The Italian national basketball team made up of boys with Down Syndrome was confirmed as world champions for the third consecutive time. In Madeira, Portugal, the Azzurri - led by coach Giuliano Bufacchi - beat Hungary 36 to 12 in the final. "We played very well," says Bufacchi, "and I am happy that we were able to use everyone in the final as well. Another sporting feat, after the successes of the past years."

The national team, in fact - composed of Fabio Tomao, Alessandro Greco, Davide Paulis, Andrea Rebichini, Alex Cesca, Francesco Leocata, Lorenzo Puliga and Chiara Vingione, the only woman on the roster - has won every competition in the last five years: European champions in 2017 and 2021 and world champions in 2018 and 2019.

For the coach of the Italian national basketball team Fisdir, the federation of relational intellectual Paralympic sports, this world championship in Portugal was "the best because there were many valuable teams. A great satisfaction and I could not want more."

Italbasket won the gold medal after a clear-cut run that saw them win every game from the first round to the final. In round B, the Azzurri had already beaten Hungary 31-14, which is why, according to the coach, the opponents took the court prepared: "Thanks to that challenge," Bufacchi says, "they showed up today with countermeasures and surprised us at the beginning. However, we read the game well, giving directions to our guys on how to attack the opponents. The players took it in great and as soon as we made the break, we also relaxed," he concluded.