By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
After starting the season on a happy note in PalaDozza, Virtus Bologna will play the first home game of its season at the Virtus Segafredo Arena, hosting Anadolu Efes in the EuroLeague Regular Season Round 6. However, Luca Banchi’s team won’t have Achille Polonara on board.
Not less than two weeks ago, the Italian club announced the former Zalgiris Kaunas player to undergo a four-week cycle of chemotherapy, being unavailable for at least that amount of time while he would have continued to work on his own.
However, we never really got the chance to see him taking the court since discovering the then-removed testicular neoplasm in the post-game doping control after the big win in the domestic league against Varese, another former team of his.
Dunking and shooting from far, the Italian player seemed happier than ever in a video shared by Virtus Bologna on its social media platforms. In a recent interview to the EuroLeague’s website after being named EuroLeague’s MVP of October, Tornike Shengelia talked about what it means to play for him as well.
“When this thing happened to Achi [Achille Polonara], it wasn’t something you didn’t have to speak a lot, but it was common sense to go out and win these games for him. We are a team and we’re going through it together. We had to step up even more physically and mentally for the games”, the Georgian said about his frontline partner.
𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢 workout ⏭️💪🏼#AmarsiAncora pic.twitter.com/seU36DIWZP
— Virtus Segafredo Bologna (@VirtusSegafredo) November 3, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: Virtus Segafredo Bologna