Turin, 6 September (LaPresse) – In Tokyo, a strong Italian team won 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12) in their first test match against Japan, played at the LaLa Arena Tokyo Bay. This is the first of two friendly matches (the second is scheduled for tomorrow, 7 September, at 6.45 a.m. Italian time) that Italy has organised with Japan in preparation for the World Championships, which, as is well known, will be held from 12 to 28 September in the Philippines. Giannelli and his teammates played five sets, during which they put on an increasingly impressive performance: after losing the first set, they came back to win the next two, Japan then won the fourth and Italy won the fifth set, giving the impression of ending the match on a high note. After a somewhat slow start, the national team coached by Ferdinando De Giorgi took control of the match in the second and third sets, eventually winning in a tie-break. Italy performed well at the net, scoring 13 winning blocks, while Mattia Bottolo was the top scorer of the match with 20 points.
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