A gold, a silver and a bronze for the boys of Tiger’s Den Barcellona, present in the regional team that participated in the Olympic Dream Cup held on Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th at the Foro Italico in Rome.
Conquering the top step of the podium was the very young Nino Perroni who, in the -33 kg cadet category defeated 5 opponents, affirming his undisputed supremacy on the national field. Also in the cadets, Elena Fazio won bronze in the -44 kg category, repeating the result of the Italian championships last February.
In the senior -58 kg category, Giuseppe Foti, recovering after a 6-month stoppage due to a serious injury, obtained a very important silver medal, at the culmination of a thrilling final with the Italian champion Teo Del Vecchio. In the previous rounds Foti overcame 4 opponents, with two very difficult matches, in the round of 16 against the very solid athlete from Emilia Romagna Elia Torre, and in the quarterfinals against the very good Ettore Lenzo, second member of the Sicilian team, also from Barcelona, who put the athlete of the Italian national team in a lot of difficulty.
There were 11 Tiger’s Den athletes called up to the regional representative. In addition to the three medalists, there were seniors Nouhaila Ammour, Martina Calabrò and Alex Cassata, juniors Greta D’Amico and Massimo Magazù, and cadets Clio Sottile, Antonino Maggio and Valerio Biondo.
The final ranking of the regional teams sees Puglia triumph again this year, with Lazio second. Excellent third place for Sicily with 6 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze medals and which also this year won first position in the junior men’s category.
In the national tournament for very young Kim & Liu which took place in the same setting on Friday and Saturday 31 May and 1 June, Linda Magazù took the top step of the podium in the Kids -57 kg category and Mia Monforte in the Beginners category – 26kg.
“I am very happy – states maestro Giuseppe Sottile – for the title won by Nino Perroni, the result of many sacrifices and unshakable will, as well as the extraordinary support of his parents. New scenarios are now opening up for Nino, including the possibility of a call-up to the national team in view of the next European Championships in Tirana. However, I am less satisfied with the overall result of our component of the regional team. Apart from Elena Fazio and Peppe Foti who however – despite still not being at 50% shape – took second place by overcoming very difficult athletes and playing an extraordinary final, I certainly expected more from Nouhaila Ammour and Massimo Magazù, both vice Italian champions and even more so by the Italian champion Clio Sottile, although she must certainly be recognized for the mitigating factor of having been out of action for the last two months due to an annoying injury”.
