Pala/Paleta--Final Summary of selected major summer tournaments South and North

Below you will find a summary of the winners of the major 2016 Pala and Paleta summer tournaments in the North and South Basque Country. (Sources: InnPala Website, InnPala Twitter feed, InnPala Fronton Facebook page, Euskadiko Euskal Pilota Federakuntza (EEPF), GMGZ Events Facebook Page, Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque(FFPB), and pelotelive.free.fr.) Links to full match videos of final matches (when available) are provided for your convenience. ** next to the match means part or all of the competition was covered in this blog. Search by title of competition or title of the final, or click on the label "Pala" on the right side of the blog page to find relevant blog posts, which may contain other full match videos and articles.

Grosse Pala/Pala Larga

Innpala:

**Plentzia--Gaubeka-Brefel Note: Plentzia was played on a long (54 meter) court. I am assuming that this was a Pala Larga tournament, though I have no proof of that (see the below listed GMGZ tournament which, though played on the long court at Mungia, was a Pala Motza tournament). Corrections on either one or both of these assumptions will be gratefully accepted.

**FFPB "Grand Semaine" National "A": Batz-Brocas  (Soustons) (Source: PilotariP Youtube site via Pelotelive.free.fr). Note: make sure to click on "desactiver" under the match to turn off PFF's auto-refresh. The video will stop if you don't.

Pala Corta/Pala Motza

InnPala: * means amateur player.

**San Fermin (Iruna)--Sanz*-Ibargari

**Donastia Kirol Txartela Masters--Navarro*-Brefel (final begins at 52:02 on the video (Source: EITB)

**Asta Nagusia--Necol-Imanol (Bilbo) (Source: EITB)

**Sopelana--Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez

EEPF:

**Basque Country City Championships (Herriarteko Txapelketa): Gastiez (Ordizia) (final begins at 42:42 on the video) (Source: EITB)

GMGZ Events

GMGZ "La Bolsa" Saria Kiniela: Beriain-Labiano (Mungia) (final begins at 1:18:22 on the video) (Source: EITB)

Paleta Cuir 

EEPF:

**Basque Country City Championships (Herriarteko Txapelketa): Gastiez (Ordizia) (Source: EITB)

**FFPB "Grand Semaine" National "A": Dardenne-Basterot

Paleta Pelote Gomme Pleine

**FFPB "Grand Semaine" National "A": Mensan-Bareyre

Paleta Pelote Gomme Creuse

**FFPB "Grand Semaine" National "A" Women: Etchelecu--Chapelet-Housset

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Xistera Kluba amateur competition circuit--Mutriku Tournament Finals

Note that all print articles on the Xistera Kluba website are completely bilingual. I have used Castilian links. Click on the top right side of the page to switch to Basque.

Euskal Herriko Xistera Kluben Kirol Kluba (Basque Country Xistera Sports Club) together with EEUP (Euskadiko Euskal Pilota Federakuntza) has recently started an amateur Jai Alai tournament circuit. The Club has three aims: to reintroduce the game to children, to strengthen the game at the club level, and to create a competition circuit to help encourage new and young fans to follow the game. The full mission statement is here.

The Mutriku tournament finals were played on September 17, 2016. Three finals were played, including a girls final. They were played in order of age and ability with the girls match being the first match. Use the match article (reading from the end of the article to the beginning) below to identify players and locate the beginning of each match.

Preview article (Source: Xistera.eus)

Match articles for all three matches (Source: Xistera.eus)

Full match videos of all three matches (Source: Xistera.eus Youtube site)

Full match videos for all available Xistera Kluba Tourmaments so far this year (Source: Xistera Kluba Youtube site and EITB).

The next Xistera Kluba tournament is scheduled for September 24, 29, at Noain. See Xistera Kluba Calendario for details on future tournaments.

See the Xistera Kluba home page above or USstream page for details on notification of live streaming. Live and on demand streaming is available for finals only at this tme.

Main Nue--Player Rankings--September 14, 2016

Main Nue complete player rankings are available on the player rankings page (Under "Main Nue") on the right side of the main blog page. You can also find how these rankings are calculated there.

Complete Player Rankings as of September 14, 2016. Current through Trophee Paries (Sare). (Source: Esku Pilota)

Top 5:
Ducassou
Larralde
Guichandut
de Ezcurra
Ospital

Complete Player Rankings as of August 29, 2016.

Top 5:
Ducassou
Larralde
Guichandut
Ospital
de Ezcurra

Main Nue--Trophee Paries--Sare

Trophee Paries, an EP 1000 competition, was played at Trinquet Pleka (Sare) on September 12 and 14, 2016.

Full match videos for all three matches are available in two places.

1. Esku Pilota Youtube

2. Pelotelive.free.fr (click on the film icon under each match). Click on  "desactiver" under the video in order to disable PFF's auto-refresh before viewing. The video will not work if you don't.

Two of the matches are also linked to match articles at the Esku Pilota website. I will use EP Youtube for individual links.

September 12, 2016:

Semi-Finals

Source for all match articles: Esku Pilota web site.

Match articles for both matches (including an audio interview with Mathieu Ospital.

Larralde-de Ezcurra defeated Bielle-Guichandut 40-25

Note that the only way to keep track of the score for any of these matches is to listen very closely to the judge (who calls them out in Basque and French) or to keep track yourself. No scoreboard (if there was one) was ever shown on these videos.

Full match video

Ospital-Bilbao defeated Lambert-Ducassou 40-30

Full match video

September 14, 2016:

Final

Larralde-de Ezcurra defeated Ospital-Bilbao 40-37

Match article, along with an audio interview with Peio Larralde

Esku Pilota TVPI Highlights (Note: these highlights include the last two points of the match--also linked to below).

Full match video

The two semi-finals were easy victories, according to the match article. The final was a great match which went down to the final points before L-E won. Unfortunately there were some technical difficulties with the match video. Some points are missing and the sound was out of synch late in the match. So any kind of exact statistics are unavailable at this time.

However, the last 5 points of match are available and should be watched, even with the sound distraction.

37-36, 37-37, 38-37, 39-37, 40-37. (single link to all five points).

The 37-36 point is particularly interesting. It can be seen almost as a microcosm of what a battle this match was. It consumed 53 balls in play from serve to end, had countless great saves, and was a showcase for all four players. When it ended on a beautiful Bilbao filet shot, a long climb toward equality (L-E held the lead for most of match) was almost to the summit. And when Ospital served an ace and equality was reached, it seemed all the momentum was with O-B. But in the last three points, an error by Bilbao opened the door a crack, and Peio Larralde, as he often does in crucial situations, made emphatic plays (a service ace and a perfect right passing shot) to close out the match in the next 6 balls in play. All four players were superb, and were rewarded with a long ovation when the match ended. The unsung hero was Pascal de Ezcurra, who played magnificent defense throughout. Along with that defense, he also scored perhaps the most elegant point of the match, a two wall filet shot that gave his team a 26-20 lead. Watch and enjoy!