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Thursday, August 8, 2019

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Cesta Punta Pro Tour Internationaux Cesta Punta--St. Jean de Luz (Donibane Lohizune) Master 3 Tournament

The Cesta Punta Pro Tour's premier competition, St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta, played at St.Jean de Luz (1) (2) runs from July 2-August 29, 2019. It began with a play in Tournament to determine a "wild card" avant (front) and arriere (back) who would join the field for a 4 tournament competition that would determine the players in a 5th "SLAM" Tournament, a champion of Champions Tournament. All Tournaments will be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Live video coverage, as well as demand video replays by the French TV Canal + will be available at the St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube site.


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 3


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INJURY REPORT:


August 6

Thibault Basque: Basque slipped attempting a catch in the tie breaker set of the Master 3 Final, appearing to seriously injure his ankle. After some treatment on the floor, he stayed and finished the match. At the post match ceremony, he was noticeably limping as he took the podium. The seriousness of the injury is unknown at this time.

Ekhi Martinez: Ekhi was injured in the warmups and missed his Master 3 Final on August 6. He was replaced by Thibault Basque (see above) on very short notice. The extent of his injury is unknown at this time.

July 4

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.

A note on Canal + scoring. I will provide Canal + scoring when it is for a complete set.  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 immediately ends in a point.

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.

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Master 3

Patxi Tambourindeguy, Christophe Olha, and Thibault Basque were the players to remember in Master 3. Inoki Goikoetxea-Eric Irastorza, two of the biggest names in the Summer partidos, did not make it out of the semi-finals. Tambourindeguy had a great final, Olha had two excellent matches, one of which was good enough (along with a very impressive offensive performance from Ekhi Martinez), to send G-I packing in straight sets. And Basque...what a performance. After being shut out in the opening semi-final against the eventual champions, Tambourindeguy-Minvielle, he became a spectator. But when Ekhi Martinez was injured during warm-ups for the final, Basque was brought in as a substitute on very short notice. What happened then was as memorable as anything we have seen this summer. See below for details. 

August 6

FINAL

P. Tambourindeguy-Minvielle 2
Olha-T. Basque (substituting for Ekhi) 1 (Canal + via St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube)
(13-15, 15-9, 5-2) (33-26)

T. Basque's injury (tie breaker--2-2--3-2) (Canal + via St.Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube)

Condensed linescore (Canal +) (match winners always listed first)

Set 1

1-0; 1-2; 3-2; 3-3; 5-3; 5-7; 6-7; 6-10; 9-10; 9-12; 12-12; 12-13; 13-13; 13-15

Set 2

1-0; 2-1; 2-2; 7-2; 7-6; 12-6; 12-8; 14-8; 14-9; 15-9

Tie breaker

0-1; 2-1; 2-2; 5-2 (during the 2-2--3-2 point, Basque suffered his injury. Play continued for a couple of balls as he lay in pain and Olha tried to cover the entire concha, to no avail. After Basque bravely continued, he was ineffective and the match was soon over. He got a big ovation when he continued and another big ovation when the match ended).

Scoring (Canal + followed by mine for the first two sets (the first time Canal + has shown 2nd set scoring in the competition). My scoring only for the tie breaker as Canal + provided none). 

Set 1

Canal +

Olha +4 -3; Basque +1 -4
P. Tambourindeguy +1 -4; Minvielle +0 -2
Scoring adds to 11-8

Balls in play: 163: Olha 42 (25%); Basque 43 (26%); Tambourindeguy 51 (31%); Minvielle 27 (16%)

My scoring (my judgments alone, yours may be different)

Olha +7 -2; Basque +1 -4
Tambourindeguy +6 -4; Minvielle +1 -3
Scoring adds to 15-13

Balls in play: 190

Time of the set: 30:02

Set 2

Canal +

Tambourindeguy +3 -3; Minvielle +0 -4
Olha +1 -3; Basque +1 -5
Score adds to 11-9
Total score for 1st two sets: 19-20

Balls in play: 136: Tambourindeguy 37 (27%); Minvielle 31 (22%); Olha 30 (22%); Basque 38 (27%)

Canal + total for the 1st 2 sets: 299 ; Tambourindeguy 88; Minvielle 58; Olha 72; Basque 81

My scoring:

Tambourindeguy +7 -3; Minvielle +1 -0
Olha +3 -2; Basque +3 -5
Score adds to 15-9

Balls in play: 159

Time of the set: 27:12

Tie break:

My scoring:

Tambourindeguy +3 -0; Minvielle +1 -0
Olha +2 -0; Basque +0 -1
Score adds to 5-2

Balls in play: 47

Time of tie breaker: 12:15

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For the match (my scoring)

Tambourindeguy +16 -7; Minvielle +3 -3
Olha +12 -4; Basque +4 -10 (33-26)

Balls in play: 396

Time of the match: 70:29

Match article (cestapunta.com) 

Olha continued his great summer with +23 -8 for the tournament, but it wasn't enough.  An unfortunate injury to Basque (who was substituting for Ekhi Martinez--who was injured in warmups before the championship match) helped tip the balance to Tambourindeguy-David Minvielle as they won Master 3. Tambourindeguy, while not playing a flawless match in the final, did play a great one. He was, by my count +16 -7, and had, seemingly, a "bushel basket" full of rebotes, some of them falling rebotes, to keep many points alive. He also scored 3 of his teams 5 points in the tie breaker. Basque was a profile in courage as he seemed to seriously injure his ankle making a running catch of the 2-2--3-2 point in the tie breaker. It seemed the match would have to be stopped there, but after receiving treatment on the concha, Basque was able to continue. Unfortunately, the story didn't have the happy ending that Imanol Lopez had two days before in Lekeitio, but the courage to continue on one leg won the crowd over. Basque made an error and soon the match was over. He was limping noticeably during the post match ceremonies.


August 1

2nd Semi-final

Olha-Ekhi 2 Goikoetxea-Irastorza 0
(15-11, 15-14) (30-25)

Last 3 points of thematch--video (Set 2 13-13--15-14 8, 10, and 4 balls in play; Ekhi +!; Goikoetxia +!; Olha +!)

Condensed Linescore (Canal +) (winners always listed 1st)

Set 1

0-3; 6-3; 6-4; 7-4; 7-6; 9-6; 9-7; 11-7; 11-10; 13-10; 13-11; 15-11

Set 2

0-1; 1-1; 1-4; 3-4; 3-5; 4-5; 4-6; 8-6; 8-7; 10-7; 10-9; 11-9; 11-10; 12-10; 12-12; 13-12 13-13; 14-13; 14-14; 15-14

Scoring:

Canel + (1st set only)

Olha +3 -2; Ekhi +3 -1
Goikoetxea +4 -2; Irastorza +0 -4
(scores add to 12-7)

Balls in play: 137: Olha 32 (23%); Ekhi 36 (26%); Goikoetxea 29 (21%); Irastorza 40 (29%)

My scoring:

Set 1

Olha +4 -2; Ekhi +6 -0
Goikoetxea +8 -2; Irastorza +1 -3
(scoring adds to 15-11)

Balls in play: 146

Time of the set: 23:22

Set 2

Olha +7 -2; Ekhi +3 -2
Goikoetxea +7 -3; Irastorza +3 -2
(scoring adds to 15-14)

Balls in play: 164

Time of the set: 28:48

For the match:

Olha +11 -4; Ekhi +9 -2
Goikoetxea +15 -5; Irastorza +4 -5
(scoring adds to 30-25)

Balls in play 310 (my scoring)

Time of the match 52:10

Match article (cestapunta.com)

O-E pulled off the upset of the competition so far, beating G-I in straight sets. Olha's +11 -4 stayed close enough to Goikoetxea's +15 -5 to allow the backs to basically decide the match. Here Ekhi clearly starred. Showing as much offense as any back this Summer, his +9 and +7 differential, was the difference in the match. The highlights were his breathtaking long two wall shots. Ekhi is not afraid to take risks, and that paid off handsomely in this match. Olha put the match away with a beautiful dejada that Goikoetxea could only admire.  

July 30

1st Semi-final

P. Tambourindeguy-Minvielle 2
Egiguren-T. Basque 0
(15-6, 15-14) (30-20)

Condensed linescore (Canal +) (match winners always listed first)

Set 1

8-0; 8-1; 11-1; 11-2; 12-2; 13-2; 13-5; 14-5; 14-6; 15-6

Set 2:

0-2; 4-2; 4-3; 6-3; 6-7; 8-7; 8-9; 9-9; 9-10; 13-10; 13-14; 15-14

Partial scoring (1st set only) (Canal +)

P. Tambourindeguy +2 -2; Minvielle +? -2
Egiguren +1 -1; T. Basque +? -3 (adds to 6-5)

Balls in Play: 122; P. Tambourindeguy 29 (23%); Minvielle 31 (25%); Egiguren 18 (14%); T. Basque 44 (36%)

Best points: (Note: the Youtube video snippets do not stop at the end of the points)

2nd set:
9-9--9-10 (18 ball point)

Ball 5: P. Tambourindeguy falling rebote save
Ball 7: Minvielle great save deep of a ball that caromed off the side wall very late
Ball 14: Egiguren falling rebote save
Ball 15: Minvielle wall climb save
Ball 18: Egiguren wins with a left pass over another attempted Minvielle wall climb

2nd set:
13-13--13-14 (37 ball point)

Ball 11: T. Basque moving back and leaping for the save at the 14-15
Ball 12: P. Tamourindeguy leaping save at the left wall at the 11
Ball 17: T. Basque great save against the left wall at the 14
Ball 23: Egiguren falling rebote save
Ball 34: P. Tambourindeguy leaping save at the 10
Ball 35: Egiguren moving back at the left wall at the 8-9
Ball 37: T. Basque wins the point with a backhand overhead pass from the 11

Match article (cestapunta.com)

In spite of the one sided nature of most of this match, there were two excellent points worth noting (see above). Ironically, both points were won by the losers of the match, but both showed (in my opinion) the best of all 4 players.

Current CPWT Rankings


Cumulative record (match wins-losses, set w-l (.3 for tie breaker win), Tournaments won). Current through August 6

P=Play inM1M2M3, M4=Master 1-4; S=SLAM

Avants

Olha; 3-1; 7--1.3; M1

Goikoetxea; 2-1; 4--2; M2

P. Tambourindeguy; 2-1; 4.3--2.3; M3

Hormaetxea; 2-1; 3.3--3; P

(Aritz) Erkiaga 1-1; 1.3--3
Egiguren; 1-2; 2--4
Ithurria; 1-2; 1.3--4
Lesbats; 0-1; 1--1.3
J. 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
Minvielle 3-1; 4.6--4; M3
T. Basque; 3-3; 6.3--6.3; P
Ekhi; 1-1; 2--2
(Manex) Urtasun; 0-1; 1--1.3
Etcheto 0-1; 1--1.3
Ihitsague; 0-1; 1--1.3
Lekerika; 0-1; 0--2
D. Ourthe; 0-1; 0--2
Irastorza; 0-2; 0--4