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This weekend (Saturday 23 January 2021) the top Italian wheelchair basketball championship will return. Almost eleven months after the suspension of the 2019/2020 season, Serie A restarts with a new format and a redesigned post-season to limit the number of matches for each team, in light of the current health emergency.
The 2021 Serie A regular season will consist of two groups of four teams: Group A includes S. Stefano Avis, Deco Group Amicacci Giulianova, Studio 3A Padova Millennium Basket, and Dinamo Lab Sassari; Group B is made up of UnipolSai Briantea84 Cantù, Key Estate GSD Porto Torres, SBS Montello, and Pharmacy Pellicanò Reggio Calabria BIC.
At the end of the regular season, rankings will establish the pairings for the quarter-finals to be played with round-trip matches starting from 6 March (and with goal difference as a discriminating criterion in the event of a tie). The semi-finals will follow (always with the double confrontation format), and then the Scudetto final, best of three games, with match one scheduled for 10 April. The placements from third to eighth place will be established by a series of crossings with home and away matches. There are no relegations to Serie B.
Compared to the 2019/2020 season, among the participants there is the newcomers Pharmacy Pellicanò Reggio Calabria BIC, in the first Serie A championship in its history, replacing Santa Lucia Roma, who have chosen to restart from Serie B.
The first day on Saturday 23 January will see the debut of the reigning Italian champions of S. Stefano Avis in Sassari against Dinamo Lab (3pm); also in Group A, Amicacci Giulianova will host Padova Millennium Basket (3pm). In Group B, Reggio Calabria face UnipolSai Briantea84 Cantù (7pm) and a home fixture for GSD Porto Torres against SBS Montello (3pm).
The FIPIC (Italian Wheelchair Basketball Federation) has committed to the production and live streaming of a regular season match every week for the 2021 season: it starts with the match between Amicacci Giulianova and Padova Millennium.
SERIE A - MATCH 1
Group A
- Dinamo Lab Sassari - S. Stefano Avis (3pm)
- Deco Group Amicacci Giulianova - Studio 3A Padova Millennium (3pm) – (live streaming on FIPIC channels.)
Group B
- Key Estate GSD Porto Torres - SBS Montello (3pm)
- Pharmacy Pellicanò Reggio Calabria BIC - UnipolSai Briantea84 Cantù (7pm).
Text and Images courtesy of FIPIC
