MAK & Sport: an unbeatable combination! The Italian women took the bronze medal at the European Golden 45, as reported in the interesting article by Bresciaoggi, which we reproduce in its entirety below: “A lot of Brescia in the Italian Golden Players who participated in the European Championships in Pesaro, with the Italian team present in all categories. A lot of Brescia, especially among the over-45s, with Francesco Maresca on the bench, a Brescian by adoption, an experienced coach who has led Pallacanestro Brescia, Cagi and Desenzano. There are five players from our province in the team: Assunta Vitagliani, Laura Ferracin, Sara Castellini, Francesca Mora and Tatiana Crespi. They are part of a group that, after last year’s splendid silver medal won in Albuferia, Portugal, was called upon for confirmation. Confirmation that came thanks to a beautiful bronze medal, finished around the neck of the Italians after a 52-40 win over Ukraine in the final, while the victory went to Germany, which had beaten Italy in the semifinals, which beat Poland, which had been beaten by a clear margin in the opening match by the Italians. “As always, it is very difficult to confirm, but the girls were good and expressed themselves at a high level,” explains coach Maresca. “But the beautiful thing about these championships is the spirit with which these athletes take to the court. They are girls inside, with such a desire to have fun, to be together, to sacrifice and to win. Because it is useless to hide,’ Maresca concludes, ‘you go on the court to win, but precisely because they all have great experience, they know that a defeat is not a tragedy’. Great satisfaction for the Italian expedition in the other categories as well, with Brescian women once again among the protagonists: gold in the Golden 40 with point guard Laura Frusca, just back from her promotion to Serie C with Azzurra Basket, and bronze in the Golden 50 category, with Alessandra Damiani, Daniela Zucchini, and Antonietta Vitagliani in the ranks.