Oriamendi2010, the main "company" that organizes and promotes professional Remonte in the Basque Country has organized a new tournament, the Berria (the main Basque Language Newspaper) Txapelketa, featuring mostly younger, mostly Group B players.
The Tournament was played from May 16-June 16, 2019 and the first phase comprised the 3rd or 4th match of each 4 match Oriamendi2010 program. It was set up in League format with two groups that played a single round robin followed by Semi-finals and a Final on June 16.
Group A:
Segurola*-Zaldua (B-B)
Otaegi-Garces** (B-B)
Ansa II-Arruarte (B-B)
Juanenea-Labaka (B-B)
Group B:
Azpiroz-Zubiri (A-B)
Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III (B-B)
Aldabe-Larranaga (B-B)
Etxarri-Agirrezabala (A-A)
*Sagardoeren Txapelketa Champion
**ST Runner up
League Points system: 35 point partidos
WIN=+4
32-34=+2
29-31=+1
26-28=0
League Phase: May 16-June 1; Semi-finals: June 8; FINAL: "Star Match, June 15
Semi-finalists will be the teams that contest the "Promesis" San Fermin Tournament in July.
Berria Txapelketa information booklet (Word Format, 6P.)
As with all Tournaments that are encompassed within a single blog post, read from the bottom up if you want to follow the Tournament in chronological order.
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June 15, 2019
Note: This was the June 15 Star Match. It was played to 40 points.
The Tournament was unfortunately marred by injuries, with Otaegi-Garces unable to play a match (due to an Otaegi injury) and no replacements available, which shortened the Group A League. Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III got into the final after finishing 3rd in the Group B League phase because of injuries that knocked out Azpiroz-Zubiri. Etxarri was also injured and that too effected the final outcome. All in all, only half the players played their full slate of matches.
Most of the matches were not close, but 2 were (see below). And the opener featured an almost unprecedented "double perfect match" by Juanenea-Labaka (+24 -0; +5 -0 respectively). It was one of the best performances in all of Basque Pelota for the week of May 13-19, 2019 (scroll to May 13-19)
FINAL
Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III (GROUP B #3) 31 (EITB full match video)
Selected linescore (winners always listed first)
6-2; 7-7; 8-8; 10-10; 17-12; 19-14; 23-22; 27-28; 28-28; 30-29; 36-29; 40-31
Scoring (Oriamendi):
Ansa II +26 -3 Arruarte +10 (including 2 service aces -4 (including 1 service fault)
Goikoetxea V+13 -5 Aizpuru III +11(4a) -3
Scoring adds to 44-31
Scoring (EITB)
Ansa II +24 -4 Arruarte +3 -5
Goikoetxea V +13 -9 Aizupuru III +9 -4
Balls in play: 341
Ansa II 95 Arruarte 80
Goikoetxea V 84 AizpuruIII 82
Time of the match: 64:41
Source for all match articles, if not otherwise specifically stated: Oriamendi2010
This match was closer than the score indicated, with the outcome being in doubt until the last 10 points. A 12-3 run at the end made the difference. Ansa had a great match +24 -4, with about 10 of those coming in the final push to victory. For G-A, there was a small feeling of redemption after they had been hammered by these opponents 35-8 in League play on May 23 (see below).
Ansa II had an amazing Tournament. Here are his statistics for the matches statistics are available for:
+ 15 -3; + 23 -1; +19 -5; +24 -4: +81 -13 (+20 -3 AVERAGE!!!)
June 8
Semi-finals
Zubiri was injured and unable to play in the A1-B2 Semi-Final. Azpiroz-Zubiri were replaced by Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III
GoikoetxeaV-Aizpuru III 35
Juanenea-Labaka 28*
*With the score 28-26 J-L, Juanenea was injured and could not continue. G-A were awarded the victory.
Juanenea's injury ran the number of injuries that marred this Tournament to 4.
Ansa II-Arruarte (A2) 35
Aldabe-Larranaga (B1) 24
Selected linescore (winners always listed first)
10-10; 16-12; 24-14; 28-21; 30-23; 35-24
Scoring:
Ansa II +19 -5; Arruarte +10 (including 5 service aces) -2
Aldabe** ; +11 -2 Larranaga +6(1a) -4
**Inferred from the other scores
A-L led the whole way but had to fight off a rally by A-L to win. Ansa II led the way with +19 -5.
Final League Table
Group A
Note: due to an injury to Otaegi, Otaegi-Garces did not play any matches.
Juanenea-Labaka (2-0 +8)
Ansa II-Arruarte (1-1; +3)
Segurola-Zaldua (0-2; +0)
Otaegi-Garces DNP
Group B
Aldabe-Larranaga (2-1; +10)
Azpiroz-Zubiri (1-2 +7)
Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III (2-1 +7)
Etxarri-Agirrezabala (1-2 +5)
Due to an injury to Etxarri, E-A forfeited their match against G-A. G-A got 4 points to tie with Azpiroz-Zubiri. Since A-Z won the head to head match with G-A (see May 23 below), they gained a semi-final spot. The semi-finals will be A1-B2 and B1-A2
May 30
Group A
Juanenea-Labaka (2-0; +8) 35
Segurola-Zaldua (0-2; +0) 31
Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)
18-19; 35-31
J-L needed 17 points to qualify for the Semi-finals and, to their credit, did not "quit" after the 17th point. They went on to win the match. For Segurola, it was a disappointing encore to the Sagardoeren Txapelketa, which he won just before this Tournament started.
Group B
Etxarri did not recover from his injury (see below--May 23). He and Agirrezabala forfeited their match to Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III.
May 25
Group B
Aldabe-Larranaga (2-1; +10) 35
Azpiroz-Zubiri (1-2; +7) 31
Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)
25-29; 31-31; 31-35
Partial scoring: Larranaga 5 service aces; Zubiri 5a
A very even match was finally won with a 10-2 run at the very end by A-L. With the win, they qualified for the Semi-finals.
May 23
Group A
Aldabe-Larranaga (1-1; +6) 35
Etxarri-Agirrezabala (1-1; +5) 30
Group B
Azpiroz-Zubiri (1-1; +6) 35
Goikoetxea V-Aizpuru III (1-1; +3) 8
No linescore or scoring information is available for either of these matches. Etxarri was injured in this match and his team had to forfeit their next match (see above).
May 18
Group A
Ansa II-Arruarte (1-1; +3) 35
Segurola-Zaldua (0-1; -1) 15
Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)
13-6; 20-11; 27-14; 35-15
Partial scoring: Ansa II +23 -1
Ansa II-Arruarte had to play their second match on short notice as Otaegi-Garces, who were to play, could not due to an Otaegi injury. It was the beginning of a sad end for O-G, as they did not play one ball in the entire tournament.
Group B
Etxarri-Agirrezabala (A-A) (1-0; +4) 35
Azpiroz-Zubiri (A-B) (0-1; +2) 34
Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)
10-4; 18-12; 26-20; 31-25; 32-30; 33-33; 34-34; 35-34
This was the closest and most exciting of all the matches in the Tournament. E-A built an early lead and then held off a long and arduous comeback that brought the match to the final point, which they won.
May 16
Group B
Goikoetxea V Aizpuru III (1-0 +4) 35
Aldabe-Larranaga (0-1, +2) 33
G-A got off to a great start with a hard fought victory,
Group A
Juanenea-Labaka (1-0 +4)35
Ansa II-Arruarte (0-1, -1) 20
Scoring:
Juanenea +24 -0; Labaka +5 (including 2 service aces) -0
Ansa II +15 -3; Arruarte +5 -3
J-L came roaring out of the "blocks" to open this tournament with a double perfect game +29 -0. Ansa II had an excellent match also, but his team didn't stand a chance.
