Serbia wins the 1st International Baskin Tournament in Tortona. The story of the four days of basketball and inclusion
On the court, Serbia won the EuroHoop 4 All 2.0 international tournament , defeating Italy 99-82 in the final. However, the success belonged to all eleven teams, who arrived from eleven European nations to showcase the beauty of baskin. For four days, Tortona, thanks to the organization of Derthona Basket and the Baskin Association, was the home of "the most inclusive sport in the world," allowing able-bodied and disabled people to play together with equal competitiveness in this unique form of basketball, providing athletes and the large crowd in attendance with days of sport in its purest form.
THE TOURNAMENT In the two qualifying rounds of the "Veterans" category, which saw six teams competing at the PalaCamagna for the Final Four, Serbia and Italy earned their places to the title by finishing in first place in their respective groups. The Serbians won twice over France (100-73) and Germany (72-26), while the Italians beat Greece (90-64) and the combined Belgium-Luxembourg team (78-59). France and Belgium reached the third-place match – which the Belgians and Luxembourgers ultimately won 77-48 – thanks to their second-place finishes with respective victories over Germany (63-42) and Greece (69-67). For the final day, the party-event moved to the court of the Marcellino and Pietro Gavio Sports Citadel facility, where the "New Bies" category finals were also held in the morning. The finals featured mixed teams of Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, Maltese, and Spanish players. The finals decided which team would go on to compete in an exhibition match against Piace Baskin, led by former Italian basketball international Matteo Soragna, a leading figure in both baskin and the Tortona tournament. The tournament involved the entire Piedmontese city, with side events including conferences and concerts that always focused on the theme of inclusion. At the end of the tournament, the talk-lounge set up in the center of the Cittadella dello Sport court immediately after the Serbia-Italy final, featuring the mayor of Tortona Federico Chiodi , the president of the Baskin Association and inventor of baskin Antonio Bodini , the Project Coordinator of EuroHoop and one of the souls of the organization Marco Cardinaletti , the CEO of Derthona Basket Ferencz Bartocci , Luca Massaccesi and Anna Pettene of the National Observatory on Bullying and Youth Discomfort, the aforementioned Matteo Soragna and two other special guests such as the general manager of the Greek national basketball team and great former player Nikos Zisis and, surprisingly, Elio from Elio e le Storie Tese.
STATEMENTS
Federico Chiodi : "We are truly honored to have been able to host this international event in Tortona, a splendid effort by Derthona Basket but also by the entire Tortona community. We appreciated a sport that goes beyond inclusion and integration, making us understand the founding values of sport in general—not just the challenge against the opponent but also the challenge against ourselves. Overcoming our physical, mental, and cultural limits is the greatest gift sport can give us . "
Ferencz Bartocci : "Congratulations to Serbia for winning the tournament and to Italy for reaching the final. But congratulations go to all the athletes who participated. They were intense days for our city, for our facilities, and experiencing them with the colors of teams from so many different countries, with their enthusiasm, filled us with joy . "
Elio : "Baskin is a sport that's been really well thought out. It gives everyone the opportunity to be a protagonist, which is something that should be applied to all of our lives. I'm also thrilled that this sport was invented in Italy and then spread abroad. It doesn't happen very often for us Italians to spread something positive abroad... For all this, a huge round of applause goes to its inventor, Bodini . "
Matteo Soragna : “I often say that baskin is so beautiful that it makes me feel selfish, because playing baskin makes me feel good. The fact that I practice it for a return simply because I'm happy to be in contact with others is a kind of positive selfishness, a selfishness of sharing . ”
Nikos Zisis : “It was my first time watching a baskin match, and it was a wonderful experience. I thank my great friend Teo Soragna for inviting me. I saw disabled people playing without disabilities, with an admirable desire to participate and try to win matches. Baskin isn't very popular in Greece, but now I'll try my best to make it so. These athletes are the true heroes, the true role models . ”
Antonio Bodini : “You often find that spending time with people who have had a more difficult history makes you feel better. This needs to be made possible at work and in all other areas of life. I've tried to do this in sports with baskin . ”
