Top Spin Messina Fontalba clinched the national trophy for the secind time in the history; the first was in 2019. In the final they beat the reigning champions Apuania Carrara the winners of the Supercup the Italian Cup and the Europe Cup this the season.
In the first leg played at home the Sicilian team led by the coach Marcello PUGLISI won 4-1 thanks to Ukraine’s Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO who defeated 3-2 Slovakia’s Lubomir PISTEJ and 3-1 Croatia’s Andrej GACINA and to Matteo MUTTI and to Portugal’s João MONTEIRO who beat 3-2 and 3-1 Mihai BOBOCICA. Only GACINA hit the target 3-2 over MONTEIRO in Apuania Carrara. In the second leg away a draw was enough for Top Spin and the double win of MUTTI 3-2 over PISTEJ and 3-0 over BOBOCICA and MONTEIRO’s 3-1 over BOBOCICA allowed them to succeed.
The local players who had finished the regular season in first place and were chasing their sixth title hoped until the end to postpone the verdict to the third match. Apuania was leading 3-2 due to GACINA’s 3-1 and 3-0 over ZHMUDENKO and MONTEIRO and to the great comeback of PISTEJ against MONTEIRO and the last singles that opposed MUTTI to BOBOCICA was decisive to award the title to the opponents.
“The second leg was a really tense game ” MUTTI explains “We knew it would be tough. GACINA confirmed to be very strong but we were stronger as a team and won together. I am really happy I beat PISTEJ and obviously also BOBOCICA in the last match but above all for the win over Lubomir because the last two times I had lost quite clearly against him and that was the game I feared most. I’m happy for myself for the team and for the club which worked a lot and very well. We really deserved this title”.
“We are very happy” says MONTEIRO “to be champions. We have a great team and my teammates are wonderful. All together we have made possible what was almost impossible. Hardly anyone believed we could do it only the team and the club believed it. This is a title for Messina Top Spin once again made history. We are all very happy and now we have to celebrate what we have achieved”.
Second leg: Apuania Carrara – Top Spin Messina Fontalba 3-3
Andrej GACINA – Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO 3-1 (11-5 8-11 11-9 11-7)
Lubomir PISTEJ – Matteo MUTTI 1-3 (8-11 7-11 12-10 7-11)
Mihai BOBOCICA – João MONTEIRO 1-3 (9-11 11-7 6-11 9-11)
Lubomir PISTEJ – Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO 3-2 (6-11 11-8 8-11 11-5 11-9)
Andrej GACINA – João MONTEIRO 3-0 (11-7 11-9 11-9)
Mihai BOBOCICA – Matteo MUTTI 0-3 (10-12 2-11 10-12)
First leg: Top Spin Messina Fontalba – Apuania Carrara 4-1
João MONTEIRO – Andrej GACINA 2-3 (7-11 5-11 11-6 11-9 14-16)
Matteo MUTTI – Mihai BOBOCICA 3-2 (11-7 10-12 11-9 6-11 12-10)
Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO – Lubomir PISTEJ 3-2 (11-7 8-11 5-11 11-5 11-6)
João MONTEIRO – Mihai BOBOCICA 3-0 (11-4 12-10 11-8)
Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO – Andrej GACINA 3-1 (9-11 11-8 11-9 11-9)
