Main Nue--FFPB Championnat de France Elite Pro Individuel--Results of January 23, 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"). Note: Benesse was added to the Esku Pilota player pages sometime in January 2017.

The "Liguilla" phase a is 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;    January 6, 2017;  January 9, 2017;   January 14, 2017;  January 16, 2017 ;  January 20, 2017 ;  January 21, 2017

January, 23, 2017

Le Garat, St. Jean-Pied-de-Port (1) (2)

A6: Ospital defeated Waltary 40-24

Preview article  (Pilota Ttiki)

Match article (Pilota Ttiki)

Match statistics and linescore with equalities and decade scores (Source: Esku Pilota)

Ospital defeated Waltary for the second time in a little over a month. On December 19, 2016 Ospital came back from 19-32 to win 40-34 at this venue in a Super Prestige Tournament quarter-final. This match was an easier victory, although the first half (23-23) was equal, and through 5 decades Ospital had only a 4 point lead. But he dominated the rest of the match with a 13-1 run to finish with an easy victory. A close look at the scoring in the two matches shows that this was a more well executed match than the first one (12 Waltary errors were decisive in the first match), with only 10 errors made in the entire match. Ospital out aced Waltary 12-9 in this match (13-12 in the first match). But where Ospital really shined in this match was with direct point and finesse shots (xareat, pumpa xare, dejadez, motz, and izkin motz). In this match he had the most winners with those shots by 19-8. In the first match it was Waltary with a slight advantage (13-11). At his best, Ospital is a great shot maker, which he has shown on several occasions. He moves on to the Liguilla phase of the tournament.

Ospital will first face Ducassou (seeded into the tournament at this level)  at Le Garat next Monday, January 30.

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. 

Main Nue--Trinquet Garat Super Prestige singles tournament--Final

The 23rd Super Prestige,  an EP 2000 tournament, was played at the cathedral of Main Nue, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port's (Donibane Garazi) "Le Garat"(1)(2), from November 28, 2016-January 22, 2017.  This was a seeded singles tournament,  with 2 matches each Monday. The tournament was played in knockout fashion with 4 "tours", followed by two semi-finals and a final (played on a Sunday). Seeding in one bracket (from low to high) was: Guichandut, X. Lambert, Bilbao, and Larralde. And in the other bracket: Ospital, de Ezcurra, Waltary, and Ducassou. The seeding can be seen graphically here

2015 SP results

The tournament was organized by Garaziko Pilota (Societe Sportive Goizeko Izarra)

Tournament Competition page

Pelotelive.free.fr competition page


Tour 1 (November 28, 2016)

Tour 2  (December 5, 2016)

Tour 3 (December 12, 2016)

Tour 4 (December 19, 2016)

Semi-Finals (December 26, 2016)

January 22, 2017

Final

Larralde defeated Ducassou 40-31.

Match article (Pilota Ttiki)

Match article with player interviews (Esku Pilota)

Match article with photos (francebleu.fr)

Match statistics, including equalities and decade linescores (Source: H. Ocafrain via Esku Pilota spreadsheet).

Equalities: 1-1; 4-4; 5-5; 6-6; 7-7; 12-12

Decade linescores (winner always listed 1st).

5-5; 8-12; 17-13; 23-17; 27-23; 32-28; 39-31

Time of the match: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 15 seconds. Actual playing time: 26:23

Scoring:

Larralde +33 (2 service aces, 5 egindatukoak, 2 xareat, 7 pumpa xare, 3 ziloat, 4 dejadez, 2 buruzgain, 3 motz, 5 izkin motz,) -8 (including 1 service fault)

Ducassou +23 (6 service aces, 3 egindatukoak, 7 xareat, 2 pumpa xare, 2 dejadez, 1 buruzgain, 2 motz) -7 (including 1 service fault).

In a match that was delayed 2 weeks because of a hand injury to Ducassou, Larralde defended the championship he won last year against the same opponent (40-26), this time 40-31. A lead built in the 3rd and 4th decades, whittled away in the 5th and 6th, and then extended decisively in the 7th, led to the victory. Including last year's FFPB Championnat de France Elite Pro Individual (40-22),  Larralde has now defeated Ducassou in the last 3 singles finals they have played. Both players are seeded into the "Liguilla" phase of the FFPB Championnat de France Elite Pro Individual (A), and will be playing in that tournament beginning on January 29 and 30, 2017. Larralde will play at Saint Palais on January 29. Ducassou will play at Le Garat on January 30. They could face each other again in mid-February.

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.