Pala/Pala Larga--Mundo Parejas--Jornada 4--March 22, 2019

Mundial Parejas, the premier long court Pala Tournament, began  February 22-23, 2019. The tournament, sponsored by Munduko Pilota Batzarra (Basque Pelota and Associated Sports World Council), is set up in a unique way. In each round the partnerships change. It features 8 InnPala professionals, 4 front court (delanteros) and 4 back (zagueros). The tournament will be played as a partial double round robin, with each player pairing with 3 others in each round, for a total of 6 matches. The partners who will not be playing together in the League phase are listed at the bottom of this post. On April 13 the top two delanteros pair up with the top two zagueros and play in a final. There is also a 3rd place match. The scoring for the tournament is based completely on joko (set) scores: 3-0=100pts, 3-1=80pts, 3-2=60pts, 2-3=40pts, 1-3=20pts, 0-3=0pts. The scoring system emphasizes the importance of every joko, no matter what the situation in any match.

All matches will be played at Mungia, (1)(2) the "Cathedral" of long court Pala (Pala Larga (1)(2)).

Complete tournament information (.pdf format, 12p), including match schedule and partnerships, rules of the tournament, and a listing of past winners going back to 2007. (Source: Munduko Pilota Batzarra).

The players:

Delanteros (Front): Pablo Fusto; Ibon Garate; Esteban Gaubeka; Dan Necol
Zagueros (Back): Iker Gordon; Xabier Ibargarai; Ibai Perez; Inaki Urrutia

Note: Garate won a 2 match play-in v Ander Landeta for the 4th front court position.

InnPala Player pages

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NOTE: PREVIOUS WINNERS SINCE 2007 LISTING HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST

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Pre-Tournament qualifying round--February 22-23 and Jornada (Day) 1, March 1, 2019 ; Jornada 2, March 8 ; Jornada 3, March 15 ; Jornada 4, March 22 ; Jornada 5,  March 29;  Jornada 6, April 5

Final and 3rd Place Match: April 13

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Tournament preview article (Deia). Also has a feature on Ibon Garate.

Preview article (El Correo)

END OF DAY 4 OF LEAGUE PHASE

Cumulative Table

Player-(match wins-losses: joko w-l, league points)

Delantero (front)

Fusto  (3-1; (2-3,3-2,3-2,3-1); 240)

Gaubeka(2-2; (2-3,3-1,2-3,3-1); 240)
Necol  (2-2; (3-2,1-3,3-1,1-3); 180)

Garate (1-3; (3-2,2-3,1-3,1-3); 140)

Zaguero (back)

Ibai Perez (4-0; (3-2,3-1,3-2,3-1); 280)

Urrutia    (3-1; (3-2,3-2,2-3,3-1); 240)

Ibargarai  (1-3; (2-3,2-3,3-1,1-3); 180)

Gordon     (0-4; (2-3,1-3,1-3,1-3); 100)

Both matches this week were won by 3-1 scores (see below), finally providing a bit of separation in the two races. Among the delanteros (fronts) Fusto won his 3rd in a row in his first non-5 joko match. Gaubeka equaled his match record at 2-2, but the two wins were major (80 point) wins, allowing him to remain tied with Fusto for the top spot, even though he has one less match victory. Necol has been on a roller coaster ride, down two weeks ago, up last week, and then down again this week. This is due to the fact that his last 3 matches have yielded 20, 80, and 20 points. But he now has less margin for error, with only two matches left. He needs big wins in both of them. He plays against Gaubeka-Gordon with Ibai Perez this week. A 3-1 or 3-0 win would put him right back into contention. A 3-2 win or a loss would make things much more difficult. Next week he closes the League phase with Gordon against Garate-Ibargarai. The final week Fusto-Urrutia close against Gaubeka-Ibai Perez in a match that will almost certainly have implications for who will be playing who in the Final. For Necol, a big win by one of those teams would be most helpful, assuming he also wins big. Garate, to have any chance, almost certainly needs to "pitch" 2 shutouts with Urrutia and Ibargarai and hope for the best. Fusto closes with Ibargarai and Urrutia against Garate and Gaubeka. Gaubeka closes with Gordon and Ibai Perez against Necol and Fusto.

Among the zagueros (backs) Ibai Perez, by virtue of his perfect record, has a little breathing space in first place. While he and Urrutia have a fairly comfortable lead in the race for a berth in the Final, Ibargarai's equation is similar to Necol's among the fronts. He needs two big wins and some help. He plays his last two games against Urrutia and Gordon. Gordon needs 2 shutouts and a lot of help.

Because the League phase started out with so many close matches, the last two matches still have a lot of meaning. No one will be "cruising." It should be great to watch.

March 22, 2019

Jornada 4

Jornada 4 Promotion Poster (InnPala Twitter)

Gaubeka (2-2, 10-8, 240)-Urrutia (3-1, 11-8, 240) 3

Garate (1-3, 7-11, 140)-Gordon (0-4, 5-12, 100) 1

(10-2, 9-10, 10-6, 10-5) (39-23)

(InnPala Twitter, with 1 photo)

Fusto (3-1, 11-8, 240)-Ibai Perez (4-0, 12-6, 280) 3

Necol (2-2, 8-9, 180)-Ibargarai (1-3, 8-10, 180) 1

(4-10, 10-8, 10-4, 10-4) (34-26)

(InnPala Twitter)

We know almost no details about these matches, as neither of the main sources for match articles, InnPala Fronton Facebook or Munduko Pilota Batzarra, have filed articles as this post is published. I was unable to find any newspaper accounts. MPB did provide a very helpful table (which contains win-loss, records, joko (set) records, points for and against, and League points cumulatively through Jornada 4 (see below). What we do know from the linescores is that Garate-Gordon, for the second consecutive week, faced a pivotal second joko after losing the 1st by a big score. This time they won 10-9 but that didn't phase their opponents at all. G-U won the last two jokos by 20-11 and the match by 39-23. In the other match, it appears that N-I came out with all "guns blazing" to win a dominant first joko. But then F-IP won a close second joko that broke the resistance of their opponents. F-IP won the 3rd and 4th jokos by a combined score of 20-8.

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4th Jornada Table:

Munduko Pilota Batzarra table (.pdf format, 1p.)

Player-(match wins-losses: joko w-l, points)

Delantero (front)

Fusto (3-1; 11-8; 240)

Gaubeka (2-2; 10-8; 240)

Necol (2-2; 8-9; 180)

Garate (1-3; 7-11; 140)

Zaguero (back)

Ibai Perez (4-0; 12-6; 280)

Urrutia (3-1; 11-8; 240)

Ibargarai (1-3; 8-10; 180)

Gordon (0-4; 5-12; 100)

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SCHEDULE FOR THE 6 WEEK ROUND ROBIN LEAGUE PHASE 

March 1, 2019:

Gaubeka-Gordon v Garate-Urrutia

Fusto-Ibargarai v Necol-Ibai Perez

March 8:

Garate-Ibargarai v Fusto Urrutia

Gaubeka-Ibai Perez v Necol-Gordon

March 15:

Necol-Ibargarai v Garate-Gordon

Gaubeka-Urrutia v Fusto-Ibai Perez

March 22:

Garate-Gordon v Gaubeka-Urrutia

Fusto-Ibai Perez v Necol-Ibargari

March 29:

Garate-Urrutia v Fusto-Ibargarai

Gaubeka-Gordon v Necol-Ibai Perez

April 5:

Garate-Ibargarai v Necol-Gordon

Gaubeka-Ibai Perez v Fusto-Urrutia

League pairs that will not play together:

Fusto-Gordon

Garate-Ibai Perez

Gaubeka-Ibargarai

Necol-Urrutia

April 13: Final

#1 delantero (front)-#1 zaguero (back) v #2 (d)-#2 (z)

Source: Munduko Pilota Batzarra "dossier"

For an up to date accounting of the win-loss records of the InnPala players, and a cumulative accounting of their rankings, see the "InnPala Players win-loss records and independent matches" Page on the right side of the blog.

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Previous Tournament Winners (since 2007)

2007: Urkia-Imanol 45 Gaubeka-Velilla 33 Match article (Naiz)

2008: Fusto-Larrinaga 45 Ziskar II-Galan 35 Match article (Naiz)

2009: Gaubeka-Beldarrain 45 Urkia-Lujan 33 Match article (Naiz)

2010: Ziskar II-Imanol 40 Fusto-Ayerbe 24 Match article (EITB)

2011: No Competition

2012: Gaubeka-Ayerbe 3 Altadill-Lujan 1 (12-8, 6-12, 12-11, 12-8) (42-39)

Match article (InnPala)

2013: Fusto-Larrinaga 3 Gaubeka-Ayerbe 0 (10-8, 10-7, 10-6) Match article (Diario Vasco) Complete Results (InnPala)

2014: Zubiri-Imanol 3 Fusto-Urkijo 2 (3-10, 6-10, 10-6, 10-8, 10-7) (39-41) Match article (Munduko Pilota Batzarra) video of final point (EITB) Complete Results (InnPala)

2015: Fusto-Ibargarai 3 Gaubeka-Ibai Perez 1 (10-8, 10-9, 2-10, 10-8) (32-35) Match article (Munduko Pilota Batzarra)

2016: Fusto-Brefel 3 Gaubeka-Imanol 2 (10-8, 8-10, 10-6, 7-10, 10-7) (45-41) Match article (Deia) BLOG POST (scroll to Pala) (unfortunately, EITB has removed the full match video)

2017: Fusto-Ibai Perez 3 Gaubeka-Imanol 2 (4-10, 9-10, 10-8, 10-8, 10-8) (43-44) BLOG POSTS THAT COVER ENTIRE TOURNAMENT; Munduko Pilota Batzarra Tournament coverage; video of final point and closing ceremony (EITB); (unfortunately, EITB has removed the full match video).

2018: Fusto-Ibargarai 3 Landeta-Gordon 1 (10-9, 9-10, 10-5, 10-8) Munduko Pilota Batzarra Tournament coverage; Full match video (EITB)

Since 2007 in Finals

Fusto (d front) 6-2 (4 in a row from 2015-2018, and 5 of the last 6)

Gaubeka (d front) 2-5

Imanol (z back) 3-2

Ayerbe (z back) 1-2

Larrinaga (z back) 2-0

Ibargarai (z back) 2-0

Urkia (d front) 1-1

Ziskar II (d front) 1-1

Ibai Perez (z back) 1-1

Lujan (z back) 0-2

Belderain (d front) 1-0

Zubiri (d front) 1-0

Brefel (z back) 1-0

Velilla (z back) 0-1

Galan (z back) 0-1

Urkijo (z back) 0-1

Altadill (d front) 0-1

Landeta (d front) 0-1

Gordon (z back) 0-1