For the basics about the four modalities of Basque pelota
(ball) and the context of the professional sports in these modalities see the
report for March 13-20 on this blog
Part
1: (General introduction and Mano)
Part
2: (Pala, Remonte, and Jai Alai)
Mano (Hand):
=================================
Update:
The semi-finals of the 14th Doubles Championship
finished on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 26 and 27 and the two finalists were
determined.
On Saturday, at Labrit Fronton, Pamplona (Iruna)
Olaizola II --
Urrutikoetxea
defeated Victor substituting
for the injured Artola) -- Albisu 22-10
O-U dispatched V-A
with disdain. Again, as he has throughout the semi-finals, Olaizola II waited
patiently for his chances for kill shots and when they came he didn’t miss. It
was a clinical performance by a front courter who is at the absolute top of his
game form. V-A never had a chance in this match, and, to me, their body language
showed that they knew it. Olaizoloa II had 15 winners, including 3 service
aces. And while Urrutikoetxea was not perfect (three errors), he was more than
good enough. The winners ended their semi-final run with three victories and no
defeats, Artola-Albisu, who played together only once due to injuries to both
of them, ended their semi-finals with no wins and three defeats. Why was I not
amazed that Olaizola II and Urrutikoetxea both hit the ball 69 times. Perfect
balance. They are a team that is playing magnificently and communicating well
too. Possibly the most interesting aspect of this match was the coin toss. Make
sure to pay attention to it when you watch the replay. The red and blue coin
seemed to be attempting to escape its fate, to no longer serve to make random
decisions, but to flee completely out of the fronton, finally free of its human
masters. Alas, it was not to be. Highlights and full match replay courtesy
of EITB.
Full Game Replay: Note:
Match begins at 51 minutes on the recording.
In the second match on Sunday, at Astelena Fronton, Eibar
Mtz. De
Irujo -- Reztusa defeated
Bengoetxea VI
-- Untoria
22-8
This match had a place in the final as a reward for the
winner. And it was never competitive. M-R used the same strategy that had been
so profitable to them in their victory over Artola-Albisu last week. Pressure
the back courter. In this case the man under pressure was Untoria, a very good
looking young player who is only going to improve. But in this game both
Reztusa and Mtz. put relentless pressure on him. On several occasions he was
returning shots from between the 8 and 9 lines, well over 80 feet away from the
front wall. He soldiered on bravely, but inevitably the mistakes began to come.
Seven errors in all, more than enough for an easy victory for M-R. Mtz. had a
very good game with 11 winners from a wide repertoire of shots and only one attacking
error. He showed great control throughout the match. But the amazing thing to
me was how powerful a hitter he is for a front man. There were times when it
seemed that a kill shot might be in order, but he calmly smashed the ball high
and deep to make Untoria do more hard work. When Mtz.’ game is on, he is a
handful for anyone. Early in the match, Bengoetxea VI seemed to realize that he
would have to help Untoria and he took a couple of serves that might have
better been left to his partner. Mtz. immediately took advantage of
Bengoetxea’s being a little out of position and soon two easy points came. Mtz.
took far more shots than Restuza (141-107), but seemed no worse for wear. M-R
finished their semi fiinals with 2 victories and 1 defeat. B-R finished theirs
with 1 victory and 2 defeats. Highlights and full match courtesy of EITB.
Note: Match
begins at 1 hour, 17 minutes, 10 seconds on the recording.
The final will be played at Bizkaia Fronton,
Bilbao (Bilbo), on Saturday,
April 9 as the second match of a two match program. The program begins at 17:45
local time. M-R (15-2) have lost only twice in this competition, both times to
O-U (13-4). The championship match will start around an hour or so after thre program begins, but
you won’t want to miss any of it, so tune in early. It will be available live
on EITB:
Here is a quick table of winners and errors for the three semi-finals. It shows just how dominant Olaizola II and Urrutikoetxea were.
Winners and errors
Front:
Olaizola 45 in
3matches (Avg. 15); 9 (Avg. 3)
Mtz. de Irujo 24 in 3 matches (Avg. 8); 11 (Avg. 3.66)
Bengoetxea VI 12 in 2
matches (Avg. 6); 4 (Avg. 2)
Victor 11 in 2 matches
(Avg. 5.5); 9 (Avg. 4.5)
Artola 6 in 1 match (Avg. 6); 6 Avg. 6)
Back:
Rezusta 5 in 3 matches (Avg. 1.67); 6 (Avg. 2);
Urrutikoetxea 3 in 3 matches (Avg. 1); 5 (Avg. 1.67)
Untoria 2 in 3 matches (Avg. 0.67); 14 (Avg. 4.67)
Albisu 1 in 2 matches (Avg. 0.5); 11 (Avg. 5.5)
Imaz 0 in 1 match (Avg. 0); 8 (Avg. 8)
Source: Match stories from Asegarce.
Also, for your amusement, here is the weight of the
balls the teams chose before each game.
1st Semi-Final
Olaizola II-Urrutikoetxea 104.8; 104.8; 105.4 g
Mtz. de Irujo-Rezusta
106.1; 106.8; 106.4 g
Víctor*-Untoria 105.4; 105.8; 105.0 g
Artola-Imaz* 105.2; 105.4; 105.4 g
2nd Semi-Final
Olaizola II-Urrutikoetxea-105.1; 106.0; 105.8 g
Bengoetxea VI-Untoria
104.8; 105.1; 105.1 g
Mtz. de Irujo-Rezusta
106.8; 106.5; 106.2 g
Artola-Albisu 103.7; 106.3; 106.5 g
3rd Semi-Final
Olaizola II-Urrutikoetxea-104.5-105.3-106.1 g
Victor*-Albisu 105.2-105.1-104.1 g
Mtz. de Irujo-Rezusta
107-106-106.8 g
Bengoetxea VI-Untoria
105.9-106.3-104.8 g
Mtz'.
team consistently chose the heaviest.
Starred players are substitutes. Source: Asegarce.
Pala
(bat):
================================================
Update:
No matches were played in the World
Doubles Championship.
The standings remain:
Front Courters:
Fusto 320
Necol 240
Gaubeka 220
Landeta 20
Back Courters:
Brefel
240
Imano 220
Ibargarai 200
Ibai-Perez 140
Matches
scheduled for Friday, April 1, 2016: Udala
(City) Fronton, Mungia .
Gaubeka-Ibargari v Necol--Ibai Perez
Fusto-Imanol v Landeta-Brefel
It would take an
actuary to figure out all the possibilities, given the scoring system
(explained in Part 2 of last week’s report, linked above), as well as explained
at the Innpala site (Click on the
“Mundial de Parejas 2016 tab). Suffice it to say that Landeta is the only one
that has been mathematically eliminated from a place in the finals. Everything
else is unsettled, with six players fighting for three positions. Fusto seems
relatively safe. You can follow the match, game by game at the Innpala Twitter feed.
=========================================================
There are no matches to watch this
week, so here is one you might enjoy. Last week we said
that Fusto, the best player in professional Pala at present, did not have a
stellar match in the tournament Doubles match made available on demand at EITB.
His team won anyway. If you would like to see Fusto at his best, watch this singles
final against Gaubeka in February of this year, at Bizkaia.
Remonte
===================================================
Update:
Latest results In the VI Sagardoaren Txapleketa (Tourneo Sidra)
Tournament:
Mar. 24:
Ezkurra II-Laranga defeated Etxeberria-Zaldua 40-26
Urriza-Labaka defeated Maxin III-Endika
40-34
Mar. 26:
Uterga-Aizpuru III defeated Ezkurra
II-Laranga 40-22.
Latest standings:
Grupo A
1. Etxeberria
IV-Agirrezabala (Gaztañaga) 8 puntos 2 partidos (2-0)
2. Uterga-Aizpuru
III (Bereziartua) 6 puntos 3 partidos (2-1)
2. Matxin
VI-Barrenetxea IV (Oialume Zar) 5 puntos 3 partidos (1-2)
3. Ezkurra-Larrañaga
(Gurutzeta) 4 puntos 2 partidos (1-1)
Grupo B
1. Urriza-Labaka
(Altzueta) 12 puntos 3 partidos (3-0)
2. Ansa II-Ion (Setien) 8 puntos 3 partidos (2-1)
2. Ansa II-Ion (Setien) 8 puntos 3 partidos (2-1)
3. Matxin III-Endika
(Petritegi) 5 puntos 3 partidos (1-2)
4. Zeberio II-Zubiri
(Larre-Gain) 0 puntos 3 partidos (0-3)
Full explanation of how the tournament works, as well as how
to navigate the Oriamendi2010
site, is available in Part 2 of last week’s report. Names in parenthesis are cider related sponsors of the teams.
Upcoming match:
Thursday, March 31, 2016 at Galaretta Fronton, Hernani,
beginning at 16:00 local time:
Maxtin VI-Barrenetxea IV v Ezkurra
II-Larranaga in a group B match.
This is basically an elimination
match. The winner could either win the group or come in second. Ezkurra II has been substituting for his father Ezkurra for the whole tournament, as well as subbing twice for Zeberio.
This will be the final match of the opening phase of the tournament
========================================
In the last report we spoke of the great Ezkurra,
a dominant player of his era (which is still going on). To see Ezkurra, at age
42, still be able to take over a match at the crucial time, watch this doubles
match played this last January. Ezkurra’s match begins at 1 hour, 19
minutes, 25 seconds of the recording. Courtesy of EIBT
Jai Alai:
==================================
Update
The players with the best records for the winter season are
available for Miami
and Dania.
Click on Stats for Miami and View Info for Dania. The game pages have each
player’s record in his last ten games.
Dania Jai Alai has live online telecasts of all its matches here.
The player of note at the moment at Miami is Eric Irastorza,
a long time French professional. He has
the most wins of anyone on the roster, the highest winning percentage, and an
astonishing over 60% in the money (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
percentage. See below to watch a championship final partido match that he
participated in recently.
The buzz around Dania is for a
player known to me only as “Leke”, a 21 year old back courter from Gernika. He
plays in the early games, but probably not for long. He looks and plays enthusiastically and aggressively, throwing himself all over the court. Check him out if you get a
chance.
======================================
And I will leave you with this. It’s a doubles match final
from 2015’s St. Jean de Luz Jai Alai festival. It featured the above mentioned
Irastorza, Diego Beaskoetxea, and Mikel Egiguren, a great veteran front courter
known for his falling rebote (rebound) shots. Notice the elbow pad he wears. The
match is scored in three sets. Two sets to 15. Deciding set, if necessary to 5. There is a lot of great Jai Alai in it, but the
main reason you should watch it is because of the quality of the telecast. A
very good game to watch if you haven’t seen much Jai Alai. Watch it here.
Courtesy Internationaux Cesta Punta.
Sources: Most
sources are available in Spanish and/or Basque and French only. I use Google
translate. It is clumsy but workable.
Mano:
Asegarce
Entertainment Company --Player, match, and Fronton information.
Aspe Entertainment Company--Player, match, and
League table information
EITB
Television Network--Matches and highlights.
Fronton
TV (click on "Videos" then
"Programmas").--Matches
Wikipedia article on Basque
Pelota--basics and dimensions of the sport.
For Mano, Pala
and Remonte, to access on demand matches from EIBT TV:
Search
either “Erremontea 2016” or “Pala 2016.” At present, there are no links to Jai
Alai matches.
Pala:
Player and
selected match information. Latest scores. Upcoming matches.
Match
scores in real time.
Remonte:
Match
stories, standings, player statistics, match database, upcoming matches.
Quick
access to the latest.
Selected
short clips.
