Sunday 11th
July 2021 would be a day of significance for Italy ! .. ..on that day, Italy will play England in
Euro 2020 finals – England have reached
their first final in 55 years after beating Denmark on Wednesday night. Due to
strict Covid-19 quarantine requirements for visitors to Britain, supporters
from outside the UK have effectively been unable to attend Italy’s past two
matches at Wembley. For the final, “British authorities have guaranteed a
maximum of 1,000 people from Italy the possibility of going to London, with a
series of requirements to respect” but without quarantining in the UK, the FIGC
said in a statement.
Prime Minister
Mario Draghi’s broad unity government has overcome deep divisions to agree to a
contested justice reform, which the European Union has demanded as part of a
deal to unlock billions of euros in recovery funds. Italy has long been dogged
by a dysfunctional, painfully slow justice system, but repeated attempts to
overhaul it have failed to significantly reduce backlogs in many courts. Sharply
opposing views between the parties have complicated efforts to improve the
situation, but Justice Minister Marta Cartabia managed to reach a compromise
deal late on Thursday that the government hopes will improve efficiency. “Italy
has taken a significant step forward in modernising the justice system and
speeding up trials,” said Regional Affairs Minister Mariastella Gelmini, a
member of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party. The draft law will now go to
parliament for approval.
A case
brought by more than 500 families of Covid victims seeking a total of €100m in
compensation from the Italian government has reached court, as the first
hearing into continental Europe’s deadliest outbreak got under way in Rome. Lawyers
representing the relatives of coronavirus victims filed a dossier of more than
2,000 pages on Thursday containing hundreds of testimonies and evidence of
“systemic negligence” by the Italian authorities, which allegedly caused the
deaths of thousands of people. “Italy was late introducing measures to contain
the outbreak of Covid,” Consuelo Locati, a legal representative of the
families, told the Guardian. ‘‘And when they finally did, these measures were
not adequate.’’ According to a 65-page report compiled by a retired army
general, Pier Paolo Lunelli, tens of thousands of deaths could be attributed to
the lack of sufficient anti-pandemic protocols. ‘‘The pandemic plan and
strategies put in place to stop the infections did not take into account the
structural deficiencies of hospitals and the Italian health system,’’ said
Locati. “This civil case calls into question the responsibilities of politicians
and institutions and asks that they assume their responsibilities in front of
the citizens they were called to protect and whose rights they have violated –
both the right to health and the right to life.”
Moving away
from all these – this is a Sports post .. .. .. Three of
the men’s semi-finalists today at Wimbledon have one main problem. The fourth man. Novak
Djokovic. In the past 10 years at Wimbledon, three men have beaten him in
completed matches: Roger Federer in the semis in 2012, Andy Murray in the final
in 2013 and Sam Querrey in the third round in 2016. Djokovic
also lost to Tomas Berdych in 2017, but on that occasion he retired hurt with
an elbow injury, so the size of the task facing Denis Shapovalov, and by
extension the other two semi-finalists, Matteo Berrettini and Hubert Hurkacz,
is clear. The Serb has been flawless in the tournament so far. The five-time
Wimbledon winner reached the semi-final after beating Hungarian Márton
Fucsovics in straight sets. On the other hand, Denis Shapovalov had a tough
fight against Russia’s Karen Khachanov to reach the last four.
This is
Denis Shapovalov's first slam semi-final and a pulled forehand, dragged wide,
shows some early signs of nerves for 15-30, but he quickly recovers as Djokovic
dumps a two-handed return into the net and we're at 1-1. Then the Canadian
reaches greater heights ! A gorgeous
one-handed backhand across the court puts Djokovic on the stretch to his right
and can only then send it into the net. Shapovalov
breaks and leads 2-1. Now at 09.40 pm
IST, still very, very early days though.
Few minutes earlier - Italy's
Matteo Berrettini beat Hubert Hurkacz [6-3 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4] - to reach first Wimbledon final. The 25-year-old from Rome became the first
Italian man to reach the SW19 showpiece.
Everything was moving quickly on
Centre Court, from the serves to the scoreboard to the galloping realisation
that Sunday could be quite the day for Italian men on the green bits of London.
Serving at almost 140mph, and at one stage even ripping his way to an
astonishing 11 games in a row against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, Matteo
Berrettini was on the hottest of hot streaks as he became the first Italian man
to reach a Wimbledon final.
The Italians have been
waiting 144 years for this, for one of their own to go through into a final at
the All England Club. No Italian man had ever previously served as quickly or
as brilliantly on the Wimbledon grass, or played with as much poise at such a
big, life-defining moment, as the 25-year-old Roman in a reversed baseball cap.
When Berrettini led 6-3, 6-0 it appeared as though this meeting of first-time
Wimbledon semi-finalists was going to be very lopsided. While Hurkacz took the
third set in the tie-break, Berrettini broke in the opening game of the fourth
set and went on to win 6-3, 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4.
A few hours
before the Italian men's football team play England in the Euros final at
Wembley, Berrettini will attempt on Sunday to become the first Italian man to
score a Grand Slam singles title since Adriano Panatta became the Roland-Garros
champion 45 years ago. The main course may be England’s date with
Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday evening, but Berrettini will provide a
tasty antipasti when he walks out on Centre Court at 2pm.
Interesting !
9th July 2021 @ 21.45 hrs.
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