The 2016-17 professional Mano season began on October 7, 2016 with the first round of the Lau eta erdiko Txapelketa 2016/Campeonato del 4 1/2 de 1a categoría 2016 LEP. M competition. The 1st round quarterfinal league competition took place on Oct. 14-16, 2016. The second round was played on Oct. 21-23. The third and final round was played on Oct. 28-30, 2016. The semi-finals were played on November 12-13, 2016.
The third place match between Urrutikoetxea and Oliazola II, which was supposed to take place on November 20, 2016, was cancelled due to a shoulder injury suffered by Oliazola II in his semi-final-loss to Altuna III.
Asegarce Competition Page
The
competition had 12 players, in two groups. The opening round of four
preliminary matches took place October 7-10, 2016. The four winners (two
in each group) moved on to a quarter final league, where they joined four
other seeded players (Urrutikoetxea and Altuna III in Gourp A, Oliazola
II and Bengoetxea VI in Group B) in a single round robin quarter-final
league. The 1st place finishers in each group then faced the 2nd
place finishers in the other group in the semi-finals. Semi-final
winners played in the final on November 27, 2016.
Note: Source for all match articles, unless otherwise specifically stated is 21iquales.com.
Source for all match video, unless otherwise specifically stated, is EITB.
Final
November 27, 2016:
Ogueta Fronton, Vitoria-Gasteiz (1) (2). Bengoetxea VI defeated Altuna III 22-21
Match article and statistics (21iguales.com).
Match article (Diario Vasco--includes link to 33 photos)
Match article (Deia)
Feature article--Altuna III (Diario Vasco)
Feature article--Bengoetxea VI (Diario Vasco)
Feature article that discusses Bengoetxea VI's triple crown (singles, doubles, 4 1/2) (Deia)
In an incredible match that see-sawed back and forth throughout, the lead changing hands 4 times, Bengoetxea VI placed a perfect left wall shot that Altuna III could not answer, winning his second consecutive 22-21 pressure match to win the tournament. 7 service aces were crucial to the win. With the victory, Bengoetxea VI becomes the 7th player in Mano history to win the triple crown (singles, doubles, and 4 1/2). He joins Julien Retegi, Fernando Arretxe, Aimar Oliazola, Juan Martinez de Irujo, Abel Barriola, and Mikel Urrutikoetxea. Urrutikoetxea won all three last season. Altuna III finished the tournament 3-2. Bengoetxea VI finished 4-1.
Match video highlights (EITB)
Video of final point of match (EITB)
Video highlights, various points (21iguales.com Youtube)
Full match video (EITB)
