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Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Main Nue--Challenge de Cize--Le Garat Lundi's Premier 50 point Tournament--From Start to Finish

APRIL 29-JUNE 10, 2019 CHALLENGE DE CIZE


Challenge de Cize was the premier 50 point Le Garat Lundi (Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port/Donibane Garazi) (1) (2) (3) tournament, featuring 8 teams:

Esku Pilota Roster

*=Not on Esku Pilota's Elite Pro roster as of June 10, 2019

Aguirre-Etchegaray; L. Lambert-Garat*; 
Olcomendy-X. Lambert; Alcasena*-Lucu*;
Elgart-B. Larralde; Inchauspe-Iturbe;
Monce-Cubiat; Bielle-Palomes

Note: Win-Loss records in parenthesis below represent each player's wins and losses, as well as points for and against, in the larger context of all seventeen 50 point Le Garat Lundi matches through June 10. Their wins-losses and points for and against in this Tournament are given below, in the analysis of the final match. Pairs were static for this tournament but are fluid throughout the year. 

For those who wish to follow the tournament in chronological order, read this post from the bottom up. 

June 10, 2019

FINAL


Info Garazi Officiel Youtube Condensed Match:  Whether it contains every point is unknown (I watched the PT version), but it has crowd shots, player introductions and interviews, and the closing ceremony.

Selected linescore (Esku Pilota; Goizeko Izarra (Henry Ocafrain) (winners always listed first)

7-0; 9-1; 15-5; 15-6; 20-8; 20-10; 24-16; 31-19; 38-22; 43-27; 45-27; 46-34 47-43; 50-43

Scoring (Goizeko Izarra--Henry Ocafrain) 

Note: Mr. Ocafrain's scored selected matches. His original spreadsheets, saved as .gifs, were publicly available for only one week, as Goizeko Izarra, the organizer of these 50 point matches, does not archive its information on each match. I copied out the records for historical and preservation purposes. 

Note: Xareat=pelota hit into the side dugout protective netting without bouncing first, an automatic direct point. A Pumpa Xare is the same, except the pelota goes into the mesh after bouncing once. Pelotas can be hit into the back dugout, which is not protected by netting, and which also results in an automatic direct point. Whether Mr. Ocafrain counted these as X/PX is unknown. 

Olcomendy +23 (including 11 service aces and 6 direct points--5 xareat and 1 pumpa xare) -9X. Lambert +8 (including 2 direct points--2 pumpa xare) -7

Monce +13 (6a, 2dp--2 xareat) -6; Cubiat +14 (7dp--6 xareat and 1 pumpa xare) -13

Time of the match: 1 hour 56 minutes 37 seconds
Actual playing time: 55:41


Mattin Olcomendy cemented his place as the most valuable player in this tournament, leading his team to a championship with +23 (including 11 service aces and 6 direct points) in a hard fought, almost 2 hour final. O-L got off to a great start, building a 10 point lead at the end of the second decade. They stretched that lead to 16 points by the end of the 7th decade. But then, after their lead reached 18, M-C began a furious comeback, outscoring their opponents 16-2 and almost erasing the deficit. At 47-43 they "ran out of gas", and M-O finished it off by winning the final 3points. 

For the tournament, the figures we have for Olcomendy read:

+15 service aces; 
+30 (including 17 aces); 
+23 (including 11 aces and 6 direct points).

For the last 2 matches he was +30 -5 and +23 -9, for a total of +53 -14, with 28 aces. His team finished the Tournament 3-0; 150-88. M-C, who finished 2-1; 143-122, scored almost as many points as O-L's first two opponents combined. 

For the Tournament

Olcomendy-X. Lambert; 3-0; 150-88
Monce-Cubiat; 2-1; 143-122
Inchauspe-Iturbe; 1-1; 93-81
Agirre-Etchegary; 1-1; 71-81 
Elgart-B. Larralde* (substituting for Amulet); 0-1; 31-50
L. Lambert-Garat*; 0-1; 31-50
Bielle-Palomas; 0-1; 29-50
Alcasena*-Lucu; 0-1; 24-50

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June 3, 2019

Semi-Finals

2nd Semi-Final

June 3, 2019


Selected linescore (winners always listed first) (Esku Pilota and Goizeko Izzara--Henry Ocafrain),

1-1; 1-6; 3-7; 3-8; 8-8; 12-8; 16-14; 20-15; 33-15; 34-16; 37-19; 41-19 45-19;49-21; 50-21

Scoring (Goizeko Izzara--Henry Ocafrain)

Olcomendy +30 (including 17 service aces) -5; X. Lambert +3 (including 1 direct point--pumpa xare) -2

Aguirre +9 (including 4 service aces and 2 direct points--pumpa xares); -8; Etchegaray +5 (including 4 direct points--pumpa xares) -9

Match article (Esku Pilota)
Match article (Pilota Ttiki)

Olcomendy had an overpowering match (+30 (including 17 service aces)), scoring more points than both his opponents combined, and completely wearing out Etchegaray, a front court player playing in the back. A-E got off to a great start, before a 15-8 run put O-L back in it by mid-match. Then came the coup de grace, a 13 point run that put the match out of reach. But O-L kept on going, winning their final decade 10-2

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May 27, 2019

Semi-Finals

1st Semi-Final

May 27, 2019

(Pilota Ttiki Youtube condensed full match video

Info Garazi Officiel Youtube (extensive coverage, better camera angles of scoreboard and back court play

Selected linescore (winners always listed first) (Esku Pilota)

1-6; 13-1324-13; 27-20; 30-25; 35-30; 40-36; 40-40; 50-43

Match article (Esku Pilota)

Match article (Pilota Ttiki)

M-C got off to an awful start but persevered. A 23-7 early run that included 11 consecutive points, put them in command and might have allowed them to coast home. But I-I were not finished. They chipped away at the lead through the third and fourth decade and finally equalized at 40. But, as often happens (not especially surprising given the stamina that a 50 point match demands) the energy they had to use might have depleted them just as they caught up. Whether that was actually the case is unknown, but the resulting 10-3 M-C run clinched the victory.  They now move into the Final against the winner of  Aguirre-Etchegaray v Olcomendy-X. Lambert, which will be played next Monday. That match offers a very intriguing duel in the back court, where Julien Etchegaray, normally a front court player, but playing back in this Tournament, goes up against long time veteran Esku Pilota A back Ximun Lambert. In the 2nd Quarterfinal Olcomendy ruined Cedric Lucu's day with 15 service aces (see below). It will be interesting to see what he has planned for Etchegaray.

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May 20, 2019

4th Quarter-final

(Pilota Ttiki condensed full match video)

Selected linescore (winners always listed first--Esku Pilota) 

10-1; 26-23; 39-24; 49-26; 49-29; 50-29

Decade scores (Henry Ocafrain--Goizeko Izarra)

9-1; 15-5; 19-11; 23-17; 27-23; 36-24; 44-26 

Match statistics (Henry Ocafrain, Goizeko Izzara)

Monce +20 (including 11 service aces and 2 direct points--xares) -6 (including 1 service fault); Cubiat +14 (including 9 direct points--7 xares and 2 pumpa xares) -4

Bielle +8 (5a) -2Palomes +11 (5dp--4x, 1px) -14

Time of the match 1:16:08
Actual playing time: 36:10

Match article (Pilota Ttiki)


M-C opened with a 10-1 spurt, B-P answered with 25-13 to pull within 3, but then M-C put the match away with a 10-2 spurt. Monce led the way with 11 aces.  Cubiat had an excellent, precise match with 9 direct points. For B-P Palomas had difficult day at the office, struggling with Monce's serve and making 14 errors. Bielle had a quiet day. 

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May 13, 2019

3rd Quarter-final

(Pilota Ttiki Youtube condensed full match video)

Selected linescore: (winners always listed first) (Esku Pilota)

17-17; 19-20; 33-20; 45-27; 45-30; 50-31


The first three decades were even, but then I-I put together a 14 point run that catapulted them to an easy win. Four consecutive Inchauspe service aces (29-20--33-20) were decisive. 


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May 6, 2019

2nd Quarter-final

(Pilota Ttiki Youtube condensed full match video)

Selected linescore:

1-1; 5-5; 24-14; 30-1444-16; 50-24

Partial scoring: Olcomendy 15 service aces


Led by Olcomendy's 15 aces, O-L broke away early and employed big runs (19-9, 6-0, and 14-2) to win easily. 

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April 29, 2019

1st Quarter-final

L. Lambert (0-1; 31-50)-Garat* (2-2; 171-145) 31 
(Pilota Tttiki Youtube condensed full match video)

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

10-5; 14-6; 17-17; 50-31

Partial scoring: Aguirre 15 service aces


Julien Etchegaray, a front court player, is playing this entire tournament in the back. His team led from start to finish, stumbling only in the 2nd decade, when an 11-3 run temporarily put L-G back in the game. Aguirre had 15 aces, using the right wall to great advantage. 


50 point match win-loss records (G, SA, and any other 50 point matches I find will be listed here). Players listed here who are not on the list of players at the Cumulative records of Esku Pilota players will not be listed there.

Key: Player; Player position (av-avant-Front, ar-arrière-Back); match wins-losses; points for-against; winning-losing streak, Tournaments won. Table will be ordered by match winning percentage. 1st tie breaker will be number of wins. 2nd tie-breaker will be point differential. 3rd tie breaker will be point differential percentage.

For the complete story on all Le Garat Lundi 50 point matches, see the Recurring 50 Point Match Results page, on the right side of the blog.