1947-2023

Umberto Granaglia was born in Venaria Reale, near Turin, in 1931. He was widely considered the greatest bocce player ever. When he passed away in 2008, Guy Villard & Patice Deymonnax (Sport Boules Magazine) wrote an article about him. Here is an English translation from French.
 

A legendary player left us

He had been named “Player of the 20^th century” by the World Bocce Confederation (Confederation Internationale Sport Boules). Umberto Granaglia wrote the most beautiful pages in the history of the sport of bocce.

He was one of those athletes, who in their sport are legends like Pelé for football, Michael Jordan for basketball and many others.

His track record is eloquent, unique in the world with a whopping:

13 world championships (11 in fours and 2 in doubles),
12 European cups (Prince of Monaco),
47 national titles.

Granaglia has won everything at an international level.

We will especially remember his very pure style, an incomparable technique, a master tactician.

Umberto Granaglia was a myth. He was and will remain the player who most marked the history of the discipline. His nickname “Campionissimo” suited him like a glove. He commanded respect. He was a phenomenon, a virtuoso, an artist.

At the age of fourteen, he competed in his first competition. At twenty, he was selected for the first time for a World Championship.

The young Umberto was to soar over the world of bocce, going from victory to victory with exceptional teammates: Macocco, Baroetto, Benevene, Sturla, Bragaglia and many others.

Granaglia passed away in 2008 at the age of 77. For all the bocce players, he will remain the Master.

Yves Moreau, who wrote a book on the Pentecost Tournaments had compiled the averages of Granaglia in international competitions after 15 years of career. He had arrived at this astounding result: 3327 balls hit out of 3981 balls thrown, i.e. 83.6% on average, including 695 carreaux.

Figure 59 Photo Credit: Antonio Busso on flickr.com

Figure 60 Photo Credit: Federation Internationale de Boules (FIB - fiboules.org)

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