Source for all match articles, unless otherwise specifically stated, is 21iguales.com. 21iguales.com will also keep an ongoing phase table at its main Parejas site.
This table is the most up to date of any I've found.
Cumulative phase tables (League and Semi-final League) are available below.
Match linescores were provided from match articles when available, or from EITB. Selected Full match linescores were produced at 21iguales.com Twitter feed. Track back to the date and match and follow from beginning to end.
Source for all highlights and full match videos, unless otherwise specifically stated, is EITB.
At present, EITB is providing all highlights, in chronological order:
We begin at Week 7 as that was when the 2019 calendar year began. Coverage of the first six weeks is available at 21Iguales.com, and the Baiko Pilota (formerly Asegarce) and ASPE websites. Full match video coverage of all available matches can be found at EITB.
For all available full match videos
"buscar" (search--top right side of page): "binakako" (without the quotes). Look for "2019 Binakako Txapelketa." Matches are usually the second or first match on the video.
Full match videos of earlier finals going back to 2000:
"buscar" "Binakako Txapelketako finalak" (without the quotes)
Selected full match videos before 2000:
"buscar" "Gure bideoteka" (without the quotes) and scroll until you find them.
For complete print and video coverage of the 2016-17 competition
Links to all matches available (by week).
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Week 7; Week 8; Week 9; Week 10; Week 11; Week 12; Week 13; Week 14; Semi-final Round 1; Semi-final Round 2; Semi-final Round 3;
Final
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FINAL
April 7, 2019
Elezkano II-Rezusta (#1) (#2) 22 Irribarria-Zabaleta (#2) (#1) 19 (EITB--begins at 0:00) Basque
Fronton TV (Castilian full match video) (added April 17, 2019)
Fronton TV (Castilian full match video) (added April 17, 2019)
Highlights
21Iguales Youtube (parts of 14 points, including the final point)
Highlights (EITB)
First Point (28 balls in play R-Z (backs) 20 E-I (fronts) 8)
Final Point (24 bip) (12-12) (EITB)
Closing Ceremony (EITB)
22 photos (21Iguales)
Match article (Dairio Vasco) (great article by Joseba Lazeta that stresses the importance of Rezusta's play.)
Match article (Noticias de Navarra) (excellent article by Beatriz Equisoain and Jose Mari Martinez captures the flow of the match and stresses the importance of I-Z errors.)
Match article (21Iguales
ASPE links to match articles from Mundo Deportivo, Berria, Deia, and Diario de Noticias
Linescore: (winners always listed first)
4-0; 4-1; 6-1; 6-5; 9-5; 9-8; 10-8; 10-10; 13-10; 13-11; 16-11; 16-16; 19-16; 19-17: 21-17; 21-19; 22-19
Scoring:
Elezkano +6 -4 Rezusta +2 -4
Irribarria +9 -9 Zabaleta +2 -5
For the match: +19 -22
Defensive scoring (for further explanation, see below)
Excellent saves
Elezkano 22 Rezusta 17
Irribarria 18 Zabaleta 13
Balls in play: 670
Elezkano 155 Rezusta 181
Irribarria 167 Zabaleta 167
Time of the match: 76:51
The final was played in front of an excited, enthusiastic sell out of 3,000. Each player had a large group of raucous "homies" rooting for him. The anticipation was palpable. These were clearly the two best teams in the competition, coming in with exactly the same records (12-5). They had split two matches in the League phase and I-Z won a Semi-final match easily. E-R had looked rather ordinary until their last Semi-final match, when Elezkano II had a fantastic match, completely smothering Altuna III's offense in addition to a tidy +13 -1 on his own ledger. Fans who wondered where the Rezusta they knew had gone saw him come back.
The first point of the match, a 28 ball point, showed this was going to be a knock down, drag out battle in the trenches. The first four points consumed almost 100 balls in play.
The match had a definite pattern. E-R would build a lead, I-R would challenge it. 6-1--6-5; 9-5--9-8; 10-8--10-10; 10-10--16-11; 16-11--16-16; 21-17--21-19. I-R did not once lead. But the flow of the match was spectacular. After it was over, Zabaleta said that his team made too many errors. And that was true, but not the whole story. If you look at the scoring you will see that the two team total was +19 -22). Which would seem to indicate that it was poorly played.
But that is not true. It had, by my count, one point that consumed 43 balls in play, three points that consumed between 30-39, ten points that consumed 20-29, and thirteen points that consumed 10-19. That is not a poorly played match dominated by errors.
Examples:
1. The 3-0--4-0 point was the 43 ball point. True, it ended with an error by Irribarria, but before that he made 2 excellent saves (low on the left wall and off the apron) and Zabaleta made 1 (deep against the left wall) on the 2nd, 4th, and 8th balls.
2. What was in my opinion the best point of the match, the 10-9--10-10 point, a 37 ball point, featured 5 excellent saves: 2 by E-R and 3 by I-Z (Elezkano II on the 10th ball going into the left wall at the 5 line; Rezusta on the 12th ball going on the apron; Zabaleta on the 13th ball rushing in on the left wall for a save at the 3 line, two balls later again on the left wall; and Irribarria two balls after that off the back foot moving back at the 4 1/2). It was a point that could have easily been won by the 10th ball, except for the great defense.
3. The 14-11--16-11 points consumed a total of 46 balls. Elezkano shined during these points making 5 excellent saves, 3 on the left wall during the first point, the last of which he saved via a sparkling shot to win the point. On the next point he saved the 23 ball point on the 13th ball with one of his "patented" apron dives.
4. The 19-16--19-17 point, a 34 ball point, had the most excellent saves I counted in the match, 7.
A. Irribarria left wall on the 4th ball.
B. Zabaleta on another one of his specialities: "racing in on the left wall" saves, this one at the 1 1/2 line on the 8th ball.
C. Irribarria left wall on the 10th ball.
D. Rezusta on the apron at the 7 line on the 13th ball.
E. Irribarria left wall on the 22nd ball.
F. Rezusta on the apron at the 5 line on the 23rd ball.
G. Zabaleta racing in on the left wall at the 2 line on the 30th ball.
And on and on. But you get the point.
The last 4 points consumed 82 balls in play, the final point 24.
When it was over, Rezusta had won his second title in his 4th consecutive final. Zabaleta and Elezkano II had played in two consecutive finals and split them. And Irribarria had played in his second in three years, splitting them. A long campaign that began in November, a grueling 18 match marathon for these two teams, was over. There wasn't much to separation between them. 3 points. And yes, there were errors. But this was a great match.
A final word about "excellent" saves. What is an excellent save? Is any ball returned from the 10 line an excellent save? Does crashing into the left wall, or a left wall save on one's knees, or travelling to the apron signify an excellent save? I do not know. If you track the match, point by point, looking for only excellent saves, you may come up with more or less than I did. EITB doesn't keep track. What I think is excellent, you might think routine. It's like art. I can't explain sublime art, but "I know it when I see it." The whole point of the exercise, whether I got it right or not, is that it is important to pay attention to defense in these matches. Checks and minuses are very important, they tell a lot. But they are only the finishing balls of a point. Excellent defense saves a point so it can be won later. Sometimes it is lost. Sometimes by an inexplicable elementary error. But that doesn't take away the fact that these four players made the impossible look routine, over and again.
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SEMI-FINAL LEAGUE FINAL TABLE
Irribarria-Zabaleta (#2) (3-0 +26)
Elezkano II-Rezusta (#1) (2-1 +12)
Altuna II-Martija (#4) (1-2 -15)
Victor (substituting for Oliazola II)-Albisu (#3) (0-3 -23)
FINAL INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM STATISTICS FOR SEMI-FINAL LEAGUE (SOURCE FOR ALL: EITB)
Delanteros (Front Court)
Irribarria +29 -7=+22
Elezkano II +28 -8=+20
Altuna III +26 -14=+12
Victor +23 -15=+8
Zagueros (Back Court)
Martija +4 -2=+2
Rezusta +8 -9= -1
Zabaleta +7 -9=-2
Albisu +9 -11=-2
Teams:
Irribarria-Zabaleta +36 -16=+20
Elezkano-Rezusta +36 -17=+19
Altuna III-Martija +30 -16=+14
Victor-Albisu +32 -26=+6
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Final League table
(1) Elezkano II-Rezusta (10-4 +55)
(2) Irribarria-Zabaleta (9-5 +64)
(3) Oliazola II-Albisu (8-6 +10)
(4) Altuna III-Martija (8-6 +4)
5 Artola-Mariezkurrena (7-7 +5)
6 Ezkurdia-L. Galarza (7-7 -4)
7 Bengoetxea VI-Imaz (4-10 -55)
8 Urrutikoetxea-Aretxabaleta (3-11 -79)
