| The Nations Cup takes off |
| The Nations Cup 2007 tournament has officially gone in play. Yesterday evening players, coaches, officials from the WMF and the Italian Minigolf Federation (FIGSP) came together with the politicians, organizations and sponsors of the event to take part in and enjoy the ceremony, which included a performance by the marching band of Canegrate |
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(05/25/07)
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The Nations Cup has officially begun on the courses of Relax Time in Canegrate. Ten nations will be taking part in this competition; Germany, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Finland and the Netherlands. Two days of constant training have allowed the athletes to test and master the courses they will be playing on, that of minigolf and that of miniature. There will be sixteen teams competing in the tournament; each participant nation is allowed to have a maximum of three teams composed of four players, with at least one female player on each team. Concluding the official training of today and yesterday will be the actual competition which will take place this weekend. On Saturday then again on Sunday morning the teams will be vying against each other in the qualification rounds, whereas on Sunday afternoon the winners will be decided in the semi-finals and finals. Following the end of the tournament will be the closing ceremony, which will take place Sunday evening in Legnano at the Palazzo Leone di Perego in via Gilardelli, 10.
Gerhard Zimmermann, sport director of the World Minigolf Federation called the
tournament officially open during the ceremony on Tuesday the 24th of May. «I thank everyone for all the hard work that has been done- he announced. The hospitality is even higher than our expectations and for this goes a special acknowledgment to the organization. The best will win». Besides including players, coaches and officials from the WMF and FIGSP, the ceremony also hosted members of the promoting committee, sponsors and representatives from various organizations. To give honours to the hosting town was Orazio Zoccarato, the mayor of Canegrate who explained how his little city made great efforts in order to have the opportunity to host the Nations Cup and World Championship, «we’re sure –said the mayor- that this important sport event will bring recognition to our territory». Giuliano Banfi, president of the FIGSP briefly explained the impressive commitment that has been taken on in order to host this event in Italy: «I would like to thank the organizations and associations that have made this Nations Cup possible by giving us the economic contributions to make this possible: the Regione Lombardia, the Provincia di Milan, the townships
of Canegrate and Legnano, the Confartigianato Alto Milanese, AMGA, the BCC bank of Busto Garolfo and Buguggiate, Sinomi and ACCAM». The guest of honour was member of the European Parliament, Mario Mantovani who brought with him salutes from the entire European Parliament. «Sport plays a very important role in our society –says the honourable Mantovani- and it’s great events like this that make it great». Also present the region’s councillor Sante Zuffada to represent the Regione Lombardia, who brought with him greetings from the president Roberto Formigoni and alderman Piergianni Prosperini. The evening was topped off with the pleasant performance of Canegrate’s local marching band, which played songs reaching out to all the diverse nations present. An especially touching moment was when the band played the anthem of joy, symbolic of the European Union: everyone present stood up as a sign of commitment.
In the panorama of the minigolf competitions the Nations Cup comes right before the World Championships which will take place in August of this year on the same courses of Relax Time, from the 11th to the 25 of August.
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