Italy will be represented by the University of Catania at the ECU Mindsports 2019 in Budapest. Four young enthusiastic players come to Hungary with hopes of achieving memorable results.

A total of 14 universities have registered for the bridge competition including the University of Catania. The Italian team consists of four members, Andrea Manganella, Matteo Montoro, Irene Montalti and Sebastiano Scatà.

Andrea won the gold medal at the World Youth Team Championships held in Salsomaggiore Terme (Italy) in August 2016, and he also won the gold medal at the European University Team Championship in Malaga (Spain) in September 2017, representing the University of Padua. He loves bridge he considers it a difficult but at the same time funny game which can improve his reasoning and concentration skills.

Matteo believes that bridge did not only help him develop an analytical way of thinking, but it also introduced him to many people who he has since become friends with. His most important bridge result is the silver medal he won at the Youth Italian Teams Championship in 2018.

Irene Montalti has been playing bridge for 3 years. It was her father who took her to the club for the first time. She won 3 gold medals and one silver medal at the Salsomaggiore Students’ Championship. She is going to make her EUSA Championship debut in Budapest.

The fourth member of the team is Sebastiano Scatà, who has been playing bridge since he was 11 years old. He started to play bridge for the Italian National Youth Team in 2013. He won a bronze medal at the World Pairs Championship in Opatija (2015) with his team mate Andrea Manganella, and with him and his team mates, he also won the gold medal at the World Teams Championship in Salsomaggiore Terme (Italy) in 2016.

photo: Wikipedia