The Italian national basketball team FISDIR (Italian Federation of Relational Paralympic Sports) composed of athletes with Down syndrome, beats Hungary and is World Champion for the third time.
An exceptional result if you think that Italy has so far won every World and European title on offer: four matches and as many victories.
In group B, Italbasket first defeated Hungary (31-14) and then Saudi Arabia (58-6), managing to use all 8 players (the international formula is 4vs4).
In the semifinal, against hosts Portugal (the matches were played in Funchal, Cristiano Ronaldo's hometown), the Azzurri prevailed thanks to an excellent comeback in the third and fourth periods, after also going under in the score (12-15). The 20-16 finish bore the signatures of Paulis (10), Leocata (6) and Greco (4).
The final act was a remake: Italy-Hungary again. Match that opened and closed the World Cup. It was not an easy final, so much so that the Magyars had tried to surprise the Azzurri with a swaggering start (2-6). But it was just a flash in the pan. With patience, Italy returned to play without fear, closing the first quarter ahead 7-6. Once the situation was reversed, despite a great inaccuracy from the line (only 3/10 for ours), it was an Italian monologue: at halftime we were ahead 15-8 and, led in the third period by Paulis, we closed 27-10. The last period is academy, Bufacchi manages to employ all the members of the squad and fix the result on a sumptuous 36-12.
