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07-Jun-07:
Poli Men get their pride back ... just
Duncan Steele reports from
Milan |
It was a great passionate and noisy (as
can only happen here) evening of Squash.
First on were Claire Berrett and The Great Pepe, Claire coming from
a three-month absence from playing sneaked in a win to give the
ladies three more points and the ladies (who started with a 60-point
advantage) were up by 63.
Noglizlia confused the great looking Pia Paglione with his
un-coordinated style and pulled 23 points back so now the Ladies
lead by just 40.
The double handed Brunella Belotti ran her heart out but the regular
Angelo Gamalerio pushed the ball around well to pull the score back
to an interesting plus 19 for the Ladies.
The Ladies were a little less vocal at this point but a much
improved and "in forma" Valeria Fontana put in a display of
wonderful squash to hold the stronger Armando Gennarelli to a 24-27
which meant the ladies were still up 16 with the top 4 to play.
Cristina Di Sacco found it difficult to play a man who doesn't have
a real backhand and went down to a fast improving Michele Bressani....
the Men were within three points of equalling the score and the big
guns were to play.
The tiny Chicca Ferrari played the sporting tall Alessandro Barille
in a match that could have swung either way. Ferrari's match
practice pulled through in the last game to slot up a valuable win
for the Ladies 31-24 and the ladies were looking good (as they
always do!) and up 10 points.
Gianpaolo Martire, surprisingly on time for his match, out powered
the gutsy Sonia Pasteris to 33-20 to put the Men in the lead by
three points for the first time with one match to play.
Now this was a match with a lot of noise from inside (Cerutti) the
court and outside (Men's team Captain Jessica who doesn't play that
much squash but doesn't agree with ANY of the squash rules!)
The Ladies team were cheering with Chicca Ferrari confused whether
to cheer for boyfriend Cerutti or team member Manetta....... It went
down to the wire, and when Cerutti went 9-7 up in the third game the
Men had mathematically won....a cheer went up and the Men strutted
around with their chests puffed out......and of course shouting.
The question is....do you think this match has settled the question
as to whether the Ladies or Men are the stronger sex?
Answer.......You must be joking!
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RESULTS:
Three games to 11, total points
Berrett 31 Pepe 28
(-63)
Paglione 10 Noziglia 33 (-40)
Belotti 12 Gamalerio 33 (-19)
Fontana 24 Gennarelli 27 (-16)
Di Sacco 20 Bressani 33 (-3)
Ferrari 31 Barille 24
(-10)
Pasteris 20 Martire 33 (+3)
Manetta 29 Cerutti 28 (+2)
Men win by 2 Points!!!
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Name; Claire
Berrett
Nick Name; Bear
Weight;52kg
Age; 33
Trademarks; Hasn't a lob!!!
Name; Guiseppe Pepe
Nick Name; Pepone
Weight; 85kg
Age; 40
Trademarks; Waves a lot
Berrett beats Pepe 31-28 |
Name; Pia Paglione
Nick Name; Gnocca
Weight; 55kg
Age; 28
Trademarks; Wears short shorts
Name; Simone
Noziglia
Nick Name;
Weight; 61kg
Age; 33
Trademarks; Un-coordinated
Noziglia beats
Paglione 33-10 |
Name; Brunella Belotti
Nick Name; Bru
Weight;56kg
Age; 27
Trademarks; Double handed backhand
Name; Angelo
Gamalerio
Nick Name; Angelo Gamalerio!!
Weight;90kg
Age;36
Trademarks; Sulks
Gamalerio beats
Belotti 33-12 |
Name; Valeria
Fontana
Nick Name; Vale
Weight;58kg
Age; 30
Trademarks; Blond and Blue eyed
Name; Armando Gennarelli
Nick Name; The General
Weight;
Age; 36
Trademarks; Deafly Touch
Gennarelli beats Fontana 27-24 |
Name; Cristina
di Sacco
Nick Name; Of Bag
Weight; 70kg
Age; 37
Trademarks; Injured Tapped leg.
Name; Michele Bressani
Nick Name; Miki
Weight; 72kg
Age; 34
Trademarks; No backhand
Bressani beats Di Sacco 33-20 |
Name; Chiara Ferrari
Nick Name; Kika/The Queen
Weight; 51kg
Age; 35
Trademarks; Very Short
Name; Alessandro
Barrile
Nick Name; Big Al
Weight; 90kg
Age; 37
Trademarks; Very Tall
Ferrari beats Barrile 31-24 |
Name; Sonia Pasteris
Nick Name; So
Weight; 47kg
Age; 41
Trademarks; Gutsy
Name; Gian Paolo
Martire
Nick Name; GP
Weight; 92kg
Age; 30
Trademarks; Confused
Martire beats Pasteris 33-20 |
Name; Manuela
Manetta
Nick Name; Manu/Princess
Weight; 62kg
Age; 24......Birthday Today!!!!
Trademarks; Elegance.
Name; Marco Cerutti
Nick Name; Ceruttini
Weight; 75kg
Age; 40
Trademarks; Terrone
Manetta beats Cerutti
29-28 |
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06-Jun-07:
Battle of the sexes in Milan |
Oh what a loss does to a man's ego ...
especially when that loss is against a woman.
Now who hasn't lost to a woman in their squash career ... my first
league match at Bar Hill Squash Club in Cambridge when I was a kid
was against a lady ... I got hammered and I'm pretty sure that if I
played most of the Women's top 20, 30 even, the result would be a
negative one.
Mind you Madeline Perry didn't take me up on my challenge to play
her, so I'll take that as a win and another pizza&beer to be paid by
her!!
Now it's a loss that I'll always remember ... not sure if it's
because it was my first league match ever or that my father has
reminded me of it very often.....and still does now.
Marcus Berrett lost against a woman as a kid and at Queens Halifax
there have been many battle of the sexes squash matches involving
quality players.
BUT take the example of proud Italian men whose egos are a major
part of their DNA ...how did they cope with the fact that in the
2007 edition of the 5Nations Squash Championship held two weeks ago
in Milan the popular Poli Ladies team came in 4th and the Poli Mens
team 5th!!?
Well the answer is that they didn't/couldn't cope with it, so as
soon as the 5Nations came to a close the Poli Mens team threw down
the gauntlet to settle the score!
So tonight at 6pm at Poli Squash Milan, the Ladies team lead by
Manuela Manetta will take on the Poli Mens team lead by seven-time
Poli Champion Marco Cerutti for bragging rights for the rest of the
year.
Looking at the line up ...and looking at some of the pictures you'll
understand who I will be cheering for!!
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The Lineup:
Manuela Manetta v Marco Cerutti
Sonia Pasteris v Gp Martire
Chicca Ferrari v Ale Barrile
Cristina Di Sacco v Michele Bressani
Valeria Fontana v Armando Gennarelli
Brunella Belotti v Angelo Gamaleri
Pia Paglione v Simone Noziglia
Claire Berrett v The Great Pepe
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