Italy’s Carlo Di Giusto has selected the team that will play at the 2019 Men’s European Championship in Wałbrzych, Poland starting on the 30th August.
The National Technical Director of the Italian Wheelchair Basketball Federation (FIPIC), Carlo Di Giusto, has made three changes to the team that finished 11th at the 2018 World Championships last year in Hamburg.
Di Giusto has brought back the experience of 46 year old Fabio Raimondi, who returns to the Italian side for the first time since 2015. Also re-joining the team after missing out on Hamburg last year is the youngest member of the team, Sabri Bedzeti, with Domenico Miceli being the final new addition. They take the place of Domenico Beltrame, Simone De Maggi and Davide Schiera from the 2018 World’s team.
Briantea84’s Filippo Carossino will captain the side as they aim to secure one of the four spots available for next year’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Italy will play their opening match of the European Championship on 31st August at 7pm against World Champions Great Britain, and will also be up against hosts Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in their group.
The European Championship will consist of twelve countries who will be split across two pools in the preliminary stages. The top four in each pool enter the quarter-finals; the four semi-finalists win the Paralympic pass for Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Italy’s 2019 European Championship Roster
| Players Name | Age at start of championship | Classification |
| Filippo Carossino | 25 | 3.5 |
| Giulio Maria Papi | 25 | 4.0 |
| Jacopo Geninazzi | 32 | 4.0 |
| Claudio Spanu | 31 | 1.0 |
| Andrea Giaretti | 26 | 4.0 |
| Marco Stupenengo | 31 | 2.5 |
| Francesco Santorelli | 27 | 1.5 |
| Fabio Raimondi | 47 | 2.0 |
| Enrico Ghione | 29 | 4.5 |
| Ahmed Raourahi | 35 | 1.5 |
| Sabri Bedzeti | 24 | 4.0 |
| Domenico Miceli | 28 | 2.5 |
*Classification on date of publication
Image courtesy of FIPIC
