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 CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2024 CESTA NADAU--DECEMBER 6, 13, 20, 2024---JAI ALAI LEAGUE (EREMAN!) WINTER SERIES--OCTOBER 2024--FEBRUARY 2025!!!

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Main Nue--FFPB Championnat de France Elite Pro Individuel--Results of January 14, 2017

The Main Nue Individuel Elite Pro Championnat de France A and B competition is sponsored by the  Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque (FFPB). The competition began on December 23, 2016 and will end on February 20, 2017. You can follow its progress here. Pelotelive.free.fr also provides A and B coverage. The tournament is a seeded ladder tournament.

* not listed on the Esku Pilota player pages at this time.

The A group consists of Antton Amulet, Philippe Bielle, Bixintxo Bilbao, Pascal de Ezcurra, Baptiste Ducassou, Peio Guichandut, Ximun Lambert, Peio Larralde, Matheiu Ospital, and Agusti Waltary. The seeds, from low to high are: Amulet and Ospital (1/8), Bilbao and Waltary (Quarter-finals), and Larralde and Ducassou ("Liguilla").

The B group consists of Gregory Aguirre, Jean-Philippe Benesse*, Mickael Darmendrail, Vincent Elgart, Julien Etchegaray, Alexis Inchauspe, Laurent Lambert, Cedric Lucu, Alain Migueltorena, Antton Monce, Mattin Olcomendy*, and Mickael Palomes. The seeds, from low to high are: Darmendrail and L. Lambert (1/8), Palomes and Inchauspe (Quarter-finals), and Elgart and Monce ("Liguilla").

The "Liguilla" phase is a round robin among the top 4 finishers (two who win their way in and two who are seeded in) which will determine the finalists.

 Article describing the competition (Esku Pilota)

December 23 2016-January 2, 2017 matches;    January 6, 2017 matches;  January 9, 2017 matches

January 14, 2017

Villefranque (1)(2)(3)

Preview article for both matches (Pilota Ttiki) 

Match article for both matches: (Pilota Ttiki)

Match article for both matches (Esku Pilota)

A5. The scheduled A5 match between Guichandut and Bilbao was postponed due to Bilbao being ill with influenza. It has been rescheduled for next Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Villefranque.

In its place, as a "lever de rideau" (curtain raiser) Monce defeated Elgart 40-32.

Selected linescore: (winner always listed first).

25-25; 32-32; 40-32

This match might be a preview of  a possible liguilla match, as they are both seeded in to the tournament at that level. Elgart held the advantage early. Monce took over the match in the late stages. They will resume tournament play on January 29 and 30. If they win, they will face each other in the final.

B6. Etchegaray defeated L.Lambert 40-27.

Selected linescore (winner always listed first). Source: both articles above.

10-4; 15-9; 20-13; 26-13; 26-19; 40-27.

With the exception of a 6-0 run by Lambert that cut his deficit to 7 points, Etchegaray was untroubled in this match. The total score of his two matches is 80-50. His next match is against Alexis Inchauspe at Arcangues on January 20.

For cumulative records of Main Nue elite professionals see the "Cumulative records of EP players" on the recurring results page on the right side of the blog. 

Pala--Mundial Individual 2017 begins

Mundial Individual 2017, the premier InnPala singles tournament began January 14, 2017. It is a single elimination, seeded ladder tournament that involves the entire InnPala roster. The short court tournament will be played Bizkaia Fronton, Bilbo (Bilbao) (1)(2). Two matches will be played every weekend. Seeding, from low to high: Brefel and Imanol; Ibai-Perez and Ibargarai (quarter finals); Fusto and Gaubeka (semi-finals). For more on the tournament see the tournament page at InnPala. The final will be played February 10.

Preview article (mundodeportivo.com)

Preview article (Naiz)

The articles note that Fusto is the favorite, seeded in at the semi-final level, having won all 5 of the finals played at Bizkaia (2012-16). He also won in 2009. If he wins this tournament, he will equal Oscar Insausti's record of 7 singles championships. The articles also note that Esteban Gaubeka, last year's runner up, is suffering from shoulder tendinitis, but hopes to be ready to play his first match (seeded in at the semi-final level) on February 4.

January 14, 2014

Unseeded play-in matches

Joko score sources: Diario Vasco Cartelera, January 15, 2017

1. Necol defeated Landeta 3-2 (10-8, 10-8, 8-10, 9-10, 10-6) (47-42)

2. Zubiri defeated Gordon 3-1 (10-7, 2-10, 10-7, 10-5) (32-29)

Note: Both Innpala.com match article links were removed as they were simply overwritten by the match stories from the next week's (January 21) matches without any change of URL. For obvious reasons, I won't be linking to their match stories until this design flaw if fixed. (Removed January 22, 2017).

Match article for both matches (InnPala Fronton Facebook page) (auto translate may be available) (added January 16, 2017)

The favorites won both matches. Necol had a difficult struggle with Landeta but finally prevailed in a match that consumed 89 of a possible 95 points. Outside of a very poor 2nd joko, Zubiri dominated his match. The next matches are on January 21, 2017: Necol v Brefel and Zubiri v Imanol.

===============================

Table of wins and losses for the 2016-2017 season.

Key: Player; Position (d=delantero (front court), z=zaguero (back court)); match wins-losses; joko (set) wins-losses; winning-losing streak; championships won. Matches that are single partidos will be noted. Table will be according to match winning percentage. 1st tie breaker will be number of wins. 2nd tie breaker will be joko win-loss differential. We begin the season with  La Liga Kutxabank, starting October 29, 2016.

January 14, 2017

Gaubeka(d)..7-2.....24-15..+2*....1(La Liga)
Zubiri(d)......7-5.....27-20..+2*
Fusto(d)........5-5.....20-21..-2
Necol(d)........5-7....23-28..+1
Landeta(d)....3-7.....17-25..-1

Ibai-Perez(z)..7-3....25-18..+1*....1(La Liga)
Brefel(z).........5-4....20-16..+2
Ibargari(z).....5-6....23-23...-1
Gordon(z)......5-7....21-27...-3
Imanol(z).......3-6....15-22..+1*

Includes Dec. 30, 2016 independent match: Landeta-Imanol defeated Zuberi--Ibai-Perez 3-1 (10-8, 7-10, 10-9, 10-7) at Bizkaia.

*Does not include the result of Nov.25, 2016 independent match Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez v Zubiri-Imanol. The result is unknown at this time. I will add it when I find it.

Includes Nov. 19, 2016 independent match: Zuberi-Ibargari defeated Necol-Gordon 3-0 (10-8, 10-3, 10-9) at Bizkaia.

 For cumulative accounting of this player table see the InnPala Player win-loss table under the Pala page on the right side of the blog.  

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta-Two important news articles

1. Jai Alai News Facebook page has released an extensive interview with Pedro Andrinúa Santibáñez, manager of the newly remodeled Fronton Mexico (Mexico City) scheduled to re-open on Mar. 4, 2017. Many topics are discussed, including the process of remodeling the 1,800 seat fronton, the signing of (so far) 18 players, (including Lopez, Irastorza, Egiguren, Olharan, and Olha), and the mechanics of how the matches will work. The interview is in Castilian. Auto translation to English may be available. In the title are the words "Great Expectations." Indeed!

Interview with Pedro Andrinúa Santibáñez

2. "Gotzon Enbil, elegido nuevo Presidente de la Federación vasca de pelota" ("Gotzon Enbil, elected new President of the Basque Pelota Federation")," by Igor G. Vico (Deia, January 14, 2017) 
 

Euskadiko Euskal Pilota Federakuntza (EEPF) Club competitions begin

Euskadiko Euskal Pilota Federakuntza (EEPF) has announced the beginning of its 2017 Club competitions. Club competitions began January 12, 2017 and will end for most competitions on March 12. Competitions will be at the cadete, juvenil, sub-22, and senior level in the modalities of mano singles and doubles, paleta goma men's and women's, paleta cuero, pala corta, frontenis, and cesta punta. Women's paleta goma (juvenil and senior) semi-finals will be held January 21, with finals to be held January 28.

EEPF Announcement (with attached schedule files in Microsoft Excel format)

To follow results of individual competitions: Click on "CPTO. DE EH. DE CLUBES". A drop down menu of each of the individual competitions will appear. Click on any of them to open that competition. Click on "Calendario" for the schedule and "Calendario de Resultados" for results. All competitions (except the paleta goma listed above) will begin with league phases, followed by playoffs and finals. Calendarios are available in HTML and Microsoft Excel formats. It is unknown at this time if any of these competitions will have match videos on EITB or elsewhere. If playoff phases are televised, they will be linked to in the blog.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Pablo Ibarren Defense Benefit Match and Vintage Documentary Film

1. January 7, 2017--Zumaia (1)(2)(3) Goikoetxea-Inza defeated Egiguren-Enbil 2-0 (15-10, 15-11).

Match article (Jai Alai News Facebook page--English translation may be available)

This was a benefit match for the defense of Pablo Ibarren.

2. Cesta Punta--Rekalde v Irastorza, a documentary film produced by Arte France and Ethan Productions, directed by Jacques Mitch, 2005, 50 minutes 43 seconds (French). This 11 year old documentary has recently been uploaded to Youtube by the director. It is an excellent account of modern day Jai Alai, which uses a championship partido match (Rekalde-Goitia v Jabi-Irastorza) as the pivot around which it documents biographies of the two title figures. There is much to see here describing US quiniela Jai Alai at the time, along with other aspects of the sport. The language is French, but in Jai Alai pictures are worth a thousand words and the themes of the film are easy to pick up without any language proficiency. Note that in the championship match, selected ball speeds were available for Irastorza. Top speed was 208 km/hour (129 mph). 11 years later, in last summer's Internationaux Cesta Punta SLAM final, father time (40 years old) was catching up with him. The fastest throw I saw clocked for him in that match was a mere 196 km/hr (122mph).

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Pala--InnPala Rankings Update--January 7,.2017

InnPala has published its first rankings table for the 2016-17 season. Rankings are current through the end of the recently completed La Liga Kutxabank competition. Rankings are by player position. They are:
        
Delanteros       Zagueros
(Front)            (Back)

Gaubeka  66     Ibai-Perez 66
Necol      44     Ibargarai  44
Zubiri      36     Brefel      36
Fusto       30     Gordon    30
Landeta   24     Imanol     24

Rankings, along with explanation 

La Liga was a 3 diamond (***) tournament.

Note that the InnPala ranking date has not yet been changed as of January 11, 2017

Pala--La Liga Kutxabank--Final and 3rd place match

La Liga Kutxabank competition began on October 29, 2016 at Bizkaia Fronton, Bilbo (Bilbao) (1)(2). It ended with a final at Bizkaia on January 7, 2017. This tournament included the entire InnPala roster, divided into 5 teams which participated in a double round robin League competition, followed by a semi-final between the 2nd and 3rd place teams. The winner faced the League winner in the final. Most of the matches were played at Bizkaia. There were also matches at Sopela and Gallarta. For more on the tournament see the tournament page at InnPala.

Week 1--October 29, 2016 (Full match videos available)

Week 2--November 5, 2016 (Selected match videos available)

Week 3--November 12, 2016

Week 4--November 19, 2016

Week 5--November 25-26, 2016 (Full match videos available)

Week 6--December 2-3, 2016 

Week 7--December 10, 2016 (Full match videos available)


Week 9--December 23, 2016

Semi-final--December 30, 2016 (Full match video available)

Final

January 7, 2017

Individual Joko (set) score sources for both matches: Diario Vasco Cartelera (January 8, 2017), Mundodeportivo.com via InnPala Twitter feed, Deia match article, InnPala Fronton Facebook page. Diario Vasco had an incorrect joko score for the 3rd joko of the 3rd place match. It was 10-5 Zubiri-Brefel.

Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez defeated Necol-Ibargarai 3-0 (10-4, 10-7, 10-9)

Full match video for both the final and 3rd place match (EITB--added February 11, 2017). 

Individual joko linescores (EITB) (winners always listed 1st):

Joko 1: 1-0; 2-0; 3-0; 3-1; 4-1; 4-2; 4-3(50 balls in play); 5-3 ; 6-3; 7-3; 7-4; 8-4; 9-4; 10-4; (1-0)

Joko 2: 0-0 (68 balls in play); 1-0 ; 2-0; 1-1; 2-1; 3-1; 3-2; 4-2; 4-3; 4-4; 5-4; 5-5 6-5; 7-5; 7-6; 8-6; 9-6; 9-7; 10-7 (2-0)

Joko 3: 1-0; 1-1; 2-1; 2-2; 3-2; 3-3; 3-4; 4-4; 4-5; 4-6; 5-6; 6-6; 6-7; 7-7; 7-8; 8-8; 8-9; 9-9; 10-9 (3-0).

Scoring:

Gaubeka +9 -1, Ibai-Perez +3 (all service aces) -7 (including 1 service fault)
Necol +6 -11, Ibargarai +3 -7 (including 1 service fault)

Note that the individual scores do not add up to the total

Balls in play: 604
Time of the match: 56 minutes, 20 seconds

Match preview (Deia)

Match article (mundodeportivo.com)

Match article with match statistics (Deia)

Match article with 22 photos (InnPala Fronton Facebook page)

At the time this was posted, there was no match video available. If and when it becomes available, it will be added.

In the match preview Ibargarai said that his team must attack to win. They did, but G-IP were up to the task of defending, waiting for mistakes, and counter punching. The number of balls in play (604) for a match won in straight jokos (only 50 points out of a possible maximum 95, an average of 12 balls in play per point--compared to the semi-final, in which 73 points and 4 jokos consumed 499 balls in play, an average of 8) indicates that this was a difficult struggle in spite of the final tally.  But in the end, N-I led for only one point in the entire match (4-3 in the third joko, according to the mundodeportivo.com account). Two turning points came early, in the first joko. At 4-2, Gaubeka had to leave for treatment of a shoulder injury. He came back and played magnificently (his error count was amazing). At 5-3 in the same joko there was a monster 49 ball point won by G-I. That completely broke N-I's resistance in that joko and set the tone for the rest of the match. Ibai-Perez was named the best player of the match for his great defense (including more than one "impossible" rebote). N-I were hurt by errors, but it comes with the territory when you play the attacking game they had planned from the beginning. I-P finished the tournament with 7 wins and 2 losses (24-15 jokos). N-I finished 4-6 (20-23).

3rd Place Match

Zubiri-Brefel defeated Fusto-Gordon 3-2 (10-8, 6-10, 10-5, 9-10, 10-9).  :

Individual joko linescores: (winners always listed 1st) (EITB)

Joko 1: 0-1; 1-1; 1-2; 1-3; 1-4; 2-4; 3-4; 3-5; 4-5; 5-5; 6-5; 6-6; 7-6; 8-6; 9-6; 9-7;  9-8; 10-8 (1-0)

Joko 2: 0-1; 1-1; 1-2; 1-3; 2-3; 3-3; 3-4; 3-5; 3-6; 4-6; 4-7; 4-8; 5-8; 5-9; 6-9; 6-10 (1-1)

Joko 3: 1-0; 1-1; 2-1; 3-1; 3-2; 4-2; 5-2; 6-2; 7-2; 8-2; 8-3; 9-3; 9-4; 9-5; 10-5 (2-1)

Joko 4: 0-1; 0-2; 1-2; 2-2; 3-2; 3-3; 3-4; 3-5; 4-5; 5-5; 6-5; 6-6; 7-6; 7-7; 8-7; 9-7; 9-8; 9-9; 9-10 (2-2)

Joko 5: 1-0; 1-1; 1-2; 2-2; 3-2; 4-2; 4-3; 5-3; 6-3; 6-4; 7-4; 7-5; 7-6; 8-6; 8-7; 8-8; 8-9; 9-9; 10-9 (3-2).

Scoring (EITB

Zubiri +7 -8; Fusto +18 -6
Brefel +17 -11; Gordon +5 -15

675 balls in play

Zubiri 165, Brefel 174
Fusto 204, Gordon 132

Time of the match: 1 hour, 17 minutes, 42 seconds.

87 points were scored out of a possible maximum 95. The last two jokos were won comebacks at the very end.

===============================

Table of wins and losses for the 2016-2017 season.

Key: Player; Position (d=delantero (front court), z=zaguero (back court)); match wins-losses; joko (set) wins-losses; winning-losing streak; championships won. Matches that are single partidos will be noted. Table will be according to match winning percentage. 1st tie breaker will be number of wins. 2nd tie breaker will be joko win-loss differential. We begin the season with  La Liga Kutxabank, starting October 29, 2016.

January 7, 2017 (end of La Liga)

Gaubeka(d)..7-2.....24-15..+2*....1(La Liga)
Zubiri(d)......6-5.....24-19..+1*
Fusto(d)........5-5.....20-21..-2
Necol(d)........4-7.....20-26..-1
Landeta(d)...3-6.....15-22..+1

Ibai-Perez(z)..7-3....25-18..+1*....1(La Liga)
Brefel(z).........5-4....20-16..+2
Ibargari(z).....5-6....23-23...-1
Gordon(z)......5-6....20-24...-2
Imanol(z).......3-6....15-22..+1*

Includes Dec. 30, 2016 independent match: Landeta-Imanol defeated Zuberi--Ibai-Perez 3-1 (10-8, 7-10, 10-9, 10-7) at Bizkaia.

*Does not include the result of Nov.25, 2016 independent match Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez v Zubiri-Imanol. The result is unknown at this time. I will add it when I find it.

Includes Nov. 19, 2016 independent match: Zuberi-Ibargari defeated Necol-Gordon 3-0 (10-8, 10-3, 10-9) at Bizkaia.

 For cumulative accounting of this player table see the InnPala Player win-loss table under the Pala page on the right side of the blog.  

Main Nue--FFPB Championnat de France Elite Pro Individuel--Results of January 9, 2017

The Main Nue Individuel Elite Pro Championnat de France A and B competition is sponsored by the  Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque (FFPB). The competition began on December 23, 2016 and will end on February 20, 2017. You can follow its progress here.  Pelotelive.free.fr also provides A and B coverage. The tournament is a seeded ladder tournament.

* not listed on the Esku Pilota player pages at this time.

The A group consists of Antton Amulet, Philippe Bielle, Bixintxo Bilbao, Pascal de Ezcurra, Baptiste Ducassou, Peio Guichandut, Ximun Lambert, Peio Larralde, Matheiu Ospital, and Agusti Waltary. The seeds, from low to high are: Amulet and Ospital (1/8), Bilbao and Waltary (Quarter-finals), and Larralde and Ducassou ("Liguilla").

The B group consists of Gregory Aguirre, Jean-Philippe Benesse*, Mickael Darmendrail, Vincent Elgart, Julien Etchegaray, Alexis Inchauspe, Laurent Lambert, Cedric Lucu, Alain Migueltorena, Antton Monce, Mattin Olcomendy*, and Mickael Palomes. The seeds, from low to high are: Darmendrail and L. Lambert (1/8), Palomes and Inchauspe (Quarter-finals), and Elgart and Monce ("Liguilla").

The "Liguilla" phase is a round robin among the top 4 finishers (two who win their way in and two who are seeded in) which will determine the finalists.

Article describing the competition (Esku Pilota)

December 23 2016-January 2, 2017 matches; January 6, 2017 matches

January 9, 2017

Preview article for both matches (Pilota Ttiki) 

Le Garat, St. Jean-Pied-de-Port (1) (2)

B5. Benesse* defeated Darmendrail via a forfeit. Darmendrail is recovering from cyst surgery and has dropped out of the tournament.

In place of that match, as a "lever de rideau" (curtain raiser) for the A4 match, Elgart (seeded into the "Liguilla" phase of the B tournament) played against Benesse instead.

Elgart defeated Benesse* 40-36 or 40-35. (Note: the Garat "lundi" page has the score of this match 40-36. Pilota Ttiki and Esku Pilota have it 40-35). This is the second consecutive week that separate sources have different scores for the same match. Benesse's next match will be a quarter final match against Palomes on Monday, January 16, 2017 at the Garat.

A4. Ospital defeated de Ezcurra 40-33

Match article for both matches (Pilota Ttiki)

Match article, along with match statistics (source: H. Ocafrain via Excel spreadsheet created by Esku Pilota), and an audio interview with Ospital. (Esku Pilota).  Note that de Ezcurra's + adds to 28 (which is not listed in the spreadsheet or in the original Ocafrain table at the Garat "lundi" page).

This was a difficult match for Ospital. According to the match article he was playing with a sore heel which he bandaged. The bandage bothered him and he fell behind 8-2. According to Ospital:

"J’avais un petit souci au talon depuis le Super Prestige et j’ai joué en début de partie avec la cheville bandée et ce n’est pas du tout les mêmes appuis. Je n’étais pas du tout précis. Sur le coup de 20 j’ai enlevé le strap et après j’ai trouvé un petit plus de précision dans mon jeu"

loosely translated by Google:

"I had a little worry in the heel since the Super Prestige and I played at the beginning of the game with the ankle bandaged and it is not at all the same supports. I was not at all accurate. On the stroke of 20 I removed the strap and then I found a little more precision in my game."

Ospital was struggling at: 2-8; 9-11; 14-16; and 19-21. After the bandage came off the score went to 27-23; 32-28; and 39-31.He next faces Waltary at the Garat on January 16.

In other news, Bilbao's match v Guichandut, originally scheduled for Villefranque on January 14, has been postponed due to Bilbao being ill with influenza. That match has been re-scheduled for January 21 at the same venue. To replace match of the 14th  a "lever de rideau" B match between Monce and Elgart (both seeded in at the Liguilla level), will precede the B6 match of Etchegaray v L. Lambert.

For cumulative records of Main Nue elite professionals see the "Cumulative records of EP players" on the recurring results page on the right side of the blog. 

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Mano--Binakako Txapelketako/Campionato Parejas--Week 6

Binakako Txapelketako/Campionato Parejas, the premier doubles competition of the 2016-2017 Mano season, began December 2, 2016. 8 teams compete for the title. The first (league) phase is a double round robin (14 matches). The top 4 finishers will then face off in a single round robin (3 matches). The two winners will play in a final on April 9, 2017.

Asegarce Competition Page

Asegarce League phase table

ASPE League phase table

Wikipedia Competition Page (Castilian)

Full ongoing league phase table (with total points and differential):

Source for all match articles, unless otherwise specifically stated, is 21iguales.com  21iguales.com will also keep an ongoing phase table at its main Parejas site and with every match article.

Match linescores will be provided from match articles when available. Full match linescores can be found at 21iguales.com Twitter feed.  Track back to the date and match and follow from beginning to end. The feed is also available at the Main site of 21iguales.com while the matches are in progress.

Source for all highlights and full match videos, unless otherwise specifically stated, is EITB.

Week 1; Week 2; Week 3; Week 4; Week 5

Week 6

January 5, 2017

Brief video recap of the week

At the end of the 6th round, 5 teams are tied for 2nd place with 3 wins and 3 losses. The tie breaker is point differential, which is listed in every linked table. 

A. Beotibar, Tolosa (1)(2): Irribaria-Rezusta defeated Victor (substituting for Artola)-Albisu 22-13.

Match article with statistics and linescore

The first half of the match was equal, with each team taking and then losing substantial leads. I-R owned the second half 11-2. Irribaria outscored the other three players combined.  I-R 6-0 (+6) A-A 3-3 (-2)

Match highlights

Match highlights (22iguales.com Youtube) 11 selected points.

January 6, 2017

B. Astelena, Eibar (1)(2): Elezkano II-Zabaleta  defeated Urrutikoetxea-Imaz  22-16.

Match article with statistics and linescore

The lead changed hands 4 times in this match. The last 2 (7-11--12-11 and 12-13--18-13) were decisive. Urrutikoetxea did all the scoring (+10, but also 5 errors) for his team. Imaz' score was +0 -0 E-Z 3-3 (+1) U-I 1-5(-3)

In a late news update, Danel Elezkano will be replaced by Erik Jaka for E-Z's round 7 match v Ezkurdia-Merino II. Elezkano has an ankle ligament injury.  He twisted the ankle late in this match, but returned to finish it after treatment. At this time Elizkano's return date is unknown.

Elizkano injury article (Diario Vasco)

Match highlights

Full Match video (Fronton.tv) Scroll to "Eibar-Astelena - 06/01/2017". Elezkano's injury occurs in the 21-16 point. Point begins at 1:01:31. Injury occurs at 1:01:58. Point ends at 1:02:02 on the video.

January 7, 2017

C. Labrit, Iruna (Pamplona) (1) (2): Altuna III-Barriola defeated Bengoetxea VI-Larunbe 22-12.

Match article with statistics and linescore

For the second week in a row, A-B came back from a big deficit to win. This time, B-L got off to a quick 8-2 lead.Then A-B struck back with a 14-0 run that sealed the outcome. Altuna III again had a big match, scoring around 70% of his team's points. A-B have won each of the three matches they have played together. They have lost the three where one or both of them did not play.  A-B 3-3 (+2) B-L 2-4 (-1).

Match highlights

Full match video (match begins at 1:05:34 on the video).

January 8, 2017 

D. Politiportivo La Juventud, Soria (1)(2): Ezkurdia-Merino II defeated Victor (substituting for Olaizola II)-Untoria 22-12

Match article with statistics and linescore

Explanation of Olaizola II's absence (Diario Vasco)

Olaizola II missed this match due to illness. He was replaced by Victor, playing his second match (both as a substitute) in 4 days. E-M broke open the match with a 6-0 run in the second half. E-M 3-3 (+1) O-U 3-3 (-1)

Match highlights

Full match video  (match begins at 1:07:47 on the video).

Remonte--VII Master Individual Oriamendi Tournament--the match after

Whenever EITB broadcasts an important Remonte match from Galarreta, Hernani (1)(2), it is the "Star Match," the 2nd of a four match session. These sessions are played on Thursdays and Saturdays. After the important Star Match, EITB televises the 3rd match, which is usually a match involving better and more experienced players. I watch these matches because I don't often get to see the players in them. Also, it is fascinating to watch the body language of the "grind" that is the essence of the Oriamendi2010 schedule. The body language of these matches reminds me somewhat of the body language seen during the grind of an American Quiniela Jai Alai season at Miami or Dania Beach, Florida. Oriamendi2010 players grind out game after game, with partner after partner, week in and week out throughout the year. When a non-championship Remonte match ends at Galarreta, the contestants simply take off their helmets and cestas and walk off the floor. Fans have almost always seen the incredible things that you will see in a Remonte match. The idea of using something that looks like a Jai Alai basket as a racquet to hit the ball rather than catch and throw it seems impossible. Yet these players do this with grace, athleticism, and style. Remonte is not as fast as Jai Alai (but then, neither is any other ball sport in the world), but it is fast enough. To be able to hit the ball at all is amazing. To be able to hit it with a cesta on your right hand while plastered against the left wall, or to be able to execute standing or falling rebotes (rebounds off the back wall), as is done in Jai Alai on a regular basis, seems impossible with the Remonte implement. Watch and you'll see.

The match I watched (which is covered at the above Star Match link), was between Etxeberria IV-Etxeberria III and Segurola-Ion. Three of them are "A" group players. Segurola is a "B" group player who often plays in matches with A players. What I saw was one of the most amazing performances I have seen in the short time I've been following the sport. Etxeberria IV is a player I have seen little of and read even less about. But he put on an incredible performance to lead his team to victory. His partner had a pretty good game as well. Together, they played an almost perfect match.

Etxeberria IV-Etxeberria III defeated Segurola-Ion 40-26

Full match video (EITB) (match begins at 1 hour, 13 minutes on the video)

MY ARTICLE: Enhanced linescore E IV-EIII v S-I