Gioiella Prisma is back on the pitch and the preliminary stage of the 5th place playoffs starts again from the Palasport of Cisterna di Latina on Thursday 23 March at 20.30.
Having qualified in eleventh place in the final standings, the rossoblùs have the opportunity to compete in the preliminary stages to obtain a fifth place which would also mean a place in Europe, with participation in the Challenge Cup up for grabs.
The preliminary phase takes place with round-trip matches, set for the Gioiella Prisma on March 23 in Cisterna, on the 26th at home at the PalaMazzola with Padua, on April 8 again at the PalaMazzola against Cisterna and finally on April 12 in Padua. We are already on the 2nd day because Gioiella has observed a rest shift: after the verdict of salvation in fact Padua and Cisterna clashed on the first day last Thursday, in Cisterna and the Paduans had the better of 3-0.
The team that scores the most points in these round-trip matches will qualify for the next stage. It will be joined by the 4 teams eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Scudetto play-offs and, after one-way matches, a new ranking will be drawn up. At this point, the top 4 teams will play the semi-finals and final to decree the team that will play the 2023/2024 Challenge Cup.
There are defections in both teams: Cisterna has recently given up on Kaliberda with contract termination and Padova on Petkovic, who will finish the championship in Qatar.
It is therefore not clear which formation coach Soli will field on Thursday evening at the Palasport di Cisterna In the last match against Padua, coach Soli fielded the Zanni-Dirlic diagonal, the libero Catania, Martinez and Sedlacek in 4, as well as Rossi, Mattei in the center and alternating Staforini as free.
At Gioiella’s house, President Bongiovanni’s team prepares for the mini-tournament with its usual determination.
“Certainly there is the desire to play well – confirms the director Francesco Cottarelli – and when you take the field you always do it to win. We are a little more relaxed than in the championship, it is physiological after a tough year, but we have remained focused, we are training well and the season is not over yet: there is this tournament to play for the Challenge Cup and we will take the field against a tough team of champions, it will be a good game to play and see, and I hope to win”.
The referees of the meeting will be Gianfranco Piperata and Mariano Gasparro.
