Wednesday, April 27, 2016

This week in Basque Pelota (Ball) Court Sports--April 21-28, 2016

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)

For information about Northern Basque modalities, see the report of April 6-12, 2016 under "Mano"

 An index to all full match video links is also provided for easy access. Each of these matches is also discussed and linked to in the report.

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Index to this week's match videos (sources given below, in the text):

Mano:

1.  Championnat de France Elite Pro Trinquet Main Nue Final: Waltery-Bilbao 40  Bielle-Ducasson 23.

Full Match Video: Single camera angle from behind.  Just the match itself. Have to keep score yourself or listen closely to announcer. 1 hour 23 seconds.

Full Match Video: Pre and Post-match ceremonies. Multiple camera angles. Replays. Score always displayed, announcers. HD TV quality but longer: 1 hour 19 minutes 8 seconds.

2.  Final points of last year's Circuit Esku Pelota Masters des Fetes de Bayonne Main Neu finale: Larralde-Martinez de Irujo 40 Waltery-Ducassou 24

Final points:

3. The Campionato Manonista (Buruz Buruko Txapelketa) 1a (Singles Tournament)

A. Artola 22 v Rezusta 17 (April 22, 2016).

Match Highlights:

Full Match Video:  Scroll to Rezusta vs Artola (Begara 22/04/2016).

B. Ezkurdia 22 v Retegi B 12  (April 23, 2016)

Match Highlights:

Full Match Video: (match begins at 30 minutes 35 seconds on the recording).

C. Irribarria 22 v Juanarena 2 (April 24, 2016)

Match highlights:

Full Match Video:  (Match begins at 1 hour 13 minutes 4 seconds on the recording)

D. Altuna III 22 v Victor 3 (April 25, 2016)

Match Highlights Only

Pala: 

2015 Final of Bizkaia Tournament: Fusto-Chatellier v Gaubeka-Ibargari F-C 3-2 (10-9; 8-10; 10-6; 9-10; 10-6) (June 21, 2015)

Full Match Video (Match begins at 1 hour 25 minutes on the recording)

Remonte:

Both semi-final matches of the VI Sagardoaren Txapleketa (Tourneo Sidra) Tournament (both matches April 23, 2016).

Uterga-Aizpuru III (Bereziartua) 40,  Ezkurra II (substituting for the injured Ezkurra)-Larranaga (Gurutzeta) 39. 

Segurola (substituting for Maxtin III) -Endika (Petritegi) 40, Urriza-Labaka (Altzueta) 25

Both Full Match Videos 

Jai Alai: 

Final de Championnat de France 2016 -- Under 22 Cesta Punta (April 21, 2016)

Laloo-Basque 2-0 (15-6, 15-5) v Garzia-Montemat)

Full Match Video 

Masters Pro Tour Final (September 14, 2015)

Ohla-Toucoullet 2-0 (15-13, 15-14) v Ohlaran-Urtasun

Full Match Video

Live TV matches this weekend:

Mano:

Three matches from he Campionato Manonista (Buruz Buruko Txapelketa) 1a (Singles Tournament). See below under Mano for details.
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Mano (Hand): Image result for pelota mano
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Update:

North Basque:

Main Neu (Trinquet):

A. In the Championnat de France A Pro-Elite final played at Trinquet Moderne, (Bayonne (Baiona))  on April 24, 2016, Waltery-Bilbao defeated Bielle-Ducassou 40-23.

Match Story:  (Source: Esku Pilota)

Extensive Match Statistics, including point by point linescore, graph of the match, detailed breakdown of scoring by team, and point by point commentary.

Source: pelotelive.free.fr

There is really nothing I can add to the fantastic coverage in the second match video below, as well as the extensive coverage at pelotalive.free.fr If only the coverage of all Basque Pelota sports were like this, I could just send you URLs each week. Watch the best equipe in the Basque Country in this form of the game. Waltery-Bilbao were a finely tuned machine, defeating Bielle-Ducasson more decisively than they did in the opening phase of the competition, a match we linked to last week. And the Trinquete Moderne is one of the coolest Mano/Main Neu venues I've ever seen.
.
Full Match Video: Single camera angle from behind.  Just the match itself. Have to keep score yourself or listen closely to the announcer. 1 hour 23 seconds. (Source: Esku Pilota Youtube site).

Full Match Video: Pre and Post-match ceremonies. Multiple camera angles. Replays. Score always displayed, announcers. HD TV quality but the video is  longer: 1 hour 19 minutes 8 seconds. (Source: FFPV via Audiense Audiovisuel Youtube site.)

B. Last week I discovered Juan Martinez de Irujo on a trinquet court, nothing new for fans of Main Neu or Mano, but something quite interesting. He participated in the Masters des Fetes de Bayonne Tournament for the first time in five years last summer.  In Main Neu he is a back courter and it is fascinating to watch him play opposite to what he usually plays, as well as dealing with all the idiosycracies of the Trinquet. In a short interview with ASPE last year he said this about Main Nue and this tournament. He played in the tournament final with Larralde v Waltery-Ducassou, held at Trinquet Moderne, on August 2, 2015. For details on that match see the match summary at pelotelive.free.fr

Final points: (about 9 minutes). (Source: Esku Pilota Youtube site.)

South Basque:

Note: A link to the full match video of last week's Irrabaria 22 v Arretxe II 14 1st Round match was added on to the April 13-20, 2016 report on April 22, 2016. Source: EITB.

The Campionato Manonista 1a (Buruz Buruko Txapelketa) (singles championship--Urrutikotxea, defending champion) moved into the Round of 8 this week:

The big news of the week, outside of the games themselves, is that Mtz. de Irujo will not be able to play due to the injury he suffered in the doubles final. Altuna III (see below), who would have been his opponent, now passes straight through to the semi-finals. I was incorrect in supposing that another opponent would substitute for Mtz.

ASPE Story

A. At  Municipal Fronton (Bergara)  Artola defeated Rezusta 22-17 on April 22, 2016.

Match Story Deia (Bilbao (Bilbo))

The key line in the statistics of the match story in this opening Round of 8 match between the front courter Artola and back courter Rezusta is the error line. Rezusta actually had more winners (service aces plus winners in  play) than Artola. However, Rezusta's errors were three times the number of Artola's, giving the winner more than half of his points, and finishing Rezusta's tournament. The match was played, for the most part, high in the air, with each player trying to keep his opponent as far back as possible, and returning shots from as high an angle as possible. While both played a mostly defensive game, Artola played it better. This was the third match in the tournament where a front courter played a back courter. The front courters have won all three. Artola now moves on to face Bengoetxea VI at Atano III  (San Sebastian (Donostia)) on April 29, 2016.

Match Highlights: (Source: EITB)

Full Match Video:  Scroll to Rezusta vs Artola (Begara 22/04/2016). (Source: Fronton.tv).

B. At Labrit (Pamplona (Iruna)), Ezkurdia defeated Retegi BI 22-12 on April 23, 2016.

Basic Statistics of the Match: (Source: ASPE).

Retegi BI had better luck with Ezkurdia than Merino II had last week. He scored 10 more points but was still dominated in a 22-12 Ezkurdia victory. A lesson to be learned is that it is probably not a good idea to constantly hit the ball deep and keep Ezkurdia away from the front wall. He will do the same and keep the opponent even further away. In an awesome display of power 7 of his 16 winners were tremendously hard hit high passing shots, a couple of of which landed near the 9 line. Eskurdia also hit a cross court winner from the four line. His power will most likely be a challenge for anyone. Retegi BI tried to stay with a strategy of keeping the ball high on the left wall and moving the big man back. On the second point of the match he blasted a long passing shot of his own to win the point. The next point Ezkurdia did the same thing, not quite so deep, but just as effective. On the fifth point Ezkurdia hit an incredible side wall-back wall "dos paredes" from the 5 line that seemed to travel meters from the side to the front and then drop in perfectly. Retegi BI played a great match to keep it as close as it was, making great saves on the apron, climbing the side wall, and also running miles back after high passing shots and actually saving some. But he was in no position to win the points he saved. One of his high points was the 6th point of the match, when he was able to maneuver the big man both ways across in the front court while winning a point. But he went back to his original strategy, for the most part, after that. Urrutikoetxea has the tools to compete with Ezkurdia in the front court. It will be interesting to see if he tries to keep the match there when he can. We'll find out next week, when they meet at Bizkaia (Bilbao (Bilbo)) on April 30, 2016.

Match Highlights: (Source: EITB)

Full Match Video: (match begins at 30 minutes, 35 seconds on the recording).
(Source: EITB).

C. At Polideportiva de Lajuventad (Soria) Irribarria defeated Juanarena 22-2 on April 24, 2016.

Match Story: Deia (Bilbao (Bilbo))

The match story sub-headline said something to the effect that Irribarria destroyed Juarnarena with an "exhibition of power, strength, and ambition." That is as good a description as any of the dominance that Irribarria showed in this match. He revealed his strategic intention immediately, winning the first point with a high and deep passing shot. He followed this with four straight service aces and a cross court kill shot after a long return of a deep serve. Juanarena made an error and then Irribarria repeated the earlier cross court kill shot. By that time the score was 8-0 and the match, for all practical purposes, was over. Irribarria did not take his foot "off the pedal" for an instant, starting with a 12 point run, answering Juanarena's first point with a 4 point run, and his second point with a 6 point run to finish things off. He constantly pushed Juanarena far back on the court with powerful serves. As the match progressed, Juanarena was setting up near the 9 line to receive the serve. Watching the complete dismantling of a professional athlete is difficult. It only took 26 minutes. One can easily see where Ezkurdia's power comes from. Irribarria's is surprising at first because he doesn't seem a very big man. But his high, deep shots just keep going and going and going. He seems to do this effortlessly. All this and he is 19 years old. He now moves on to face Oliazola II (winner of the recently completed doubles tournament and four time winner of this tournament), at  Labrit (Pamplona (Iruna)) on April 30, 2016.

Match highlights: (Source: EITB).

Full Match Video:  (Match begins at 1 hour 13 minutes 4 seconds on the recording), (Source: EITB).

D. At  Beotibar Fronton (Tolosa) Altuna III defeated Victor 22-3 on April 25, 2016, in a match that I had no full video access to.

Basic Satistics of the Match: (Source: Asegarce)

Based on the time of the match (a little over 30 minutes), the 8 service aces (some of which are in the match highlights below), and the fact that even in a two minute highlight package we see Victor setting up to receive the serve at the 8 line, this match of back courters was similar to the Irribarria match discussed above. Altuna III now passes straight to the semi-finales, since Mtz. de Irujo's injury prevents him from playing.

Match Highlights Only: (Source: EITB)

All of  the quarter-final round matches will be available on EITB

http://www.eitb.eus/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

Check Viernes, Sabado, Domingo (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Times are local times. Later the matches will be available on demand. 

This championship is in a single elimination 
tournament format, seeded with four players receiving byes to the round of 8, and four other players receiving byes to the quarter-finals. For the structure see the ASPE Campionato Manonista page. The two remaining doubles championship finals players have byes to the quarter-finals. The tournament ends with a final on May 29.





Pala (bat):  

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Invitación a un Juego de Argolla (ca: 1665-1670).

(Dulwich Picture Gallery via Wikimedia Commons)

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Update:


The Bizkaia Open will begin with a match between Sanz-Brefel and Necol-Ibai Perez at Gallarta Fronton (Zierbena) on April 29, 2016. Zubiri-Imanol and Landeta-Ibargari will play on May 1, 2016 at Bizkaia (Bilbao (Bilbo)) to complete the first round action. This tournament runs from April 29-June 18. More information on the structure and schedule of the tournament can be found at the Innpala site. Basically, it's a 6 team doubles round robin of  five matches, followed by playoffs and a final. Points will be given for sets won. There will also be an amateur tournament. Check the Innpala Twitter feed for live scores if available. Pictures of the 12 participants in the tournament are available at the Twitter feed. Gordon and Sanz are the two invited amateur players who will be part of the tournament along with the regular roster.

This is a short court tournament, different from the Mungia long court tournament that ended last week. The style of play is different, and I think the bats are smaller, but I'm not sure about that. Last year's final at Bizkaia (Bilbao (Bilbo)) on June 21, 2015, was a classic short court final, a five set match between Fusto-Chatellier v Gaubeka-Ibargari, F-C finally prevailing.

Full Match Video (Match begins at 1 hour 25 minutes on the recording)


 

Remonte: (racquet) 

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Update:


Latest results In the VI Sagardoaren Txapleketa (Tourneo Sidra) Tournament played at Galaretta Fronton, (Hernani)

 

Both semi-finals took place on Saturday, April 23, 2016. Both teams that finished the first portion of the tournament in 1st place in their divisions lost to teams that had to fight their way through two knockout rounds to get to the semi-finals.

1.  Uterga-Aizpuru III (Bereziartua) defeated  Ezkurra II (substituting for the injured Ezkurra)-Larranaga (Gurutzeta) 40-39.

Match Story for both matches: Source Oriamendi 2010

Only three of the matches in this tournament have been decided by less than 5 points. Uterga-Aizpuru III have been involved in two of them. This was a match that had an interesting rhythm and flow, as the match linescore indicates (winners listed first):

0-1; 2-1; 2-2; 3-2; 3-3; 8-3; 8-4; 10-4; 10-5; 11-5; 11-6; 12-6; 12-10; 13-10; 13-13; 18-13; 18-14; 20-14; 20-16; 26-16; 26-19; 27-19; 27-24; 28-24; 28-25; 31-25; 31-29; 34-29; 34-31; 35-31; 35-35; 39-35; 39-39; 40-39

E-L led only one point in the match, the first point. They spent the rest of the match trying to come from behind, almost winning at the end. The match story praises Ezkurra II for outscoring Uterga, but the match itself was a bit more complex. Ezkurra II played an excellent match and made some great shots, but the crafty, experienced Uterga made the shots when they counted. After a great shot by Ezkurra II brought the score to 35-34, Larranaga tied the score with his 6th service ace. At 35-35, Ezkurra II made an error in judgment, in my opinion, as he attempted to retrieve a shot that was too high at the side wall and would have been better left alone. Points 37, 38, and 39 were  scored by Uterga on a beautiful 2 wall shot, a shot that hugged the wall, and a smash back to the middle. But at 38-35, Ezkurra II put a brilliant shot of his own down the wall. Larranaga followed with his 7th and 8th aces to even the score. After Uterga's smash, Ezkurra II made a great shot to even the match again at 39. Then a mis-hit by Larranaga ended it. So it seems everyone had their "day in the sun." Ezkurra II made the most of his opportunities in this tournament, playing as a substitute for 2 different teams in 6 matches. He was impressive and looks to have a great future. The Bereziartua team enters the final with a tournament record of 4-2, including their last 3 straight, all knockout matches. The Gurutzeta team finished 2-2.

2. Segurola (substituting for Maxtin III) -Endika (Petritegi) defeated Urriza-Labaka (Altzueta) 40-25

Match linescore (winners listed first):

1-0; 1-1; 3-1; 3-2; 8-2; 8-4; 9-4; 9-6; 10-6; 10-8; 11-8; 11-9; 13-9; 13-10; 14-10; 14-12; 15-12; 15-13; 16-13; 16-14; 19-14; 19-16; 23-16; 23-18; 26-18; 26-20; 30-20; 30-21; 33-21; 33-22; 34-22; 34-23; 38-23; 38-25; 40-25 

This match did not have the passion and drama of the first match, but was played at a higher talent level all the way through. Urriza is the hardest front court hitter I have seen on the roster, a talented, experienced presence on any team. Segurola has had a streak of excellence that started in late February. Since then he has won 14 and lost 2. In this match he stayed right with Urriza, time and again returning rockets from the big man. But the real story of this match was Endika, who was magnificent from the back court. The turning point of this match, the finest point of the match, one of the finest points I've ever seen in remonte, came at 16-14 S-E. It occurs at 1 hour 46 minutes 10 seconds on the full match video recording linked to below. 

1. Labaka serves

2, Segurola, pinned to the  left wall, returns high on the front wall

3, Labaka, deep, hits high on the front wall

4. Segurola, still pinned to  the wall, reaches up and taps high on the front wall in defense

5. Urriza, at the 6 line, launches an overhand rocket down the line along the side wall

6. Endika underhands a return from past the 10 line near the side wall

7. Urriza, racing to the 3 line about 12-15 feet from the wall, launches a sidearm rocket

8. Endika, still at the 10 line, overhands the return

9. Labaka returns from near where Endika was

10. Segurola, pinned against the side wall at the 5 line, overhands a soft defensive shot

11. Urriza, just behind the 7 line, about 10-15 feet from the wall, launches an overhand rocket to the outside

12. Endika, with one foot on the apron at about the 10 line, returns

13. Labaka, about 5 feet from the wall at the 7 line, passes down the wall

14. Endika moves across from the apron at the 10 line to about 5 feet from the wall, and returns a falling rebote (rebound) off the back wall, falling back toward the middle of the court, that passes Urriza, pinned to the side wall, to his right at the 5 line to win the point. 

Point ends at 1:46:52. A sequence of 14 shots in 42 seconds. At that point, when the score could have been 16-15 four times, it was 17-14. U-L never recovered.

Later, at 34-23, Endika scored on another falling rebote from the apron, one of the finest remonte shots I've ever seen, an almost impossible shot in this modality. It was a shot great Jai Alai players would be proud of. 

Segurola was also very impressive with long high shots that scored regularly.

The Petritegi team enters the final with a tournament record of 4-2, including their last 3, all knockout matches, in a row. The Altzueta team finished 3-1.

Both Full Match Videos (source: IETB)

The final between the Petritegi and Bereziartua teams, will be at Galaretta on Saturday, April 30. Hopefully EITB will carry it live over the Internet. If not, hopefully, it will be available on demand. 

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Final Standings, first phase, along with the playoff schedule can be found at the Oriamendi 2010 site story linked to here.

Live scoring on a match by match basis is available at the Oriamendi 2010 Twitter site.

Full explanation of how the tournament works, as well as how to navigate the Oriamendi 2010 site, is available in Part 2 of  the March 13-20 report, linked to at the top of this report. Names in parenthesis are cider related sponsors of the teams.
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Jai Alai: (basket) Image result for jai alai
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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.

At the time this report was finished there was no information about who had the most wins or "in the money" (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) finishes for last week at Miami.

At Dania, for the week ending April 23, 2016, Diego (Beaskoetxea--two of his partido matches in the North Basque were linked to in the March 13-20 Part 2 and March 21-28 reports respectively) was the leading winner with 12 wins in 33 games played. Eric lead the  "in the money" (1st, 2nd, or third) category,  23 times in 37 matches, a  .622 percentage. 

Dania Jai Alai has live online telecasts of all its matches here.

The best way to watch the Dania season unfold is to watch the online telecasts. There are no replays or on demand games.

This week in the North Basque, the Championnat de France Pro/Am 2016 Cesta Punta--National A Competition final between B Group Winner Pau 1 (Egiguren-Alliez) and A Group Winner Pau 2 (Olharan-Itoiz) at Euskal Jai (Biarritz), on April 21, 2016, was postponed to a later, indefinite date, due to a complaint filed by the St. Jean de Luz 1 team (Ohla-Ihitsague). St. Jean de Luz 1 (with Sallabery substituting for Ihitsague, lost to the team of Olharan-Portet (substituting for Itoiz) 15-10, 15-5. The highlights of that match were linked to in last week's report. The complaint involved the participation of the Junior player Jerome Portet on the Pau 2 team. The St. Jean de Luz team claimed that Portet violated the FFPV regulation that says no player can participate in more than two of the competitions at the same time. Portet played in the National B competition, which ended on March 26, 2016. His Pau team was eliminated from that competition in a "Barrage" round match on February 28, 2016 (See the match score at pelotelive.free.fr) He then played in the National Junior Cesta Punta competition. His Pau team was eliminated on April 1. (See the match score at pelotelive.free.fr). He played in the semi-final of the National A tournament on April 15. The complaint, if I understand it correctly, was due to the fact that the Junior competition was still active on April 15, even though he had been eliminated two weeks before. (In fact, the Junior championship match was played on April 21, 2016 at Biarritz, on the night the National A championship was supposed to be played). Due to the complaint, the National A championship match was postponed. The story of the complaint (in French) can be found here The story was found on the pelota-basque.com Paloise section site.  ("La finale Cesta-punta PRO-AM reportee!") Judge for yourself the validity of the complaint (though you may need an attorney to help you). When we find further information about the match, we will inform you of it.  

Since there was no National A final, we hope you will enjoy these matches instead. Both were played at Euskal-Jai Aguilera Fronton (Biarritz) Matches are played in sets to 15 pts, best 2 out of 3.

1. Championnat de France 2016: Cesta Punta: Juniors (under 22)

Final de Championnat de France 2016 (April 21, 2016)

Laloo-Basque defeated Garzia-Montemat) 2-0 (15-6, 15-5)

For the context of this tournament, consult pelotelive.free.fr for the 

Junior Championnat 2016

Under "Equipes Engagees" click on either L-B (Koastakoak) or G-M (Luzean) to highlight their matches as you scroll down through all the matches. For Luzean's April 1 match there are match linescores, graphs, statistics, and a point by point commentary. 

Full Match Video 

Masters Pro-Am Tour Final (September 14, 2015)

Ohla-Toucoullet defeated Ohlaran-Urtasun 2-0 (15-13, 15-14) Link to players page at Biarritz. Scroll to the player and click on photo for more information.

Here is a chance to see some very fast paced Jai Alai and to get a long look at Jean Ohlaran, one of the participants in the upcoming National A finals, when the above listed complaint is settled. Euskal Jai plays very fast, according to what I could pick up from the announcers. 

Full Match Video Source for both: FFPV via Audiense Audiovisuel Youtube site.

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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 EITB TV:

Search either “Erremontea 2016 (or 2015)” or “Pala 2016 (or 2015).” At present, there are no links to Jai Alai matches.

Pala:


Player and selected match information. Latest scores. Upcoming matches.

Match scores by set in real time.


Professional Pala at the Munduko Pilota Batzarra (World Pilota Council)

Player information, match stories, excellent source of real time happenings in the world of professional Pala.

Remonte:


Match stories, standings, player statistics, match database, upcoming matches.

Quick access to the latest.


Oriamendi 2010 Twitter site


Live scoring of matches (full score at the end of the match only at this time).



Selected short clips.

 

Jai Alai:

 

A. Pari-mutuel:

 

Miami Jai-Alai

 

Schedules, game results, statistics, roster, see game pages for results of last ten games for each player.

 

Simulcasts (fee based):

 

Dania Jai Alai

 

Schedules, game results, statistics, roster, see game pages for results of last ten games for each player.

 

Simulcasts (free of charge):

 

B. Partido:

 

Internationeaux Cesta Punta-St. Jean de Luz

 

Exhaustive information about the annual festival (in French)

 

Official sources of video for Jai Alai full games:

 

Internationaux de Cesta Punta

 

Excellent quality videos.

 

International Jai Alai Players Association (I Ja Pa)

 

Jai Alai World Tour

Northern Basque Pelota Modalities:

FFPV Federation Francaise de Pelota Basque

Organization, competitions, results, regulations, history 

 Pelotelive.free.fr

A gigantic database, easily queried, of all of North Basque pelota (live scores, pictures, commentary, videos).

Esku Pilota

Central Information site for all things Main Neu. Results, match stories (in French), player information (use the arrows to scroll up and down the player page, only three players at a time are visible), player rankings, etc.

Esku Pilota Youtube site 

Selected Main Neu matches.

Tout sur la Pelote Basque Youtube site.

Quickest, easiest, and most reliable way to watch French Basque Pelota.