second category women’s doubles:
Giulia Cavalli (Polisportiva Bagnolese) and Veronica Mosconi (Tennis table Norbello)
Nicoletta Criscione (Muravera Table Tennis) and Le Thi Hong Loan (ASV TT Südtirol)
Elisa Armanini (Turin table tennis) and Wang Xuelan (Marco Polo table tennis) and Miriam Carnovale and Valentina Roncallo (Muravera table tennis)
Second category mixed doubles:
Federico Vallino Costassa (Turin table tennis) and Valentina Roncallo (Muravera table tennis)
Paolo Bisi (Il Circolo Prato 2010) and Le Thi Hong Loan ((ASV TT Südtirol)
Marco Cappuccio and Veronica Mosconi (Norbello Table Tennis) and Giacomo Allegranza (Cus Torino) and Miriam Carnovale (Muravera Table Tennis)
Third category men’s singles:
Francesco Trevisan (Sportni Krozek Kras)
Giacomo Izzo (Milan Sport Table Tennis)
Emanuele Vasta (CIATT Prato) and Abderrahmane Chokry (table tennis Marco Polo)
Third category women’s singles:
Margherita Cerritelli (table tennis Campomaggiore Terni)
Jessica Ramazzini (table tennis Vallecamonica)
Marialucia Di Meo (Norbello Table Tennis) and Chiara Daverio (Varese Table Tennis)
Third category men’s doubles:
Francesco Trevisan and Erik Paulina (Sportni Krozek Kras)
Davide Castracane (Table Tennis Florence) and Giacomo Izzo (Milan Sport Table Tennis)
Simone Garello (A4 Verzuolo) and Davide Simon (Turin Table Tennis) and Abderrahmane Chokry (Marco Polo Table Tennis) and Gianluca Mastroberti (South Star Table Tennis)
Third category women’s doubles:
Ana Brzan and Marialucia Di Meo (Norbello table tennis)
Margherita Cerritelli and Irene Moretti (Campomaggiore Terni table tennis)
Arianna Magnaghi and Sofia Mescieri (Castel Goffredo table tennis) and Jessica Ramazzini and Matilde Buzzoni (Vallecamonica table tennis)
Third category mixed doubles:
Giacomo Izzo (Milan Sport Table Tennis) and Sofia Mescieri (Castel Goffredo Table Tennis)
Antonio Gigliotti (Cral Municipality of Rome) and Giulia Varveri (Tennis players Campomaggiore Terni)
Francesco Trevisan (Sportni Krozek Kras) and Francesca Seu (Muravera Tennis Tavoko) and Giacomo Felici (Tennis Table Casamassima 2020) and Margherita Cerritelli (Tennis Table Campomaggiore Terni)
Photo by Nonsolofoto Cagliari
