This is a current awareness blog that links to the latest sources of information on Basque Pelota matches and Tournaments. It covers all of both North and South Basque modalities: Pro and amateur. It links to match stories, statistics and video highlights and/or full match videos. NEW!!! JAI ALAI LEAGUE (EREMAN!) SEASON INTRO AND JAI ALAI WOMEN'S WINTER TOUR 2024 (2/22/24)!!!

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Main Nue--FFPB Championnat de France Elite Pro Individuel--Results of January 14, 2017

The Main Nue Individuel Elite Pro Championnat de France A and B competition is sponsored by the  Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque (FFPB). The competition began on December 23, 2016 and will end on February 20, 2017. You can follow its progress here. Pelotelive.free.fr also provides A and B coverage. The tournament is a seeded ladder tournament.

* not listed on the Esku Pilota player pages at this time.

The A group consists of Antton Amulet, Philippe Bielle, Bixintxo Bilbao, Pascal de Ezcurra, Baptiste Ducassou, Peio Guichandut, Ximun Lambert, Peio Larralde, Matheiu Ospital, and Agusti Waltary. The seeds, from low to high are: Amulet and Ospital (1/8), Bilbao and Waltary (Quarter-finals), and Larralde and Ducassou ("Liguilla").

The B group consists of Gregory Aguirre, Jean-Philippe Benesse*, Mickael Darmendrail, Vincent Elgart, Julien Etchegaray, Alexis Inchauspe, Laurent Lambert, Cedric Lucu, Alain Migueltorena, Antton Monce, Mattin Olcomendy*, and Mickael Palomes. The seeds, from low to high are: Darmendrail and L. Lambert (1/8), Palomes and Inchauspe (Quarter-finals), and Elgart and Monce ("Liguilla").

The "Liguilla" phase is a round robin among the top 4 finishers (two who win their way in and two who are seeded in) which will determine the finalists.

 Article describing the competition (Esku Pilota)

December 23 2016-January 2, 2017 matches;    January 6, 2017 matchesJanuary 9, 2017 matches

January 14, 2017

Villefranque (1)(2)(3)

Preview article for both matches (Pilota Ttiki) 

Match article for both matches: (Pilota Ttiki)

Match article for both matches (Esku Pilota)

A5. The scheduled A5 match between Guichandut and Bilbao was postponed due to Bilbao being ill with influenza. It has been rescheduled for next Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Villefranque.

In its place, as a "lever de rideau" (curtain raiser) Monce defeated Elgart 40-32.

Selected linescore: (winner always listed first).

25-25; 32-32; 40-32

This match might be a preview of  a possible liguilla match, as they are both seeded in to the tournament at that level. Elgart held the advantage early. Monce took over the match in the late stages. They will resume tournament play on January 29 and 30. If they win, they will face each other in the final.

B6. Etchegaray defeated L.Lambert 40-27.

Selected linescore (winner always listed first). Source: both articles above.

10-4; 15-9; 20-13; 26-13; 26-19; 40-27.

With the exception of a 6-0 run by Lambert that cut his deficit to 7 points, Etchegaray was untroubled in this match. The total score of his two matches is 80-50. His next match is against Alexis Inchauspe at Arcangues on January 20.

For cumulative records of Main Nue elite professionals see the "Cumulative records of EP players" on the recurring results page on the right side of the blog. 

Pala--Mundial Individual 2017 begins

Mundial Individual 2017, the premier InnPala singles tournament began January 14, 2017. It is a single elimination, seeded ladder tournament that involves the entire InnPala roster. The short court tournament will be played Bizkaia Fronton, Bilbo (Bilbao) (1)(2). Two matches will be played every weekend. Seeding, from low to high: Brefel and Imanol; Ibai-Perez and Ibargarai (quarter finals); Fusto and Gaubeka (semi-finals). For more on the tournament see the tournament page at InnPala. The final will be played February 10.

Preview article (mundodeportivo.com)

Preview article (Naiz)

The articles note that Fusto is the favorite, seeded in at the semi-final level, having won all 5 of the finals played at Bizkaia (2012-16). He also won in 2009. If he wins this tournament, he will equal Oscar Insausti's record of 7 singles championships. The articles also note that Esteban Gaubeka, last year's runner up, is suffering from shoulder tendinitis, but hopes to be ready to play his first match (seeded in at the semi-final level) on February 4.

January 14, 2014

Unseeded play-in matches

Joko score sources: Diario Vasco Cartelera, January 15, 2017

1. Necol defeated Landeta 3-2 (10-8, 10-8, 8-10, 9-10, 10-6) (47-42)

2. Zubiri defeated Gordon 3-1 (10-7, 2-10, 10-7, 10-5) (32-29)

Note: Both Innpala.com match article links were removed as they were simply overwritten by the match stories from the next week's (January 21) matches without any change of URL. For obvious reasons, I won't be linking to their match stories until this design flaw if fixed. (Removed January 22, 2017).

Match article for both matches (InnPala Fronton Facebook page) (auto translate may be available) (added January 16, 2017)

The favorites won both matches. Necol had a difficult struggle with Landeta but finally prevailed in a match that consumed 89 of a possible 95 points. Outside of a very poor 2nd joko, Zubiri dominated his match. The next matches are on January 21, 2017: Necol v Brefel and Zubiri v Imanol.

===============================

Table of wins and losses for the 2016-2017 season.

Key: Player; Position (d=delantero (front court), z=zaguero (back court)); match wins-losses; joko (set) wins-losses; winning-losing streak; championships won. Matches that are single partidos will be noted. Table will be according to match winning percentage. 1st tie breaker will be number of wins. 2nd tie breaker will be joko win-loss differential. We begin the season with  La Liga Kutxabank, starting October 29, 2016.

January 14, 2017

Gaubeka(d)..7-2.....24-15..+2*....1(La Liga)
Zubiri(d)......7-5.....27-20..+2*
Fusto(d)........5-5.....20-21..-2
Necol(d)........5-7....23-28..+1
Landeta(d)....3-7.....17-25..-1

Ibai-Perez(z)..7-3....25-18..+1*....1(La Liga)
Brefel(z).........5-4....20-16..+2
Ibargari(z).....5-6....23-23...-1
Gordon(z)......5-7....21-27...-3
Imanol(z).......3-6....15-22..+1*

Includes Dec. 30, 2016 independent match: Landeta-Imanol defeated Zuberi--Ibai-Perez 3-1 (10-8, 7-10, 10-9, 10-7) at Bizkaia.

*Does not include the result of Nov.25, 2016 independent match Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez v Zubiri-Imanol. The result is unknown at this time. I will add it when I find it.

Includes Nov. 19, 2016 independent match: Zuberi-Ibargari defeated Necol-Gordon 3-0 (10-8, 10-3, 10-9) at Bizkaia.

 For cumulative accounting of this player table see the InnPala Player win-loss table under the Pala page on the right side of the blog.