A few hours from the final act of the twenty-sixth edition of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia A2 Final between Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia and the BCC Castellana Grotte, the wait is spasmodic both for the city of Vibo Valentia and for the whole of Calabria which for the first time in its history hosts this prestigious sporting event.
It will be an opportunity for visibility throughout the territory with live coverage on Sky Sport (channel 204), the festively colored building in yellow and red hues, over three thousand hearts beating in unison, towards a single goal, that of conquering a fantastic poker game of the trophy that awards the tricolor cockade. The challenge between the hosts of Tonno Callipo and the Apulian players of BCC Castellana Grotte will be staged at the PalaMaiata tomorrow evening starting at 19.45.
In this regard, remaining on the subject of purely numerical data, the Giallorossi club chaired by the entrepreneur Pippo Callipo has already achieved a historic goal, because no one has ever obtained six finals in seven participations, with three victories (2002-2003 with Raffaele Lamezia at the “PalaCapurso” of Gioia del Colle, in 2014-2015 at the “PalaTricalle” of Chieti against Potenza Picena and in 2015-2016 at the “Medionalum Forum” of Assago against Sora, all matches ended in the decisive fraction), also in this circumstance it is an absolute record.
Castellana Grotte has won this prestigious trophy only once, in the 2011-2012 season, where it overcame Segrate in four partials (1-3 in the final), in the match played on Sunday 4 March 2012 at the Palasport of Andria.
The two contenders who occupy the first and second place in the general standings, separated by seven lengths (43 for Vibo and 36 for Castellana Grotte), have already faced each other this season in the match valid for the eleventh day, held at the “PalaGrotte” Wednesday 7 December 2022, which saw the Giallorossi prevail at the end of an imperious comeback after four hard-fought partials. A match that bears the imprint of the Austrian champion Paul Buchegger, awarded MVP of the contest, thanks to the 26 balls placed on the ground to bend the resistance of the Apulians.
Santiago Orduna and his companions in this event beat with extreme ease and always with the most classic of scores, Banca Alpi Marittime Acqua San Bernardo Cuneo in the quarter-final match which was played on Thursday 29 December 2022 and Agnelli Tipiesse Bergamo, in the semi-final challenge played on Wednesday 18 January 2023.
