In Bologna today took place the third episode of the rapprochement between basketball and rugby in the colors of the Italian national team, which in recent weeks has involved both the head coaches of the Italian national teams in these two sports. At the visit to the Italian rugby national team by the coach of the Italian national basketball team Gianmarco Pozzecco, The match on November 8 in Udine, before the match against Argentina, was followed by the match on November 25 in Reggio Emilia, when the coach Gonzalo Quesada He witnessed the match of the Italian basketball team against Iceland. As a culmination of this journey, today the two coaches finally met in Bologna on ‘neutral ground’, so to speak, to play a unique padel match.

Complicator Macron, Since the two Italian federations are technical sponsors of the event, an exhibition event was organized in which the pair took part. Gianmarco Pozzecco-Stefano Mancinelli (Former National Team Captain with 122 appearances to his name) and the one formed by Gonzalo Quesada-German Fernandez (assistant coach of Quesada).

On the fields of Country Club Racket World in Villanova (BO), The challenge became more “vibrant” thanks to a series of ‘challenges’ related to the respective sports worlds of the two coaches. The first challenge was to make a basket, obviously hitting the ball with the racket, into the basket. Then, for ‘par condicio’, it was the turn, always using the technical tools of padel, to simulate a transformation in the style of rugby between two poles mounted above the plexiglass walls of the playing field. Finally, the two pairs of rugby players and basketers also competed on the ‘neutral’ court, that is to say padel, being able to try the new Macron rackets in some classic challenges by the masters.

A moment of spectacle, sharing and above all friendship, born between the two coaches who lead two National Teams that are symbols of Italian sport.’Italbasket, Fresh from qualifying for the Euro 2025 final stages, scheduled to take place between late August and September next year in Latvia, Cyprus, Finland and Poland, and the’Italrugby After the three Test matches against Argentina, Georgia and New Zealand, they are now ready to start the exciting new season of the Guinness Six Nations.

All the leaders of the clothing lines of the Italian national rugby team and of Italian national basketball team, As well as the Macron collection dedicated to padel, they are available in the dedicated spaces on the website. macron.com, At the Macron Sports Hub and at all authorized Macron retailers.