San Marino Team got off to a good start at the Mediterranean Games in Taranto. The morning session brought positive results in both swimming and bocce, with two finals secured in the pool and several standout performances on the lanes of the Montemesola Sports Hall.
In swimming, Margherita Gregoroni booked her place in the 200-metre backstroke final, finishing her heat in eighth place. Giacomo Casadei also reached the final, in the 100-metre breaststroke, with the same result. Ilaria Ceccaroni also put in a solid performance, setting a personal best of 28.38 in the 50-metre backstroke. Gregoroni was also in action in the 400-metre freestyle, finishing ninth in her heat.
The swimming finals are scheduled for this evening, starting at 6:00 pm, with Gregoroni and Casadei set to return to the pool for the decisive session.
The bocce tournament also got off to a promising start. In the women’s doubles, Stella and Giada Paoletti won their opening match against the Turkish pair Aknali-Kalanic by 10-5. In their second outing, the Paoletti sisters came through a hard-fought contest against the Algerian duo Chibani and Maidi: trailing 6-3, they fought back to level the score before completing the comeback in the extra end, winning 7-6.
In the men’s doubles, Enrico Dall’Olmo and Jacopo Frisoni beat the Turkish pair Boran and Kaplan 8-3. In the individual event, Frisoni first went down 11-2 to Croatia’s Luka Zure, before bouncing back with a 7-4 win over Libya’s Zantouti, sealed in the fifth of seven ends.
The opening day closed with a nail-biting victory for Stella Paoletti, who edged out Italy’s Laura Picchio — her club teammate — 7-6.
