This is a current awareness blog that links to the latest sources of information on Basque Pelota matches and Tournaments. It covers all of both North and South Basque modalities: Pro and amateur. It links to match stories, statistics and video highlights and/or full match videos. NEW!!! JAI ALAI LEAGUE (EREMAN!) SEASON INTRO AND JAI ALAI WOMEN'S WINTER TOUR 2024 (2/22/24)!!!

Monday, September 30, 2019

Main Nue--Tournoi de Saint Palais (September 27, 29, 2019)

Tournoi de Saint Palais, Trinquet Saint Jayme (1) (2) (September 27, 29) (Esku Pilota Pro Tour Tournament)


Previous Tournaments:

2018 Final: Monce-Ducassou 2 Etchegaray-Bilbao 0 (15-11, 15-12) (30-23) 
(Source: Esku Pilota Resultats)

2017: Bielle-Ducassou 40 Ospital-Amulet 26

Match article: Pilota Ttiki

2019

This was a 4 team knockout tournament.

September 29

FINAL

Ospital-Amulet 40 Monce-Ducassou 36 (Pilota Ttiki Youtube condensed full match video)

Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)

0-7; 9-9; 16-16; 20-20; 31-31; 35-33; 38-36 40-36

In a titanic struggle that lasted over 1 hour and 50 minutes, O-A got up off the floor after an opening 7-0 salvo to equalize at 9. From there the match was closely contested all the way to the finish, with the winners finally establishing and defending a small lead in the last decade. For Amulet, whose home trinquet this match was played on, it was "moving" (Google translate). This was Ospital's 3rd consecutive championship, following Garindein and Mendionde. It was also his 6th consecutive win over all. The streak began on September 13. For O-A, who battled through over 3 1/2 hours of Main Nue (M-D dispatched their Semi-final opponents in about 45 minutes on Friday) within a 48 hour period, it was an exhausting but victorious effort during which they had to deal with the most lethal server in the modality (Waltary) and the best player on the Esku Pilota roster (Ducassou).

Match article (includes video of the final points) (Esku Pilota)
Match article (Pilota Ttiki)

September 27

Semi-finals

Inchauspe-Bilbao 14 (Pilota Ttiki Youtube condensed full match video)

Time of the match: about 45 minutes.

Waltary-Guichandut 37 (Pilota Ttiki Youtube condensed full match video)

30-35--40-37 (Pilota Ttiki Youtube)

Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)

30-35; 36-36; 40-37


In the first Semi-final, I-B were "disunited" (Google translate), according to Ducassou. M-D took advantage of the disarray and lack of communication to build a substantial lead and then "blew the game open" with a 12-0 run late.

In the 2nd Semi-final a 10-2 run in the final decade turned the tide for O-A.

Mano--Torneo San Mateo--September 21-29

Torneo San Mateo--Adarraga, Logrono (1)(2) (September 21-29)

This tournament was contested between 6 teams, 3 in Group A and 3 in Group B. The fomat was a single round robin in both groups. The group winners played a final on September 29.

Final League Table

Group A

Oliazola II-Rezusta (2-0; +18)
Ezkurdia-Aretxabaleta (substituting for Mariezkurrena II) (1-1; +5)
Victor-Zabaleta (0-2; -23)

Group B

Altuna III-Imaz (2-0; +11)
Bengoetxea VI-Martija (1-1; +4)
Irribarria-Albisu (0-2; -12)

Source: Baikopilota (also lists results back to 2002)

Tournament preview (21Iguales.com)

September 29

FINAL

Altuna III-Imaz (2-1; -4) 7 (EITB--match begins at 1:04:20)

Fronton TV Youtube (Castilian)

Final point  (EITB)

Note: This was EITB analyst Joxan Tolosa's final broadcast following a 20 year career as a manista (during which he won 1 singles and 3 doubles world championships) and long career as a coach and TV analyst. There is a video tribute to him that begins at 58:07.

Condensed linescore (21Iguales.com) (winners always listed 1st)

16-0; 16-2; 17-2; 17-4; 18-4; 18-6; 21-6; 21-7; 22-7

Scoring (EITB)

Oliazola II +9 -2; Rezusta +5 -1
Altuna III +4 -6; Imaz +0 -2

Balls in Play: 489: Oliazola II 115; Rezusta 135; Altuna III 110; Imaz 129

Time of the Match: 51:33

Attendance: 1,335

Match article (21Iguales.com)

In one of the most dominant mano performances you'll see, O-R began the match with a 16-0 run, taking all possible drama out of it. Although from that point, A-I outscored them 7-6, this was a match that would have been stopped on a "TKO" (Technical Knock Out) had it been a contest between boxers. Interestingly, even though this match was so one sided, it still had 489 balls in play. One has to wonder if Altuna III, playing his second game in 3 days, and coming in off a match were he had 181 balls in play, simply "ran out of gas" in this match. 

Oliazola II finished the tournament +30 -2 and Rezusta finished +10 -4 in 3 matches. In their final 5 Summer Festival matches Oliazola II was +58 -8. Rezusta was +16 -6. 

Rezusta was named best player of the tournament. 

September 27

Group B


Fronton TV (Fronton TV Youtube, in Castilian)

Condensed linescore (21Iguales) (winners always listed 1st)

0-3; 4-3; 4-4; 8-4; 8-4; 8-5; 11-5; 11-9; 12-9; 12-10; 15-10; 15-12; 17-12; 17-13; 20-13; 20-19; 22-19

Scoring (EITB)

Altuna III +11 -3 Imaz +1 -6
Bengoetxea +7 -6 Martija +3 -4

Balls in Play: 670: Altuna III 181; Imaz 155; Bengoetxea VI 151; Martija 183

Time of the Match: 75:27

Match article (21Iguales.com)

A-I advanced to the final after an arduous match. They established an early 4 point lead, slowly widened it, and seemed on their way to an easy victory. But then B-M roared back to cut the lead to 1 point before finally succumbing. It wasn't the greatest match from an artistic standpoint (+22 -19), but it was an exciting and tense one. Altuna III carried a tremendous load on offense (181 balls) and lead his team to victory.

September 26

Group A

Oliazola II-Rezusta (2-0; +18) 22
Ezkurdia-Aretxabaleta (1-1; +5) 10

Condensed linescore (winners always listed 1st)

1-0; 1-1; 2-1; 2-2; 4-2; 4-4; 6-4; 6-6; 7-7; 20-7; 20-8; 21-8; 21-10; 22-10

Scoring (21Iguales.com)

Oliazola II +12(including 1 service ace); -3; Rezusta +3 -1
Ezkurdia +5(2a) -6; Aretxabaleta +1 -1

Number of Balls in Play: 418

Time of the Match: 50:14

Match article (21Iguales.com)

O-R broke open a tight match with a 13-0 run to win easily. Ezkurdia had a quiet day, with an uncharacteristic -1 net, while Oliazola II continued his recent great form. The win sent them into their second consecutive final, this time playing together.

September 25

Group B

Altuna III-Imaz (1-0 +8) 22 Irribarria-Albisu 14 (0-2; -12) 14


Condensed Linescore (21Iguales) (winner always listed 1st)

4-0; 4-1; 5-1; 5-5; 10-5; 10-6; 13-6; 13-8; 15-8; 15-9; 16-9; 16-11; 18-11; 18-12; 21-12; 21-14; 22-14

Scoring (21Iguales.com)

Altuna III +9(including 1 service ace) -3; Imaz +0 -1
Irribarria +10(2a) -8(including 1 service fault) ; Albisu +1 -5

Irribarria-Albisu are eliminated. They had 13 errors in this match, 22 errors in 2 matches.

Match article (21Iguales.com)

A-I used a 5 point run early to take the lead and never looked back, slowly increasing their lead throughout. I-A never jelled in this match, conceding more than half the winners' points. 

September 23

Group A

Ezkurdia-Aretxabaleta (1-0; +17) 22
Victor-Zabaleta (0-2; -23) 5

Final Point (21Iguales Twitter)
17-5--18-5 (21Iguales Twitter)

Victor-Zabaleta are eliminated. V-Z had 19 errors in 2 matches.

Condensed linescore (winners always listed 1st)

2-0; 2-1; 2-2; 5-2; 6-2; 6-3; 8-3; 8-4; 12-4; 12-5; 22-5

Scoring: Ezkurdia +13(including 1 service ace) -2; Aretxabaleta +1 -0
Victor +2 -1; Zabaleta +1 -7

Balls in Play: 421

Time of the Match 46:00

Match article (21Iguales.com)

V-Z were blown out of the tournament by an emphatic 10 point run at the end. Once again their errors helped to do them in. Zabaleta had a poor "day at the office" and Ezkurdia had an excellent one (+11 net).  Victor, who can be a force on offense when he is on his game, was held to +5 in two matches.

September 22

Group B

Irribarria-Albisu (0-1; -4) 18 (EITB--match begins at 55:13)

Final Point (21Iguales Twitter)

15 balls in play.

Selected linescore (21Iguales.com) (winners always listed 1st)

1-0; 1-6; 6-66-9; 12-9; 13-11; 13-13; 15-13; 15-14; 16-14; 16-16; 17-16; 17-17; 18-17; 18-18; 22-18

8 equal scores

Scoring (EITB)

Bengoetxea VI +13(including 1 service ace) -3; Martija +0 -3
Irribarria +9 -4; Albisu +3 -5

Balls in Play: 540: Bengoetxea VI 123; Martija 149; Irribarria 124; Albisu 144

Time of the Match: 63:45

Match article (21Iguales.com)

B-M got off to a terrible start but then used an 11-3 run to take the initiative. I-A fought back to equality 4 times but could never get "over the hump." Bengoetxea IV had an outstanding offensive match with a net of +10.

September 21

Group A

Victor-Zabaleta (0-1; -6) 16 (EITB--match begins at 1:05:43)

Condensed linescore (winners always listed 1st)

2-0; 2-1; 6-1; 6-4; 7-4; 7-5; 8-5; 8-6; 11-6; 11-7; 13-7; 13-8; 14-8; 14-14; 20-14; 20-15; 21-15; 21-16; 22-16

Scoring

Oliazola II +9(including 3 service aces) -7; Rezusta +2 -2
Victor +3 -8; Zabaleta +4 -3

For the match +18 -20

Balls in Play: 743: Oliazola II 140; Rezusta 234; Victor 145; Zabaleta 224

Time of the Match: 83:00

Match article (21Iguales.com) Note that the match article has the score listed incorrectly and the match placed in the incorrect Group.

O-R began the tournament with an error marred victory. More points were lost than won. Still, it was an grueling and exciting match, Both backs had more than 220 balls in play. A 4 point run gave O-R a lead that they never relinquished. V-Z achieved equality with a 6 point run but then O-R answered with a 6 point run of their own. There were a particularly uncharacteristic number of errors from both fronts.