copravolley

Pirelli doesn't worry me because it has a certain qualification for the Olympics, and it had no chance for seeding there. In my opinion his does not have the potential for something big in Paris, apart from some great sensations. Yes, today he should win against the Austrian but against the Canadian in the next round he would not be the favorite. Fortunately, his direct rivals in the rankings also quickly dropped out.

I will be the first to congratulate him for the gold in Paris but on paper I have no grounds to place him as the main favorite before the competition, since Haydarov is the current World and European champion Asia Tavano will fight for bronze with a Korean in the weight +78kg. I hope she wins - the Korean is rated higher but you can fight her. Tavano will find this medal very useful and the entire Italian team needs bronze here to equal the medal result from 2023. Let`s go!

Polling came mainly to strengthen Italy in team tournament. When it became clear that neither Italian would qualify in this category: Pedrotti and Esposito, it was decided to took for Polling, who at a similar time lost her chance to qualify in the Ned squad. No one is counting on her individual success and I believe that if it weren't for Martina Esposito's injury, the transfer of the Dutchwoman would not have happened.

I think that main pretendent in 73 kg is Heydarov from Azerbaijan: actually World and European Champion and number 1 in ranking. Lombardo lost in 2023 in final World Champ with Stump from Switzerland. For me it was quite a disappointment. I agree that both Lombardo and Bellandi are candidates for medals but there are a bigger favorites to win gold: current world champions: Heydarov and Wagner + possibly the Japanese in the Bellandi category.

She is a favorite for the medal but not for the gold. Someone here wrote earlier from Italy that Bellandi and Lombardo are favorites for gold in Paris. I don`t agree with that. The favorite could have been Riner at his peak.

Can you also make a similar bracket for category 90 men?

Ok, so Bellandi has a chance for silver if she beats the French in 1/2. However, she is not a favorite for gold. It's hard for a person who has never won gold at a major event to be the favorite and has a terrible record against his two main rivals.

And why Wagner 2000-500?

Bellandi can`t fight vs Wagner and there will be no gold in Paris. What's more, she will face the Japanese in 1/4, because she will be 2nd in the ranking behind the German. There is a 90% chance that she will be eliminated in 1/4 and at most she try fight for bronze but if she is eliminated in 1/4 it will be difficult. In any case, the stronger Japanese woman and Wagner from Germany are beyond her reach, and the probability of beating them 2 in 1 day is: 0.0001%.

Btw.: Mumolo resigned from the European Championships in Szeged just to prepare for the start in Lucerne. He did everything to get promoted to Paris but he can't beat his physical conditions - next to Zeidler he looks like a younger brother

And Italy? Neutral. - planned: promotion of W8 and M4. - in plus: M8, - in minus: Mumolo and LW2x (I expected 3rd place, but here it was 4th, a huge loss to first 2 places), - no comment: W2 (their start made no sense here). My comment: Quantity- it's a plus thanks to 2x 8: M and W but in terms of quality only the M4 from this group can compete for medals. I feel sorry for Mumolo, because this American came from nowhere. The Italian won against Nor and Gbr, but unfortunately lost to the Romanian. Mumolo started very slowly in each heat and there was not enough time to make up for it in the final. Perhaps he should take a risk and go harder from the beginning? Mumolo has his limitations - he is quite short and thin. He will not be able to exceed a certain level. Gennaro di Mauro has much more potential and perhaps thanks to him the Italian 8 narrowly won against Canada today.

Italy in Monday was won their first World Championship gold medal since 1991!!!

Two lightweight Cesarini-Rodini is an example of a team that reached the peak of their form at the perfect time and place + they were very lucky (in the final in Tokyo in LWx2 with a result 0.5 seconds worse they would have been without a medal). Before or since, this team has never reached the final of the World Championship! (in 2019 they won the QO by winning the B final at the World Championships). It was never this crow that could win for any long period of time. They were lucky that Covid postponed the games by 1 year and great applause to them for that. Later I was able to understand that injuries etc. and they weren't even able to get the OQ for the Olympics this year but the fact is that their form was much worse here than at the World Cup in Varese and at the European Championships in Szeged. You can ask about this, just like about the composition of these two.

Form was better at the European Championships. Here they didn't even put up a fight. They even lost to Australia, whom they won at the World Cup in Varese. I can imagine the pressure on the coaching staff to focus on the gold medalists from Tokyo and not to break up this crow. It's not about someone being better and someone being worse, but the loss of about 10 seconds to Greece and France is shocking and you have to admit it. Mumolo, in turn, was unlucky that a man from the USA, who actually did not compete in singles, jumped out. I have reservations about the form of our women's team, which, apart from solid work in 8, is basically non-existent. And I'm not convinced by the explanations about injuries and going to study in the USA, because somehow Romania, under the eyes of our coaches, does not have this problem...

Ok, but if Rodini with Corsio won bronze at the European Championships, what was the point of returning to Rodini- Cesarini who were not prepared even to fight for qualifications? It was sad to watch today.

These qualifications are terrible for us. Of course, Romania outplayed us and the American scored a sensational result.

We don't have money to keep the best coaches in the country and they are leaving. The same is true in alpine skiing...Results of the women's team in rowing are scandalous and even the probable promotion of 8 to the Olympic Games which has no chance of winning a medal there, will not change it.

The entire period from 2021 they were out of shape, but their form in this competition is scandalous. A few weeks ago at the European Championships, they lost to Greece by less than 2 seconds with a different lineup. This squad from the Olympics turned out to be a total failure. Unfortunately, Italian rowing is getting worse and the staff is making bad decisions. We will only qualify 7 teams, which is the worst result since 2012, when our other coaches in Romania are building their power there...

Traditionally: UK and Poland out. It will be similar with Hungary next year. I feel so sorry for Italians that in 2026 they have the Olympics at home and it would be useful to play in the Elite for a year. We used to be able to stay ahead for 2-3 years in a row, with Russia and Belarus in the Elite.

He allowed himself to be surprised I prefer to be realistic so as not to be disappointed later. 6 medals in judo in the one edition of the Olympic Games, including 2 gold, would be the best result in history for Italy. Suffice it to say that there were 2 bronze medals in Tokyo. To achieve such a result, we would have to take of 100% of the chances + get the draw perfectly. And remember that in each category there is Japan, France - the host team + a lot of great rivals, e.g. this Georgian in the 66 kg category.

In Paris Lombardo has the best chance for a men's medal - even gold? + possibly Parlati but not really a gold, I think. Any other medal would have been a sensation. In women there are 3 real chances: Scutto, Giuffrida, Bellandi. I would take 3 medals, 1 of which would be gold blindly.

We don't have a qualification in the 63 kg class yet but if we can it, I would sooner see Savita Russo in Paris. Russo is slightly higher in the ranking and is 6 years younger - she is 18. She is more promising and talented than Favorini.

Piras will fight for bronze and this is 100% a qualification for Paris for him. He will meet the European champion from Georgia, so he will not be a favorite, but he can fight. In the semi-finals, it led to overtime and 2 penalties for the strong Japanese. The Italian's form is high. Toniolo was very unlucky, because the Japanese reached the semi-finals. With a better draw, she could count on a repechage. She has certain qualifications for the Olympic Games and she is young. This is more of a material for a 2028 Olympic medalist. In general the judo team looks good and I expects 11-12 Olympic qualifications. If Polling keeps QO from the rankings and not from CQ, there is little chance for Savita Russo to move up from CQ. Currently it takes place virtually but it is close. If the federation put at least 1/3 of the effort into wrestling as it does in judo, we would easily get 3-4 qualifications there.

Do you know why Lombardo won't start tomorrow?

Italy has a very old team: three players are over 30 years old. Two of them played at the Tokyo Olympics. It's a pity they didn't bring in 1-2 players from the top Italian 5v5 basketball clubs. Many teams do this. Only this would require shortening the season, because the finals are still underway in Italy. unfortunately we were placed in the group of death and now in 1/4 final we have probably the strongest team here: Canada. Only Spain is still as strong.