The schedule in a nutshell (on a single page) (Cestapunta Facebook)
Matches will be played in sets, two to 15 points. Tie breaker will be to 5. 5 pasas (over serves) will be allowed in the course of a match. More than that, as well as any under serve, will result in a fault.
Note: the cumulative records of all players in these tournaments will be kept at the bottom of each Tournament blog post.
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Master 2
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INJURY REPORT:
Jerome Portet (back) suffered an arm injury in practice before his play-in Final in the Internationaux Cesta Punta, Cesta Punta World Tour match. He missed that match. When he will return is unknown.
Note: to follow this tournament in chronological order, read from the bottom up.
Note: to follow this tournament in chronological order, read from the bottom up.
A note on Canal + scoring. I will provide Canal + scoring when it is for a complete set. So far, they have only provided scoring on screen (in the videos I've watched at the St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube channel) for 1st sets. I will also provide my own full scoring for selected matches. There are three things to be aware of in Canal + scoring.
1. They count balls differently than I. I still haven't figured out how they count.
2. They do not credit a winner for a serve that is intercepted and then immediately converted into a point. It also appears they do not credit a winner for any return of serve immediatel ends in a point (see note on Inza's play in the final below).
3. They appear to be quite harsh on errors. It appears that most balls a player gets to and touches, but does not return, are either errors or not accounted for either way.
My scoring differs from theirs on each of these points. I'm not going to judge either theirs or mine. I will attempt to provide you with as much information as possible. My model in scoring combines EITB's method of ball counting with an adaptation of the US Major League Baseball rule for errors: "Would a normal effort on the play be expected to yield a catch?" What is "normal effort" and "expected"? Ah... That's where the judgment comes in.
Master 2
July 25, 2019
FINAL
Goikoetxea-Inza 2 Egiguren-T. Basque 0 (St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube full match video)
(15-14, 15-12) (30-26)
Condensed set linescores (Canal +) (winners always listed first)
Set 1
0-1; 2-1; 2-5; 5-5; 5-6; 6-6; 6-8; 7-8; 7-11; 8-11; 8-12; 13-12; 13-13; 14-13; 14-14; 15-14
(on the final 12 ball point, Inza made 2 superb saves (ball 4 and 10) before Egiguren dropped a catch). The set was tied 7 times.
Set 2
1-0; 1-1; 3-1; 3-2; 4-2; 4-8; 6-8; 6-9; 9-9; 9-10; 13-10; 13-12; 15-12
(on the 15 ball final point, Egiguren made 3 falling rebote saves before Goikoetxea won the point).
Scoring
Set 1 (Canal +)
Goikoetxea +3 (including 1 service ace) -2; Inza +0 -7
Egiguren +3 (1a) -4; T. Basque +1 -3 (adds to 10-13)
My scoring:
Goikoetxea +7(1a) -2; Inza +3 -4
Egiguren +5(1a) -3; T. Basque +3 -2 (adds to 15-14)
2 ball points or intercepts
Inza 4 (+3: 2 chulas and a chic chac; -1 receives serve and throws into upper pad)
Goikoetxea 3 ( -1: dropped catch of intercept; Basque catches intercept; Egiguren returns the intercept)
Egiguren 2 (-1; tips the short hop on the intercept; intercept returned by Basque)
Basque 1 (-1; drops the serve)
Balls in play
Canal + 144: Goiketxea 25 (17%); Inza 49 (34%); Egiguren 20 (13%); T. Basque 50 (34%)
My count: 158
Time of the set: 29:18
Set 2
My scoring
Goikoetxea +7(1a) -4; Inza +2 -1
Egiguren +7(1a) -2; T. Basque +0 -4 (adds to 15-12)
2 ball points or intercepts
Egiguren 3 (+1 two wall; -1; dropped intercept; Inza returns intercept dejada)
Goikoetxea 1(+1 two wall)
Balls in play: 209
Time of the set: 39:39
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For the match (my scoring)
Goikoetxea +14(2a) -6; Inza +5 -5
Egiguren +12(2a) -5; T. Basque +3 -6 (adds to 30-26)
2 ball points or intercepts
Egiguren 5 (+1 -2)
Inza 4 (+3 -1)
Goikoetxea 4 (-1 +1)
Basque 1 (-1)
Balls in play: 367
Time of the match: 75:02
Match article (cestapunta.com FORTHCOMING AT THIS ADDRESS)
Match article (Jai Alai News Facebook)
Match article (cestapunta.com FORTHCOMING AT THIS ADDRESS)
Match article (Jai Alai News Facebook)
Goikoetxea showed why he is widely regarded as the best player in the world by leading his team back from 2 late deficits (8-12 and 9-10) to win the Master 2 Final. During the comebacks he was +5 -1 and +4 -2. During each he threw tremendously hard in the enervating heat (an outside rebote that he recalibrated in mid-throw as he saw Egiguren racing left to cover; a left wall that Egiguren couldn't pick; a left wall big bounce, a hard shot that Basque couldn't pick on the short hop, and a rebote chic-chac in the 1st set; an overhand outside rocket from the 8-9; a cortada from the 8; a rebote left pass from the 9; and a left pass in the 2nd set). He wasn't perfect, making 6 errors (including 2 consecutive at the end of the match), but his ability to play a large area from the front court and to make hard throws from the 8 or 9 that other fronts make from the 4 or 5 was a huge difference maker.
Note: the videos begin at the beginning of the point. They do not end at the end of the point.
Set 2:
Cortada from the 8 (7 ball point; 11-10--12-10)
Rebote left pass from the 9 (9 ball point; 12-10--13-10) See also for one of Basque's great catches,which also happened during this point.
Note: the videos begin at the beginning of the point. They do not end at the end of the point.
Set 2:
Cortada from the 8 (7 ball point; 11-10--12-10)
Rebote left pass from the 9 (9 ball point; 12-10--13-10) See also for one of Basque's great catches,which also happened during this point.
Inza, if you look at his stats (particularly Canal + stats for the first set), he doesn't look particularly effective. But he was. He made several great saves, including 2 during the final point of the 1st set that literally saved the set. He also scored with very well placed back wall shots.
Set 1
Final point (12 ball point; 14-14--15-14) watch for the 4th and 10th ball.
Set 1
Final point (12 ball point; 14-14--15-14) watch for the 4th and 10th ball.
Egiguren was magnificent, throwing his 42 year old body around for rebote saves, and making some excellent throws (his falling rebote left pass that won the 2nd point of the second set was arguably the shot of the match.
Set 2: Falling rebote left pass-- (6 ball point: 1-0--1-1)
Set 2: Falling rebote left pass-- (6 ball point: 1-0--1-1)
Basque looked at times a bit over matched, but at other times made magnificent catches (see one of them above) and showed that at 23, he is one to be watched closely. He's going to get a lot better.
But in the end, it was 39 year old Inaki Osa Goikoetxea, who simply took the match and put it on his back, twice, at exactly the times it needed to be done. If that is not a definition of a great player, I don't know what is.
For the competition
Egiguren (partial) +28(2a) -7
Goikoetxea +26(2a) -6
Inza +7 -12
T. Basque (1 match only) +3 -6
+++++++++++++
July 23, 2019
2nd Semi-final
Goikoetxea-Inza 2 Hormaetxea-(Unai) Lekerika 0 (Canal + via St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta World Tour Youtube)
(15-13, 15-9) (30-22)
Condensed Linescore (Canal +) (winners always listed first)
Set 1
7 equal scores
Highlight video: (14 ball point; 14-13--15-13: Hormaetxea, after making consecutive great falling rebote saves, throws to the outside for the winner, but throws off the court.
Set 2
4-0; 4-2; 5-2; 5-3; 8-3; 8-4; 9-4; 9-5; 10-5; 10-6; 12-6; 12-9; 15-9
3 times in this set and 4 overall, Hormaetxea intercepted Goikoetxea's serve and followed with an immediate winner. 3 other times his interception attempts failed, due to great plays by I and G respectively, and his own error that ended the match. The 7 interceptions are a remarkable statistic against Goikoetxea, and show just how aggressive Hormaetxea was. For his part, Goikoetxea played a perfect match: +12 -0.
Scoring (Canal +, which provided scoring for the first set that did not include an accounting of 10 of the 25 pints; and my own scoring of the entire match)
Set 1:
Canal Plus
Goikoetxea +2 -0; Inza +0 -4
Hormaetxea +3 -3; Lekerika +1 -2
My scoring (judgments are my own, yours may be different)
Goikoetxea +7 -0; Inza +2 -6
Hormaetxea +4 -5; Lekerika +3 -1
Balls in play: 198
Time of the set: 33:18
Set 2
Goikoetxea +5 -0; Inza +1 -1
Hormaetxea +5 -5; Lekerika +3 -4
Balls in play: 143
Time of the set: 28:16
For the match
Goikoetxea +12 -0; Inza +3 -7
Hormaetxea +9 -10; Lekerika +6 -5
Balls in play: 341
Time of the match 68:00
Match article (Cesta Punta World Tour)
July 18, 2019
1st Semi-final
(Canal + via St. Jean-de-Luz Cesta Punta Youtube
(15-10, 15-9) (30-19)
Partial scoring (Canal +)
Egiguren +16 -2; Ithurria +5 -6
Note: these figures do not include Ithurria serves that did not clear the front and were intercepted by Egiguren, which he then immediately threw either 2 wall or left wall winners in return. There were 3 of these in the 2nd set. I took Canal +'s +9 in the first set (which I haven't seen yet) as the true number of winners.
Match article (Cesta Punta World Tour)
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Cumulative record (match wins-losses, set w-l (.3 for tie breaker win), Tournaments won). Current through July 25
P=Play in; M1, M2, M3, M4=Master 1-4; S=SLAM
Avants
Olha 2-0; 4-0; M1
Goikoetxea; 2-0; 4-0; M2
Hormaetxea; 2-1; 3.3-3; P
Egiguren; 1-1; 2-2
(Aritz) Erkiaga 1-1; 1.3-3
Ithurria; 1-2; 1.3-4
Lesbats; 0-1; 1-1.3
J. Tambourindeguy 0-1; 1-1.3
P. Tambourindeguy 0-1; 1-1.3
(Diego) Beaskoetxea 0-1; 0-2
Arrieres
Inza; 2-0; 4-0 M2
Lopez; 2-0; 4-0; M1
Portet; 1-0; 1.3-1
T. Basque; 3-1; 5.3-3; P
T. Basque; 3-1; 5.3-3; P
Minvielle 1-1; 1.3-3
(Manex) Urtasun; 0-1; 1-1.3
Etcheto 0-1; 1-1.3
Ihitsague; 0-1; 1-1.3
Ekhi; 0-1; 0-2
Irastorza; 0-1; 0-2
Lekerika; 0-1; 0-2
D. Ourthe; 0-1; 0-2
