Almost two years after his death, the Circolo Sportivo Italiano club has been organizing a quadrangular championship ‘Master 55’ in honor of the sports career of the great Peruvian basketball player, Walter Alejandro Fleming Sánchez. The Circolo Sportivo Italiano, Country Club el Bosque, Deportivo Flecha and Atlético Bilis teams participate in this event. This Saturday, starting at 4 in the afternoon, the grand final will be played.
Walter Fleming is a Peruvian basketball legend, baptized as “El Tanque” for his intimidating height of 1.98 meters, strengths and great skill when defending his hoop.
Without a doubt, he was one of the most outstanding players in national basketball for leaving everything on the court inside and outside the country. He defended and wore for 40 years the Blanquirroja with which he shone at the 1967 World Cup in Uruguay, as well as the 2000 FIMBA Master World Championship, where Peru climbed on the podium.
Walter Fleming belonged to a basketball generation that had its heyday with figures of the stature of Bruno Ferraro, Juan Carlos Duarte, Nicolás Vílchez, Alfredo Reyes and Lalo Airaldi, among others.
In his beginnings as a basketball player, he started in the Interscholastic at the Salesiano school, where he was recruited by clubs such as Defensor Lima, Deportivo Field, Alianza Tigre, Social Lince, Universitario de Deportes.
At that time, coach Ary Vidal directed Walter Fleming and had great affection for him, even saying that the circumstances made him not become the best basketball player in South America.
Walter Fleming passed away on June 03, 2020 as a result of COVID, leaving a great legacy.
