FM Roster
Each tournament will be played over the course of two weekends, the first weekend a preliminary round, the second a semi-final and final. At present each tournament will contain either 4 or 6 pairs. After the first 4 tournaments, a 5th tournament, a tournament among the highest ranking players, will be held to crown two "Champion of Champions" winners. The winners of the Premier League will win the Copa Moises Cosio Trophy.
Parts or all of each Tournament will be streamed live via Fronton Mexico Facebook. (Consult FM website, Facebook or Twitter for times (Twitter is the quickest way to get the times, consult it the day of the matches). For those who miss the live transmissions, the matches are available on demand at the Facebook site. Selected matches may also be available at the FM Youtube site.
Note: as of July 3, 2019, all matches from Tournament 2-5 have been uploaded to the FM Youtube site. For this final Tournament, Youtube addresses will be given, as they are more easily accessible. For the previous tournaments, I will leave the Facebook addresses as they are, but add this note to the blog pages.
Player rankings (and explanation of rankings)
Injury report: April 26, 2019
Ludovic Laduche (front) (Internationaux Cesta Punta) suffered an ankle ligament injury (Fronton Mexico) in the 2nd set of the FFPB Cesta Punta Pro-Am Final (Cesta Punta Pro Tour Youtube). He will miss the entire 2 month Fronton Mexico season. He has been replaced by Angel Egea (Fronton Mexico), ex-Miami Jai Alai player. It is unknown at this time whether Laduche will be able to play in the Summer Partidos in the Basque Country.
Note: the matches are presented in reverse chronological order.
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Tournament 1
Tournament 2
Tournament 3
Tournament 4
Champion of Champions Tournaments
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Tournament 2: May 17-26, 2019
Player Rankings through 2 Tournaments (Fronton Mexico)
Tournament 2: May 17-26 2019
Premier League and National League Tournaments
T2 Information (Fronton Mexico Facebook)
The Premier League will consist of 4 pairs:
Olha-Lopez; (Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza; Goikoetxea*-Ekhi; and Olharan-Irastorza
* Winner of Tourmament 1
There will be a Round Robin May 17-19. Semi-finals and Final will be May 24-26.
National League will be a 6 team competition.
There will be two groups:
Group A: Inclan-Mauricio; Polanco-Ihitsague; Ochoa**-Portet
Group B: (Angel) Egea-Echenique; Sierra-Perez*; Juan-Leon-Del Rio+
*Winner of 1st Premier Tournament; +Winner of 1st Premier Tournament
There will be a Group Round Robin May 17-25. The top two finishers will advance to the Final, which will be on May 26.
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Premier League
Week 2
May 26, 2019
FINAL
Olharan-Irastorza (3-1) 2 (Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza (2-2) 1 (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at -1:27:50 (move the slider bar from the RIGHT TO -1:27:50) (15-14; 14-15; 5-2)
Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres
The linescore says it all about this match. The maximum number of points in a set based match like this is 67. The match ups were fantastic, the electric athleticism and "joi de vivre" of Olharan v the precision of Erkiaga; the power of Irastorza (even now, at over 40 years old) v Inza's strategy to hit the ball deep (and on the FM court, the longest in the world, not an easy assignment) and keep Irastorza from using his lethal overhand and forehand throws. It was not, from a technical perspective, the best of matches (the tie breaker was decided by errors). But for sheer spectacle and fun (FM leaves no stone un-turned in those departments), if you have never seen a CP/Jai Alai match, this would be a great place to start. And if you've seen hundreds, this would be an excellent choice for your next one.
One of the major themes of this Tournament was the "coming of age" of Jean Olharan. He will be 30 in July 2019 and has been playing professionally since 2011, but there has been, among some fans, a nagging sense that we have yet to see his full potential. He is a playmaker extraordinaire, a walking highlight reel, if you please, including this famous play But the results have never quite matched the talent, it seems. In this tournament, with wins over Goikoetxea and (Aritz) Erkiaga, perhaps that will change. It is always a joy to watch him play, and hopefully he will begin to win consistently, both in Mexico City and in the North and South Basque Country.
May 25, 2019
Olha-Lopez (1-2) 2 Olharan-Irastorza (2-1) 1 (15-8, 11-15, 5-2) (31-25) (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at: -1:04:56 (move slider bar from RIGHT to -1:04:56)
Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
In a match that meant nothing in the table (O-H were eliminated in the first round, it was still good to see Lopez get his first win of the tournament. Beating the eventual champions was a bonus.
May 24, 2019
(Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza (2-1) 2 Goikoetxea-Ekhi (1-2) 0 (15-14, 15-13) (30-27) (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at -2:22:52) (move slider bar from the RIGHT to -2:22:52)
This was an intense match, basically an elimination match. Aritz played extremely well and, in the end, his team had just barely enough to get through to the final.
Match article (Jai Alai y mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Fegueres)
Week 1
May 19, 2019
Goikoetxea-Ekhi (1-1) 2; Olha-Lopez (0-2) 1 (14-15, 15-12, 5-2) (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at -1:23:08 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Track back from there to -1:23:08)
Olha-Lopez were eliminated in a very tight match that Goikoetxea took over at the end of the tie-breaker. After O-L came back from 2-0 down, Olha made an error that opened the door to the win.
Match article (Jai Alai News Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
May 18
Olharan-Irastorza (2-0) 2 (Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza (1-1) 0(Fronton Mexico
Facebook--match begins at -55:25 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Track back from there to -55:25. (15-14, 15-8) (30-22)
Match article (Jai Alai Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
May 17
Olharan-Irastorza (1-0) 2 Goikoetxea-Ekhi (0-1) 0 (15-13, 15-14) (30-27)
(Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza (1-0) 2 Olha-Lopez (0-1) 0 (15-12; 15-12) (30-24)
Full match videos of both matches (FM Facebook) (matches begin at: -2:36:14 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Track back to -2:36:14 to get the beginning of the first match. Second match follows the first.
Match article for both matches (Jai Alai News Facebook)
National League
With all the glitter of Fronton Mexico, the star studded lineup of the best puntistas on the planet, it would be easy to miss the revelation that is Julien Del Rio. At age 22, he has taken FM by storm. Among all the Goikos, Olharans, Lopez', and Irastorzas, Del Rio is the only player who has won both tournaments played so far. He won Tournament 1 (see link above) with Goikoetxea in the Premier League. He won this National League Tournament with ageless 40 year old veteran Juan Leon Garcia. Not a bad start to this season. He is 6-1 going into Tournament 3, where he will partner with 42 year old Adrian Ortega, a professional with 24 years of experience, who started his career before Del Rio was born. Including Goikoetxea (38), Del Rio's partners are, on average, 18 years his senior. It doesn't seem to bother him, or them. This is one of those subtexts to a sports season that is easy miss, with all the glitz, "showbiz", and, frankly, flat out fun that is FM. If he keeps playing like he has been so far, he won't be "a secret" for long.
Week 2
May 26, 2019
FINAL
Juan Leon-Del Rio (Group B (3-0)) 2 Ochoa-Portet (Group A (1-2) 0 (15-
10; 15-11) (30-21) (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at 0:00)
Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
May 25, 2019
Group A:
Final Group A League Table
Ochoa-Portet (1-1) 66 points
Inclan-Mauricio 1-1) 60
Polanco-Ihitsague (1-1) 49
Inclan-Mauricio (1-1) 2 Polanco-Ihitsague (1-1) 0 (15-10, 15-11) (30-21) (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at 0:00
Match article (Jai Alai y Mas-Fernando Sierra Felgueres
May 24, 2019
Group A
Polanco-Ihitsague (1-0) 2 Ochoa-Portet (1-1)1 (15-14; 8-15; 5-4) (28-33)
Group B
Final Group B League Table
Juan-Leon-Del Rio 2-0
(Angel) Echea-Echinique (1-1)
Sierra-Perez 0-2
Juan Leon-Del Rio (2-0) 2 Sierra-Perez (0-2)0 (15-13; 15-6) (30-19)
Both matches are available via Fronton Mexico Facebook. The Group A match is joined in progress, 13-11 P-I in the first set. Begins at 0:00. Group B match begins at -56:20 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Move the slider bar from the RIGHT to -56:20)
Match article for both matches (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
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League Table Week 1
Group A
Ochoa-Portet (1-0)
Polanco-Ihitsague (0-0)
Inclan-Mauricio (0-1)
Group B
Juan Leon-Del Rio (1-0)
(Angel) Echea-Echinique (1-1)
Sierra-Perez (0-1)
May 19
Group A
Ochoa-Portet (1-0) 2 Inclan-Mauricio (0-1) 1 (Fronton Mexico Facebook: match begins at 0:00--4-3 O-P) (15-9, 13-15, 5-4) (33-30)
Match article (Jai Alai Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
May 18
Group B
(Angel) Egea-Echenique (1-1) 2 Sierra-Perez (0-1) 0 (Fronton Mexico Facebook video--match begins at 0:00) (15-3, 15-10) (30-13)
Match article (Jai Alai y mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
May 17
Group B:
Juan-Leon-Del Rio (1-0) 2 (Angel) Echea-Echenique (0-1) 1(Fronton Mexico Facebook --match begins at 0:00) (15-14, 13-15, 5-4) (33-33)
Match article (Jai Alai News Facebook)
UPCOMING: (FRONTON MEXICO FACEBOOK EVENTS)
TOURNAMENT 3:
May 31-June 9
PREMIER LEAGUE
FOUR TEAMS WILL BE INVOLVED IN A ROUND ROBIN. THE TOP TWO TEAMS WILL PLAY IN A FINAL
GOIKOETXEA*-INZA; (ARITZ-ERKIAGA-EKHI; OLHA-IRASTORZA**; OLHARAN**-LOPEZ
*=WON T1
**=WON T2
MAY 31
(ARITZ) ERKIAGA-EKHI v OLHA-IRASTORZA
GOIKOETXEA-INZA v OLHARAN-LOPEZ
JUNE 1ST
(ARITZ) ERKIAGA-EKHI v OLHARAN-LOPEZ
JUNE 2ND
GOIKOETXEA-INZA v OLHA-IRASTORZA
JUNE 7
GOIKOETXEA-INZA v (ARITZ) ERKIAGA-EKHI
JUNE 8
OLHARAN-LOPEZ v OLHA-IRASTORZA
JUNE 9
FINAL
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILL HAVE TWO GROUPS, EACH PLAYING A
ROUND ROBIN. WINNERS OF EACH GROUP WILL PLAY IN THE
FINAL.
Group A:
Inclan**-Mauricio; Polanco-Perez*; Ochoa*-Echinique;
Group B:
Ortega-Del Rio+ **; Juan Leon**-Portet; Sierra-Ihitsague
*=WON T2
**=WON T2
+=WON PREMIER T1
MAY 31
GROUP A
INCLAN-MAURICIO v POLANCO-PEREZ
JUNE 1
GROUP B
ORTEGA-DEL RIO v JUAN LEON-PORTET
JUNE 2
GROUP A
POLANCO PEREZ v OCHOA-ECHENIQUE
JUNE 7
GROUP A
INCLAN-MAURICIO v OCHOA-ECHENIQUE
GROUP B
SIERRA-IHITSAGUE v ORTEGA-DEL RIO
JUNE 8
GROUP B
JUAN LEON- PORTET v SIERRA-IHITSAGUE
JUNE 9
FINAL
