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.
Play in Round--January 14, 2014
Second Round--January 21, 2017
Joko score sources: Diario Vasco Cartelera, January 22, 2017
1. Necol defeated Brefel 3-0 (10-8, 10-6, 10-4) (30-18)
2. Zubiri defeated Imanol 3-0 (10-9, 10-7, 10-7 ) (30-23)
Match article for both matches, along with 8 photos (InnPala Fronton Facebook)
Both seeded players were beaten handily. Interestingly, both back court players lost to front court players. Necol overpowered Brefel, winning each joko (set) more easily than the one before. He will battle Ibai-Perez in a quarter-final next Friday, January 27, 2017. Imanol had the first joko in hand (5-9) but Zubiri came from behind to win it. Two close jokos later, he was on his way to a quarter-final v Ibargarai. So again we will see front court v back court contests.
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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 21, 2017
Gaubeka(d)..7-2.....24-15..+2*....1(La Liga)
Zubiri(d)......8-5.....30-20..+3*
Fusto(d)........5-5.....20-21..-2
Necol(d)........6-7....26-28..+2
Landeta(d)....3-7.....17-25..-1
Ibai-Perez(z)..7-3....25-18..+1*....1(La Liga)
Brefel(z)........5-5....20-19..-1
Ibargari(z).....5-6....23-23...-1
Gordon(z)......5-7....21-27...-3
Imanol(z).......3-7...15-25....-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.
