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!!!

Monday, July 8, 2019

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta: Dania Spring Season--May 1-June 30--Wrap; Statistics, 5 win sorts; and 1 Game 10 for the ages

The Dania Beach Jai Alai short Spring Season began on May 1 and ended on June 30. There were 7 performances a week, 12 games a performance, for 9 weeks.

Dania Jai Alai Final Official Statistics

There were three major championships, most wins, Game 10, the Florida Singles Championship, and G12, the late Doubles Championship.

This report will cover the following:

Dania Season in a Nutshell
Cumulative Statistics
Game 10 Final Table and Brief Summary
Win Sorts in 5 Different Categories (All Players, Fronts, Backs, Earlies, Lates).
One of the Best Game 10s, Mapped (Point by Point), With Analysis.

At the bottom of this post there will be a link (for those who don't already know about it), to more detailed information about the Dania Season, week by week, and day by day.

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

Diego Beaskoetxea (late front) retired from Dania at the end of the season, finishing a 15 year tenure. His intelligence, athleticism, hustle, almost infinite shot selection arsenal, great defense, and love of the game were a joy to watch. He is one of the best all round (quiniela and partido) front court players in the world. He is scheduled to play in the Cesta Punta World Tour's St. Jean de Luz (Donebane Lohizun) Masters Tournaments in July and August of 2019. He is also scheduled to play in the Jai Alai World Tour's Gernika and Hondarriba Grand Slams this summer. Watch and enjoy him while he is still active. He is one of a generation of great puntistas who have graced these shores and the Basque Country for the last 15-20 years. When they pass from the scene, they will be sorely missed, but long remembered. Eskerrik Asko, Diego.

Jai Alai News (via manista.com) announcement.


The Fronton will now "go dark" until September 15, 2019. I, for one, can't wait for things to start up again. There's nothing like the multiple "pennant" races a quiniela season can provide. Each point, each game, each day and week, new pennant races, new stories.

1. 2019 Spring Season in a Nutshell:

Most wins: Erik (late front) 66; 2nd Amigorena (late back) 60; 3rd Iturbide (early front) 59

Florida Singles Championship (G10): Erik 13; Diego 11; Barandika (late front) and Ithurria (late front) 10

Doubles Championship (G12)
Fronts: Barandika 15; Erik 14
Backs: Amigorena 15; Urbieta 10

Highest season winning percentage: Ladutxe (early back) .212; Erik .202; Amigorena .194

Highest In the Money (1st, 2nd, or 3rd place) percentage: Erik .526; Ladutxe .493; Barandika .470

Most times weekly wins leader
Amigorena 3; 7 players 1

Most weekly wins
Amigorena; Ladutxe; Jairo 11; Diego; Amigorena 10

Most times with the most wins (led or tied) in a performance: Diego 14; Erik 13; Amigorena 12

Most wins in a performance: Iturbide and Ladutxe: 4; Erik 3 (four times)

Most games played: Goenaga (early front) 346; Goixerri (early front) 342; Anndy (early front) 339

Total games played 12 (games)*7 (performances a week)* (9 weeks) 756

Congratulations to rookie Goixerri on completing a very full first 7 months at Dania. You have to like his learning curve.

Last Winter his line was;

339 (games) 20 (wins) 30 (2nd place) 29 (3rd place) .059 (win %) .233 (ITM %)

This Spring:

342 37 41 37 .108 .336

Great work, Goixerri!

Many thanks to the entire roster, management, staff, and announcers for making this season, as always, a joy to watch.  It probably isn't as easy as it looks :) :) :)

2. Cumulative Statistics

A. Cumulative winners by performance. Note: this is the number of times a player has either led or tied for the lead in most wins in a performance. Players will be listed by number of performances won. In all cases 2 or more wins have led a performance.

ef-early front; eb-early back; lf-late front; lb-late back

14. Diego (lf)
13. Erik (lf)
12. Amigorena (lb)
11. Ladutxe (eb)
10. Iturbide (ef)
9. Barandika (lf)
8. Ithurria (lf)
7. Medrano (ef); Bailo (ef)
6. Goenaga (ef); Jairo (ef); Yeche (eb); Zulaika (lf); Israel (lb); Leke (lb)  
5: Ibon (lb); Foronda (ef); Goixerri (ef)
4: Salegi (lb); Elgazabal (lb); Zabala (eb); Elizalde (eb)
3: Goitia (lf); Urbieta (lb); Spinner (ef); Arta (eb); Beitia  (lf)
2: Xabat (ef); Urtaran (lb); Larrea (ef); Chasio (lb)
1. Anndy (ef); Arrieta (lf)

B. Players with the most wins in a performance . Number of winning games leading a performance is, in all cases so far, 2-4. There have yet to be any performances where no player won more than one game. Corrections are always welcome.

4: ITURBIDE (EF) 5/18(M); LADUTXE (EB) 6/8(M)

3: Erik (lf) 4 times: (5/31(E); 6/1(E); 6/12(E); 6/19(M); Goenaga (ef) twice: 5/10(E); 5/17(E); Amigorena (lb) twice: 5/2(E), 6/1(M); Ibon (lb) twice: 5/17(E, 6/1(E); Iturbide (ef) twice (5/24(E), 6/2(M); Urturan (lb) twice; 5/15(M), 6/9(M); Barandika (lf) twice 5/2(E), 6/23(E) 

3: Medrano (ef) 5/3(E); Yeche (eb) 5/8(M); Leke (lb); 5/10(E); Goitia (lb) 5/17(E); Jairo (ef) 5/24(E); Israel (lb) (5/25(E); Diego (lf) 5/26(M); Bailo (eb) 6/12(E); Zulaika (lf) 6/15(E); Elgezabal (lb) 6/20(E); Ladutxe (eb) 6/21(E); Spinner (eb) 6/22(M)

In 30 performances the leading performance winner won more than 2 games. In 33 performances he (they) did not.

C. Cumulative weekly leaders in wins. 

Leading Weekly winner leaders (outright or tied) .

Amigorena 3 (late-back); Diego (late-front) 1; Foronda (early-front) 1; Iturbide 1;  Zulaika (late-front) 1; Ladutxe (early-back) 1; Erik (late-front) 1; Jairo (early-front) 1; Barandika (late-front) 1

Most wins for a weekly leader in a week (outright or tied).

Amigorena 11; Ladutxe 11; Jairo 11;  Diego 10; Amigorena 10

As expected, the same parity shown in the daily performances also showed up in the weekly statistics. Only 1 player won most in a week more than once. Only 2 players won 10 or more games in a week.

D. Cumulative Summary and analysis of Game 10 (The Florida Singles Championship).

You can find individual Game10 reports on the Dania Jai Alai Game 10 page on the right side of the blog (below) the current results section. I am doing Game 10 because singles matches are easy to do, and Game 10 pits the best Dania forwards against each other.

Standings--FINAL *=known perfect games (between 4 and 7 consecutive points in a row to win a game. Number of points needed is dependents on post position). Note: the 6/26(M) G10 did not count in the official standings. 62 games were played

Erik 13 (8*) .210
Diego 11 (8*) .177
Barandika 10 (5*) .161
Ithurria 10 (3*) .161
Zulaika 7 (2*) .113
Arrieta 5(2*) .081
Goitia 5 (3*) .081
Salegi (back) 1 .016

Barandika and Ithurria eliminated 6/28(E)
Diego eliminated 6/29(M)

The title was basically decided in the 6/26(E) performance, when both Barandika and Diego let golden opportunities slip through their fingers with a missed dejada and overserve respectively. This allowed Erik to run out a perfect game (being the recipient of the overserve which began his run) to take what proved to be an insurmountable 3 game lead with 5 to play. It was a very competitive season, with Erik not really taking control until the second to last week, after winning 3 times the week of June 5-9, and then 3 more times over the next two weeks. He didn't win the title until the 60th of 62 games played. 

3. Win Sorts in 5 Different Categories (all players, Fronts, Backs, Earlies, Lates).

Postion Key: EF=Early Front; EB=Early Back; LF=Late Front; LB=Late Back

All Players

# Name          GAMES   W  2  3   W% ITM%  

11 Erik ...........327 66 60 46 .202 .52  LF
49 Amigorena ..... 310 60 37 35 .194 .426 LB
20 Iturbide........337 59 46 46 .175 .448 EF
17 Ladutxe ........274 58 40 37 .212 .493 EB
42 Barandika ..... 332 56 51 49 .169 .470 LF

22 Diego...........320 54 25 43 .169 .381 LF
31 Jairo ..........330 54 44 37 .164 .409 EF
54 Zulaika.........328 52 45 33 .159 .396 LF
34 Medrano.........334 47 51 39 .141 .410 EF
25 Foronda ........336 45 41 45 .134 .390 EF

23 Ithurria........326 43 44 43 .132 .399 LF
15 Ibon ...........306 42 49 41 .137 .431 LB
60 Salegi .........316 40 35 43 .127 .373 LB
50 Elizalde .......310 39 37 39 .126 .371 EB
59 Leke............311 38 48 44 .122 .418 LB

38 Urbieta ........325 38 43 43 .117 .382 LB
10 Goixerri........342 37 41 37 .108 .336 EF
35 Spinner.........302 36 32 35 .119 .341 EB
39 Israel .........303 35 28 29 .116 .304 LB
64 Yeche ..........314 35 40 43 .111 .376 EB

16 Goenaga.........346 35 44 52 .101 .379 EF
14 Arta ...........276 29 41 31 .105 .366 EB
69 Goitia..........333 29 32 42 .087 .309 LF
98 Elgezabal ......226 28 30 26 .124 .372 LB
56 Zabala..........293 28 28 35 .096 .311 EB

67 Bailo ..........182 26 26 32 .143 .462 EB
89 Urtaran ........269 26 40 34 .097 .372 LB
12 Beitia..........337 24 40 47 .071 .329 LF
30 Larrea .........298 22 40 32 .074 .315 EB
46 Arrieta ........309 20 39 31 .065 .291 LF

53 Anndy...........339 20 26 33 .059 .233 EF
18 Chasio .........259 19 17 35 .073 .274 LB
19 Minte...........132 12 11 10 .091 .250 EB
47 Xabat........... 98  8  9 13 .082 .306 EF 

13 Ubilla ...........0                     B 
26 Jagoba ...........0                     F 
33 Tevin.............0                    LF 

Fronts

# Name             GP   W  2  3  W%. ITM% 

11 Erik ...........327 66 60 46 .202 .526 LF
20 Iturbide........337 59 46 46 .175 .448 EF
42 Barandika ..... 332 56 51 49 .169 .470 LF
22 Diego...........320 54 25 43 .169 .381 LF
31 Jairo ..........330 54 44 37 .164 .409 EF

54 Zulaika.........328 52 45 33 .159 .396 LF
34 Medrano.........334 47 51 39 .141 .410 EF
25 Foronda ........336 45 41 45 .134 .390 EF
23 Ithurria........326 43 44 43 .132 .399 LF
10 Goixerri........342 37 41 37 .108 .336 EF

16 Goenaga.........346 35 44 52 .101 .379 EF
69 Goitia..........333 29 32 42 .087 .309 LF
12 Beitia..........337 24 40 47 .071 .329 LF
46 Arrieta ........309 20 39 31 .065 .291 LF
53 Anndy...........339 20 26 33 .059 .233 EF

47 Xabat........... 98  8  9 13 .082 .306 EF

Backs

# Name             GP   W  2  3  W% ITM% 

49 Amigorena ..... 310 60 37 35 .194 .426 LB
17 Ladutxe ........274 58 40 37 .212 .493 EB
15 Ibon ...........306 42 49 41 .137 .431 LB
60 Salegi .........316 40 35 43 .127 .373 LB
50 Elizalde .......310 39 37 39 .126 .371 EB

59 Leke............311 38 48 44 .122 .418 LB
38 Urbieta ........325 38 43 43 .117 .382 LB
35 Spinner.........302 36 32 35 .119 .341 EB
39 Israel .........303 35 28 29 .116 .304 LB
64 Yeche ..........314 35 40 43 .111 .376 EB

14 Arta ...........276 29 41 31 .105 .366 EB
98 Elgezabal ......226 28 30 26 .124 .372 LB
56 Zabala..........293 28 28 35 .096 .311 EB
67 Bailo ..........182 26 26 32 .143 .462 EB
89 Urtaran ........269 26 40 34 .097 .372 LB

30 Larrea .........298 22 40 32 .074 .315 EB
18 Chasio .........259 19 17 35 .073 .274 LB
19 Minte...........132 12 11 10 .091 .250 EB

Earlies

# Name             GP   W  2  3  W%. ITM% 

20 Iturbide........337 59 46 46 .175 .448 EF
17 Ladutxe ........274 58 40 37 .212 .493 EB       
31 Jairo ..........330 54 44 37 .164 .409 EF
34 Medrano.........334 47 51 39 .141 .410 EF
25 Foronda ........336 45 41 45 .134 .390 EF

50 Elizalde .......310 39 37 39 .126 .371 EB
10 Goixerri........342 37 41 37 .108 .336 EF
35 Spinner.........302 36 32 35 .119 .341 EB
64 Yeche ..........314 35 40 43 .111 .376 EB
16 Goenaga.........346 35 44 52 .101 .379 EF

14 Arta ...........276 29 41 31 .105 .366 EB
56 Zabala..........293 28 28 35 .096 .311 EB
67 Bailo ..........182 26 26 32 .143 .462 EB
30 Larrea .........298 22 40 32 .074 .315 EB
53 Anndy...........339 20 26 33 .059 .233 EF

19 Minte...........132 12 11 10 .091 .250 EB
47 Xabat........... 98  8  9 13 .082 .306 EF 

Lates

# Name             GP   W  2  3  W% ITM% 

11 Erik ...........327 66 60 46 .202 .526 LF
49 Amigorena ..... 310 60 37 35 .194 .426 LB
42 Barandika ..... 332 56 51 49 .169 .470 LF
22 Diego...........320 54 25 43 .169 .381 LF
54 Zulaika.........328 52 45 33 .159 .396 LF

23 Ithurria........326 43 44 43 .132 .399 LF
15 Ibon ...........306 42 49 41 .137 .431 LB
60 Salegi .........316 40 35 43 .127 .373 LB
59 Leke............311 38 48 44 .122 .418 LB
38 Urbieta ....... 325 38 43 43 .117 .382 LB

39 Israel .........303 35 28 29 .116 .304 LB
69 Goitia..........333 29 32 42 .087 .309 LF
98 Elgezabal ......226 28 30 26 .124 .372 LB
89 Urtaran ........269 26 40 34 .097 .372 LB
12 Beitia..........337 24 40 47 .071 .329 LF

46 Arrieta ........309 20 39 31 .065 .291 LF
18 Chasio .........259 19 17 35 .073 .274 LB



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

A great Game 10

Below is a "map" and analysis of one of the best Game 10s of the season. I was able to closely study several G10s, map them point by point, and analyze them. I made a crude key of types of shots that won points and types of saves that saved them. I analyzed this game, as the others I did, not just in terms of competition between 8 players, but how the 8 players did as a team, in terms of how well the whole team did. There is no publicly available video for the game, but if you read the map and analysis, hopefully you will get a feel for what was going on out there.

For those of you who don't know about Quiniela Jai Alai, it is a match between 8 players (G10 is a singles game). Each player has a post number and color. 1 v 2: winner gets a point, and loser goes to the end of the rotation. In the first round of 7 points, each point is worth 1. In subsequent rounds, each is worth 2. This is called Spectacular Seven scoring, and is how most games at Dania are scored. Like a horse race, winning is important, but so too is finishing "in the money" (2nd or 3rd). This is because of the exotic wagering schemes used in Jai Alai that involve the 2nd and 3rd place finisher, in addition to the winner. If there is a tie for 2nd and/or 3rd when the game is won, it is played off until 2nd and 3rd are determined. 


G10 6/12/19 (Evening): A GRINDER OF A GAME: BARANDIKA MISSES A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY 

Offensive key: chula--throw that hits the back wall on the fly and rebounds out too low to be reboted (rebound shot of the wall); chic-chac--same as a chula only the ball bounces before hitting the back wall; dejada--slow drop shot that lands close to the front wall. Cortada is a hard low shot, usually, but not always thrown sidearm  from the front court. It is very effective among power players.

Saves Key: A=Apron; R=Rebote; AR=Apron Rebote; BR=Back pedalling rebote; FR=Falling Rebote;  KR=Rebote on or nearly on 1 knee; RR=Running Rebote;  J=Jumping or Leaping; WC(1 or 2)=Wall Climb--(1 step or 2); S=Short Hop; OS=Off Side Wall OSB=Off Side Wall in Back Corner; OV=Over the Shoulder; LW=Left Wall; M=Miscellaneous.

With 3 weeks and 20 games to go each game takes on added significance. By winning this afternoon, Barandika moved to within one win of Erik. This game was different from most recent G10s in that it was a real grind. No perfect games here, even though it looked like Ithurria was going to pull one off the hard way (after a lot of help) to move himself into immediate contention. That didn't happen and the game ended up going 1 point short of 3 full rounds, 20 points, and 71 balls in play before Arrieta finally won it. Barandika had the game in his hands and literally threw it away, playing his worst shot immediately after he had played his best. It may come back to haunt him on July 1. The game began with an error (also, ironically, by Barandika) and two questionable service aces, but then the whole team got into rhythm, with great winners and marvelous saves (Erik had 6 in this game--the most I've seen in one game since I've been doing these reports--including 4 in a row) keeping things moving along. But errors marred what might have been an even greater game, also helping to move things further along. Arrieta threw his possible game point away near the end of the second round. When Barandika blocked Goitia's path to game point with an amazing two foot wall climb to save the point, and won it with an immediate dejada, it looked like he was soon to tie Erik. But then came the saddest error of the game, which allowed Arrieta to have one more turn. He didn't miss this time.

The basics:

Perseverance from the 4 post. Arrieta got in the game 3 times, played 23 balls in play, 12 of which he caught and threw. He played 6 points and won 4 (+4 -1). His only save helped him stop a Barandika 2 point run in the second round that threatened to win the game at that point.

For the team: 20 points. +16 -4 (two questionable service aces).71 balls in play. 14 saves. Time of the game: 15:41
--------------------------

Barandika began by whiffing on a rebote. Ithurria took that gift and added 3 points (2 on questionable service aces) before Zulaika beat him with a chula off the serve. Erik and Goitia then held the lead before Goitia threw away an easy rebote to put Barandika back in the game. He stayed 1 more point before Arrieta,  after a leaping save at the 11, beat him later with a chic-chac. An ace and a two wall got Arrieta to Possible Game Point, but he threw a rebote into the upper pad to give Betia the baton. Erik wrenched it from his hands on a point where he made 3 consecutive saves and turned the last one into a winner. Erik's 4th consecutive save couldn't save him from a great Goitia backhand rebote pass/chula from the 11. Goitia then won 2 more points before Barandika's great wall climb save denied him game point. Then Barandika, almost unbelievably, faulted with an over serve. Betia then won one more point before Arrieta, amazed at getting a third chance, put the game away with game point from the receiving end; a very efficient forehand chic-chac from the 8.

Note: On many of the points, I describe a location on the concha (court): 11, 8, etc. Those numbers correspond to lines painted on the left wall and numbered, at Dania, from 1-14. The lines are a little less than 4 meters (about 13 feet) apart.  A standard Jai Alai Court is 54 meters (177 feet or 59 yards if your game is gridiron football) long. The court is about 10 meters wide (32 feet), with a cement floor. There is a wooden apron outside the cement. That is out of bounds, but players can run on the apron to catch a pelota that hits in bounds before it crashes into the netting that protects the fans. The walls are are between 30 and 35 feet high. The front wall is made of granite, the only building material that can take the punishment of being hit by pelotas (smaller than a baseball, harder than a golf ball) more than 50 times per game at the approximate 95-105 mph speed that the game is normally played at.  

Game map

Round 1

*=Possible Game Point

1 Ithurria; 2 Barandika; 3 Diego; 4 Arrieta; 5 Beitia; 6 Zulaika; 7 Erik; 8 Goitia

1(0)-2(0) 4 (balls in play); Barandika - (+=winner -=error) (0-1 (points won and lost, +0 -1, 2 (individual balls in play); WHIFFS ON A REBOTE FROM THE 9; Ithurria (1-0, +0 -0, 2)

1(1)-3(0) 1; Ithurria + (2-0, +1 -0, 1); ACE(?) DIEGO DROPS THE SERVE; Diego (0-1, +0 -0(?) 0)

1(2)-4(0) 5; Ithurria + (3-0, +2 -0, 3, 1 save A (apron at the 5 on the 4th ball); TWO WALL (FRONT-LEFT) FROM THE APRON; Arrieta (0-1, +0 -0, 2)

1(3)-5(0) 1; Ithurria + (4-0, +3 -0, 1); ACE(?) BEITIA TAKES THE SERVE AND THROWS BACKHAND TOO HIGH; Beitia (0-1,+0 -0(?) 0)

1(4)-6(0) 2: Zulaika + (1-0, +1-0, 1); CHULA ON RETURN OF SERVE FROM THE 12; Ithurria (4-1, +3 -0, 1)

6(1)-7(0) 4; Erik + (1-0, +1 -0, 2, 1 save M (returns a late left wall carom from the 13 on the serve); OUTSIDE CORTADA FROM THE 9; Zulaika (1-1, +1 -0, 2)   

7(1)-8(0) 4; Goitia + (1-0, +1 -0, 2); BACKHAND CHULA FROM THE 9; Erik (1-1,+1 -1, 2, 1 save J (leaping at the 10 on the 2nd ball)

Game map

Round 2

*=Possible Game Point

1 Ithurria; 2 Barandika; 3 Diego; 4 Arrieta; 5 Beitia; 6 Zulaika; 7 Erik; 8 Goitia

8(1)-2(0) 2; Goitia - (1-1, +1-1, 1); THROWS AWAY AN EASY REBOTE; Barandika (1-1, +0 -1, 1)

2(2)-3(0) 3: Barandika + (2-1,+1 -1, 2); BACKHAND REBOTE TWO WALL FROM THE 8; Diego (0-2, +0 -0(?), 1)

2(4)-4(0) 8; Arrieta + (1-1, +1 -0, 4, 1 save J (leaping at the 11 on the 3rd ball); FOREHAND CHIC-CHAC FROM THE 7; Barandika (2-2, +1 -1, 4, 1 save R (difficult rebote at the 11 on the 6th ball)   

4(2)-5(0) 1; Arrieta + (2-1, +2-0, 1); HIGH BOUNCE ACE; Beitia (0-2, +0 -0(?) 0)

4(4)-1(4) 3; Arrieta + (3-1, +3-0, 2); BACKHAND INSIDE 2 WALL (LEFT-FRONT) REBOTE (REMATE?) FROM THE 8; Ithurria (4-2, +3 -0, 1)

*4(6)-6(1) 2; Arrieta - (3-2, +3 -1, 1); THROWS REBOTE FROM THE 9 TOO HIGH); Zulaika (2-1, +1 -0,1)

6(3)-7(1); 8 Erik + (2-1, +2 -0, 4, 3 saves R (difficult rebote from the 11 on the 3rd ball); OR (overhead rebote from the 10 on the 5th ball); J (leaping at the 9 on the 7th ball); OVERHAND PASS FROM THE 9; Zulaika (2-2, +1 -1, 4)

Round 3

*=Possible Game Point

1 Ithurria; 2 Barandika; 3 Diego; 4 Arrieta; 5 Beitia; 6 Zulaika; 7 Erik; 8 Goitia

7(3)-8(1) 4; Goitia + (2-1, +2 -1, 2); BACKHAND REBOTE CHULA FROM THE 11; Erik (2-2, +2 -0, 2, 1 save J (leaping back from the 11 on the 2nd ball (his fourth consecutive save)

8(3)-3(0) 3; Goitia + (3-1, +3 -1, 2); FOREHAND CHIC-CHAC FROM THE 9; Deigo (0-3, +0 -0(?), 1, 1 save M (returns a late left wall carom from the 13 on the serve)

*8(5)-2(4) 6; Barandika + (3-2, +2 -1, 3, 2 saves J (leaping from the 7 on the 3rd ball); WC2 (two foot wall climb from the 6 on the 5th ball) (PLAY OF THE GAME); DEJADA FROM THE 5-6; (POINT OF THE GAME); Goitia (3-2, +3 -1, 3, 1 save FR (falling rebote at the 9 on the 4th ball)

*2(6)-5(0) 1; Barandika - (3-3, +2 -2, 1); FAULT (OVERSERVE); Beitia (1-2, +0 -0(?) 0)

5(2)-1(4) 5; Beitia + (2-2, +1 -0(?), 3); OUTSIDE REBOTE OVERHEAD PASS FROM THE 5; Ithurria (4-3, +3 -0, 2, 1 save M (running in from the 13 to the 4 to catch a dejada on the 3rd ball)

5(4)-*4(6) 5; Arrieta + (4-2, +4 -1, 3); FOREHAND CHIC-CHAC FROM THE 8; Beitia (2-3, +1 -0(?), 2)

Arrieta wins 

(#4) Arrieta (8 Spectacular Seven points----4 actual points)
(#2) Barandika (6----3)
(#5) Goitia (5----3)

For a detailed look at the entire season, week by week and day by day, see the Dania Jai Alai Daily and Weekly Leaders page of this blog. 

2019 Summer Partidos in the Main Professional Modalities--Cesta Punta/Jai Alai; Main Nue; Mano; Pala Larga; Remonte

With the coming of July, Basque Pelota swings into its summer season of partidos and tournaments in all of the main professional modalities. Here is the information I have found. Modalities will be listed in English alphabetical order. This is not necessarily exhaustive, and I will add as I find more. I am planning to cover all of the below competitions and do blog posts and current results for them. Bookmark this post if you wish, for a quick index to all of the action to come this summer. Note: this post does not cover amateur action. That will be covered in a separate post.

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta

Hegoalde (South Basque)

Jai Alai World Tour

The 6th Jai Alai World Tour will consist of:

Two Grand Slams

Gernika--July 13, 20, 27, semis-August 3, FINAL-AUGUST 10
Hondarribia--July 19, 26, August 2, 9, semis-August 16, FINAL-AUGUST 23.

Three Master Series

Markina: 1/4--July 6; 1/2--July 14, FINAL--JULY 16
Lekeitio: 1/2--July 28; FINAL--AUGUST 4
Zumia: 1/4--September 6, 13; 1/2--September 20; FINAL--SEPTEMBER 27

Three other Master Series (Donostia, Urriko, and Miturku) "are still pending."

JAWT Announcement

Complete schedule (.pdf format,9p.)

Players

Several Dania Jai Alai players are scheduled: Diego (Beaskoetxea); Erik (Mendizabal); (Jon) Zulaika; (Zabier) Barandika; Ibon (Aldazabal); (Unai Lekerikabeaskoa) (Lekerika--Leke); (Enaut) Salegi (source: Players page, pamphlet and JAWT)

Articles

Results

Player Rankings:

How Rankings are determined (along with several other rules about JAWT). Rankings information is #8 and #9.

The matches will be played in 2 sets to 15 points. Tie breaker will be to 5. It appears that no illegal (over or under) serves will be allowed. If that is incorrect, I will correct it.

"Todos los sets se jugarán a saque único"

Selected matches will be shown on EITB, the Basque TV network. At present, it is expected that they will be available on demand only. I will let you know when they are available for viewing.

Preview (Deia)

Preview (Mundo Deportivo)

Preview (El Correo)

EITB Interviews with selected players (Basque)

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

Ipparalde (North Basque)

Cesta Punta World Tour

St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta

St.Jean de Luz Cesta Punta starts with a Play In Tournament July 2-4,followed by 4 Master Tournaments (each with 2 semi-finals and a final) and a SLAM (champion of champions tournament, based on player rankings). Matches are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 2-August 29.

Tournament schedule

On a single page (Cesta Punta St. Jean de Luz Facebook)

Tournament by Tournament

Players:

Dania Jai Alai players scheduled: Diego (Beaskoetxea); (Kevin) Ithurria; (Unai Lekerikabeaskoa) (Lekerika--Leke)

 Rankings

The matches will be played in 2 sets to 15 points. Tie breaker will be to 5. Each team is allowed 5 "pasas" (over serves) in a match. The 6th and after, as well as any under serve, will be a fault.

Full match videos of all matches are available live and on demand from Canal +, the French TV network,via St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube

Live (check for times):

On demand:

2. Gant D'or (Biarritz) (Biarritz Jai Alai Facebook events)

I have found no other information available at this time

Tournament runs from July 1-August 7 (Mondays and Wednesdays)

Finally, an excellent place to keep up with the latest Summer Partido (and all year) Cesta Punta developments is Jai Alai News Facebook

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

Main Nue:

1. Esku Pilota has a full schedule of 10 Spring/Summer Tournaments that began in May and end in August, highlighted by Masters de Bayonne in late July.

Esku Pilota Summer Calendar Use above address. Click on events for who is playing.

Calendar is in the middle of the page, on the left side.

Esku Pilota Calendar (for all of 2019)

Players

Player rankings

Results

Match articles (Esku Pilota)

Match articles (Pilota Ttiki)

2. Trinquet Berria (Hasparren) hosts a match every Thursday from July 4-September 26. See eskupilota.org for calendar and details

3. Le Garat Lundi. Le Garat, the chathedral of Main Nue, hosts a 50 point match every Monday. It is a "King of the Hill," format, for the most part, with the winners coming back to defend their "crown" the next week.

Information at Goizeko-Izzara

Match articles

Esku Pilota

Pilota Ttiki

Most matches are available on demand at Pilota Ttiki Youtube. They are condensed full match videos.

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

Mano:

The Mano Summer season in Hegoalde (South Basque) contains several small tournaments (see the itinerary at):

Baikopilota campeonatos

beginning with "San Fermin." Most but not all of these are "weekend" tournaments with 2 semi-finals and a final.

The Tournaments will also be covered by 21Iguales.com

Players:

Baikopilota

ASPE

Combined rankings (.pdf format, 1p.).

There is also one large Tournament, the VIII Tourneo Bizkaia, which runs from July 21-August 21. It is played in 3 modalities, singles, pairs, and 4 1/2 (singles). It consists of seeded ladder tournaments It is played all over Bizkaia, with the finals at Bilbo (Bilbao).

Baikopilota Announcement

Baikopilota brochure (.pdf format, 2p.) that contains the complete calendar.

The Mano summer is covered exhaustively by EITB. A large selection of matches are available live and on demand at EITB.tv  (categorias--->
Deportes-->Pilota Eskuz Profesionalak 2019--->Jaialdiak 2019

or

Programas A-Z--->PQRS---> follow the above path from here.


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

Pala Larga

There are some small Summer Tournaments but the big tournament is the Donostia KiroTxartela, with all matches played at Atano III in Donostia (San Sebastian). It is a short court tournament that runs from July 3-August 16. 7 of the InnPala Professionals are in it, as well as several promising amateurs. Professionals are teamed with amateurs. There is also a women's paleta cuero Tournament near the end of the main tournament.

InnPala Announcement

Donastia Kirola Announcement

InnPala Brochure (.pdf format, 11p).

The brochure gives the rules and entire calendar.

InnPala Players

Player rankings and rankings explanation

Scores:

InnPala.com Note: InnPala usually gives only cumulative joko (set) scores. For individual joko point scores, the Diario Vasco Pelota section Cartelera (the day after the matches) is a usually reliable source. You can also check InnPala Twitter or InnPala Fronton Facebook.

EITB usually covers the finals, and perhaps, if we are lucky, the semi-finals of this tournament. Videos are on demand only.  They will be announced in the Blog.

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

Remonte

There is a steady diet of Summer Remonte at Galarreta, Hernani, where long court Remonte is played by Oriamendi2010 professionals every Thursday and Saturday. It is covered in the blog on a special Star Match page,

There is also one major tournament, the San Fermin Tournament, sponsored by Oriamendi2010, which will be played at Euskal Jai Berri in Huarte.

Oriamendi2010.com Announcement

There is usually EITB coverage of the Final, available on demand. It will be announced in the Blog.

The other major Remonte organization, Fundacion Remonte Euskal Jai Berri, is sponsoring 1 major tournament and a "Circuit" of small tournaments all over  Hegoalde (South Basque Country), as well as one in Madrid and one Bayonne (Ipparalde--North Basque Country). These competitions are all on the short court.

The Major Tournament is the XIV Torneo Communidad Foral de Navarra, which is actually a Premier and Promotion Tournament, beginning on July 19 and ending with finals on October 3 and 5, 2019. There will be quarter final League, Semi-finals, and a Final in the Premier League, and the Tournament will be played, at seven different venues in Navarra. The players for the Premier Tournament are listed at the Fundacion Remonte Facebook site.

The "circuit" will mostly consist of triangular tournaments in two groups (all Oriamendi players) in Madrid, Vitoria, Zaragoza, Iruna (Pamplona), Donostia (San Sebastian), Barcelona, Hendaya, Bayonne (Biona), and Soria.  Tournaments begin at Labrit, Iruna (Pamplona) on July 12 and continue through October 30.

Announcement of Fundacion Euskal Jai Berri competitions

Oriamendi Players page

Oriamendi Rankings with explanations (monthly rankings back to 2011). Click on  Rankings explation is below the rankings.

Both of these competitions are covered at the Euskal Jai Berri web site, with some of the coverage also available at the Oriamendi site. There is little or no available video coverage of these competitions as Navarra TV does not provide on demand video. All will be covered in the blog.

Oriamendi2010 Match articles

Fundacion Remonte Euskal Jai Berri Match articles

If I find out about other Summer competitions, I will let you know. This is quite a feast as it is.

For now, if you are interested in amateur action, I have begun to follow the main (in the sense of match videos--see the bottom of the current results section for your mobile or on the right side of the web blog) action, but the best place to follow the amateur scene in Hegoalde is Manista.com, the legendary and exhaustive Blog produced by Carlos Zuluaga. He's been doing this since 2007, and was one of the inspirations that lead me to the idea of an English language blog. For Ipparalde the place to start is the Federation Francais de Pelota Basque (FFPB). For the official amateur Sports agency in Hegoalde, follow the Euskadiko Euskal Pilota Federakuntza (EEPF).

Friday, July 5, 2019

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Cesta Punta Pro Tour Internationaux Cesta Punta--St. Jean de Luz (Donibane Lohizune) Begins with a play-in Tournament

The Cesta Punta Pro Tour's premier competition, Internationaux 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 on demand video replays by the French TV network Canal + will be available at the Internationaux 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.

---------------------------------------------------------
Play in Tournament 





---------------------------------------------------------

Play in Tournament

FINAL

July 4, 2019

(15-7, 15-5) (30-12) (St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube)

Partial scoring

2nd set only (SJDL CP Youtube)

Hormatxea +6 -1; T. Basque +0 -0
Ithurria +2 -4 D. Ourthe +0 -5
Scoring adds to 15-3

Hormatxea (avant-front) and T. Basque (arriere) advance into the roster for the upcoming tournaments. Hormatxea's next match is scheduled to be in Master 2, with Lekerika v Egiguren and T. Basque.

Match article (cestapunta.com) 

This was an unfortunate way to end the tournament. As was hinted at by the match article about the semi-finals, which commented that they seemed to sleep walk through the 2nd set (9-15) before coming back to win, it was always going to be difficult for Ithurria and Portet to survive 2 matches in 3 days after flying to Iparralde (North Basque Country) from Dania Beach Florida and Mexico City respectively. They then had 2 days to prepare. And the task was made even more difficult when Portet had to miss this match with an injury. He was replaced by Daniel Ourthe, a 22 year old promising amateur, but a bit out of his depth, as well as having to come in on short notice. The result was predictable, a dominating win by H-B. Their opponents scored only 12 points in the match. It was also unfortunate in that Ithurria, coming in off an excellent season as a late front at Dania, had his partido season end (?--one never knows, he may show up later as a substitute, either here or in the Hegoalde (South Basque) Jai Alai World Tour) before it could really begin. We  hope to see more of him somewhere this summer. H-B could only play the opponents on the concha and this they did, easily moving on. 

Semi-finals

July 2, 2019

(15-14, 9-15, 5-3) (34-27) (St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube) (set scores corrected July 5, 2019)

Selected linescore (winners always listed first) (cestapunta.com)

1st set

12-12; 12-14; 15-14

Tie breaker

4-1; 4-3; 5-3

Julien Ihitsague, also probably jet lagged after flying in from Mexico City, had this match end precisely as his Fronton Mexico National League Final match ended 2 nights before, with a dropped catch to end a tie-breaker. Ihitsague is a fine player who was a workhorse in Mexico City, and obviously played very well there, coming back from a leg injury suffered when hit by a pelota during a match, to advance to the Final. If you want to know how cruel a game Cesta Punta can be, just ask him.

(15-14, 13-15, 5-4) (33-33) (St. Jean de Luz Cesta Punta Youtube)

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

Tie breaker:

0-2; 2-2; 2-3; 3-3; 3-4; 5-4

Partial scoring (ICP Youtube)

2nd set only

Hormatxea +7 (including 1 service ace) -3; T. Basque +0 -5
J.Tambourindeguy +7 -2; Urtasun +0 -4

With their backs to the wall in the tie breaker, a Hormatxea chula (directly following an attempted two wall he threw off the concha) and T. Basque passing shot won for H-B.


--------------------------------------------------

Overall ICP record

Key: match w-l; set w-l --(.3=tie breaker), Ts won

P=Play in; M1, M2, M3, M4=Master 1-4; S=SLAM

Avants (fronts)

Hormaetxea; 2-0; 3.3-1; P
Ithurria; 1-1; 1.3-2
Lesbats; 0-1; 1-1.3
J. Tambourindeguy; 0-1; 1-1.3

Arrieres (backs)

T. Basque; 2-0; 3.3-1; P
Portet; 1-0; 1.3-1
(Manex) Urtasun; 0-1; 1-1.3
Ihitsague; 0-1; 1-1.3
D. Ourthe 0-1 0-2

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta-- 2019 Women's Jai Alai World Tour

Perhaps lost in the glitz and glamour of the Fronton Mexico season was another tournament was concluded at FM:  The Women's Jai Alai World Tour. The purpose of the tournament was to promote international women's Jai Alai/Cesta Punta.  It consisted of a preliminary set of matches at 4 venues around Mexico City that determined the 3 teams that would face off against each other in a single round robin (June 14-15), leading to a Final (June 16). The teams in the round robin:

Casandra Lopez-Elisenda Perez
Doris Galindo-Mariona Canis
Chloe Hirigoyen-Marie Laugie

June 14-16

Fronton Mexico: Women's Jai Alai Tour (round robin and final)

Final table June 14-15 Round Robin

Casandra-Elisenda 2-0
Doris-Mariona 1-1
Chloe-Marie 0-2

June 16

FINAL

Doris-Mariona (Blue) 25 Casandra-Elisenda (Red) 24 (LasZestalaris Facebook full match video)

Post match ceremony (LasZestalaris Facebook)

Condensed linescore (winners always listed first) (LasZestalaris Facebook video)

1-0; 1-1 3-1; 3-2; 4-2; 4-4; 5-4; 5-5; 8-5; 8-6; 9-6; 9-8; 10-8; 10-9; 11-9; 11-10; 12-10; 12-14; 13-14; 13-16; 15-16; 15-17; 19-17; 19-18; 20-18; 20-21; 22-21; 22-23; 24-23; 24-24; 25-24

7 lead changes and 11 equal scores (linescore error, and lead change error was caused, corrected July 5, 2019)

Final tournament article (Fronton Mexico)
Final article with photos (Casandra Lopez Facebook)
Match article (El Siglo Coahuila)
Feature article (El Correo)
Feature article (quien.com)

This was about as exciting a way to end a tournament as one could want. 8 lead changes and 11 equal scores showed that there was very little to chose between these teams. Everyone played to the best of their ability, but, for me, Mariona stood out with a couple of great catches deep (past the 11) on the apron to keep points alive, obviously crucial in a match this close. The final ceremony, which awarded not only the premier players, but also the participants in a  juvenile tournament Final (see the Facebook page for these full match videos, which are also available there), included Goikoetxea and Aritz Erkiaga to aid with the medal presentations. It was a great ending to a wonderful tournament which achieved, in my opinion, the aspirations of the organizers, officials and, especially the players. 

June 15

Doris-Mariona (Blue 20 Chloe-Marie (Red) 14 (LasZestalaris Facebook full match video)

June 14

Casandra-Elisenda (Red) 20 Doris-Mariona 16 (Blue) (LasZestalaris Facebook full match video

Casandra-Elisenda (Red) 20 Chloe-Marie (Blue) 14 (LasZestalaris Facebook full match video)

Results of preliminary play at 4 venues between June 9-13 to determine participants in final Round Robin. (LasZestalaris Facebook)

For more on the comings and goings of world women's Cesta Punta, follow LasZestalaris Facebook

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Fronton Mexico Tournament 5--Premier League and National League Champion of Champions Finals--June 28-30, 2019

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF IPARRALDE (NORTH BASQUE) CESTA PUNTA FALL PRO TOUR  (INCLUDES LINKS TO 10 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF IPARRALDE (NORTH BASQUE) CESTA PUNTA SUMMER PRO TOUR (INCLUDES LINKS TO 22 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF IPARRALDE (NORTH BASQUE) CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR/FFPB (FEDERATION FRANCAISE DE PELOTA BASQUE) SPRING TOURNAMENTS (INCLUDES LINKS TO 4 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF JAI ALAI WORLD TOUR  (HEGOALDE--SOUTH BASQUE) SUMMER SEASON (INCLUDES LINKS TO 24 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

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

Fronton Mexico's short 2019 season began on May 3 and ended on June 30. It was made up of 4 sets of two tournaments, an "A" tournament (Premier League) and a "B" tournament (National League). The 4th Premier League Tournament was abandoned due to injuries and replaced by two "Duels of  the Titans", different combinations of Goikoetxea, (Aritz) Erkiaka, Lopez, and Irastorza.

FM Roster

Each tournament was played over the course of two weekends, the first weekend a preliminary round, the second a semi-final and final. Tournaments contained either 4 or 6 pairs. After the first 4 tournaments, a 5th tournament, a tournament among the highest ranking players, was held to crown two "Champion of Champions" winners. This was held the weekend of June 28-30. The winners of the Premier League won the Copa Moises Cosio Trophy.

Parts or all of each Tournament were streamed live via Fronton Mexico Facebook.  For those who miss the live transmissions, the matches are available on demand at the Facebook site.

Note: as of July 3, 2019, all matches from Tournament 2-5 have been uploaded to the FM Youtube site. For this final Tournament, Youtube addresses will be given, as they are more easily accessible. For the previous tournaments, I will leave the Facebook addresses as they are, but add this note to the blog pages. 

Final Player rankings (and explanation of rankings)

Injury report:

June 22, 2019

Julien Ihitsague (back) was injured when hit by a throw, and further injured by an awkward fall after the first injury. The match he was in was suspended at the time of the injury. He returned for the June 28-30 matches. 

June 15, 2019

Eric Irastorza (back) appeared to suffer or aggravate a leg injury in the "Duel of the Titans" match. He missed the 2nd Premier League exhibition on June 23. He returned for the June 28-30 matches 

June 9, 2019

Txabi Inza (back) was injured and forced to retire from the Premier Final in mid-match with a leg injury. He was replaced by National League player Eduardo Cordova.  He returned for the June 28-30 matches
June 8, 2019

Jean Olharan (front) suffered a forearm injury in his Premier League match with Lopez v Olha-Irastorza (with the match at 15-14 O-L. He missed O-L's Final v Goikoetxea-Ekhi on June 9. He returned for the June 28-30 matches.

April 26, 2019

Ludovic Laduche (front) (Internationaux Cesta Punta) suffered an ankle ligament injury (Fronton Mexico) in the 2nd set of the FFPB Cesta Punta Pro-Am Final (Cesta Punta Pro Tour Youtube). He will miss the entire 2 month Fronton Mexico season. He has been replaced by Angel Egea (Fronton Mexico), ex-Miami Jai Alai player. It is unknown at this time whether Laduche will be able to play in the Summer Partidos in the Basque Country.

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

Tournament 1
Tournament 2
Tournament 3
Tournament 4

Champion of Champions Tournament

------------------

The final three days of the Fronton Mexico Season were filled to the brim with action. Goikoetxea-Lopez were called upon to play 3 matches in 3 days, and at the end of the weekend, were no worse off for wear. They won the Copa Moises Cosio Championship after two hotly contested  matches with (Aritz) Erkiaga-Irastorza (3 sets) in the semi-final and Olharan-Inza (2 sets) in the final.  Overall, Goikoetxea was 8-4 in Tournament play (with a championship with National League player Julien Del Rio in the 1st Tournament), and 9-6 overall. Lopez finished 6-5 in Tournament play (with a Championship in the 3rd Tournament with Olharan and then Olha, who replaced Olharan for the final after he suffered an injury), and 12-7 overall, including a quickly arranged 15 point partido set up after the Olharan injury where Lopez played the front with Irastorza in the back. It was a great treat for Cesta Punta fans to see so much of the great Premier League puntistas. 

On the National League side, Julian Del Rio made the greatest impression. roaring out of the chute in the first Tournament to win the Premier League title mentioned above, and then winning  the National League Final with a thrilling 3 set triumph (5-4 in the tie breaker) with Ochoa against Inclan-Ihitsague. He finished 9-3 with 3 tournament wins (T1 Premier with Goikoetxea v (Aritz) Erkiaga-Portet; T2 with Juan Leon v Ochoa-Portet). Del Rio began the season with 6 consecutive wins before he cooled off, but then came back strong at the end. Ochoa also had a very productive tournament finishing 6-5 in Tournament play (with a championship in T1 with Perez v Ortega-Ihitsague),  and 7-5 overall. On June 29, the first match was a semi-pro tournament final in which Fidel-Osorno defeated Safont (56 years old)-Nabor (64) 30-29 when Fidel and Osorno made almost impossible rebote saves back to back to keep the final point going. Their team won soon after. This was one of the greatest moments in a tournament dominated by some of the best puntistas to ever tie on a cesta. 

You can see that point here (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook).
The final point (Jai Alai Mexico Youtube--the video is cued to begin at the point).

Finally, selected "Dual of the Titans" matches were shown live on ESPN Mexico. 

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

Premier League

June 30

FINAL

Goikoetxea-Lopez 2 Olharan-Inza 0  (Fronton Mexico Youtube Full match video--video is cued to the beginning of the match)
(15-11, 15-13) (30-24)

Match article (Jai Alai y Mas--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
Match article (Fronton Mexico)

Match statistics (my judgments, yours may be different)

First set:

Goikoetxea +6 -2; Lopez +2 -1
Olharan +6 -2; Inza +2 -5 

Second set: 

Goikoetxea +6 -1; Lopez +3 -3
Olharan +6 -0; Inza +3 -6

Total: 

Goikoetxea +12 -3; Lopez +5 -4 
Olharan +12 -2; Inza +5 -11

Balls in Play: Set 1: 231; Set 2: 192--Total 423

Annotated complete linescore: Rather than give an impressionistic view of the overall match, I decided to try my hand at close, point by point narrative. Hopefully you will find it entertaining, and perhaps useful in helping determine what the "magic dust" that makes players great is made of. 

Key: Server G=Goikoetxea; O=Ohlaran; number of balls in play; score (winner of match--G-L always listed first); Player G, L, O, I.  (winner + or error -); comment: 

cortada=low blistering sidearm throw, usually from right to left, designed to beat the defense to the left wall and then either pass or carom back outside, splitting the defense--it is Goikoetxea's go to throw, almost impossible to defend because of the tremendous speed and low angle with which he throws it.

chic-chac=long shot that hits the floor and then back wall and angles out too low to be returned--extremely difficult on a concha (court) as long (8 meters longer than any other) as this one

chula=like a chic-chac only the pelota hits the wall first, not the floor

two wall= shot that usually banks off the left wall to the front wall, out onto the apron and into the mesh that protects the fans before the opponent can get it. But can also be thrown front wall to left wall to angle back outside, or from the front wall high and kissing the left wall deep near the back wall

passing shots=exactly what it says, an attempt to pass the opponent, can be inside, outside, high, of high off the front wall ("big bounce")

Errors usually are of two varieties: dropped catches or throws that are too low, too high, or fly off the concha. Service errors can be "over serves" (server gets one "pasa" per point where he gets a second serve) or "under serves" (too short, an immediate fault and loss of point). Serve must hit the wall and land between the 4 and 7 line. Carom serves (left to front wall) are permitted at FM.

O-I win the toss and serve:

Set 1

O; 4; 1-0; I-; dropped catch
G; 17; 2-0; I-; dropped catch
G; 20; 2-1; O+; long passing shot
O; 6; 3-1; I-; dropped catch
G; 11; 4-1; L+; left pass from the 14
G; 5; 5-1; I-; dropped catch
G; 5; 6-1; G+; cortada
G; 13; 7-1; G+; left pass
G; 9; 8-1; O-; tries two wall, throws too low
G; 10; 8-2; O+; left pass
O(pasa); 13; 8-3; O+; deep pass
O; 21; 8-4; O+; left pass (I believe the ball actually broke, G-O argued for a replay, to no avail)

O; 13; 8-5; O+;  chic-chac
O(pasa) 8; 9-5; G+; chic-chac
G; 5; 10-5; O-; cortada into the lower front pad
G; 4; 10-6; I+; outside pass

O(pasa); 4; 11-6;  L+; cortada (cortadas from a back court player are fairly rare; Lopez is one of the best at this).

G; 2; 11-7; I+; outside pass
O; 5; 11-8; G-; throws off the concha

O; 8; 12-8; G+; chic-chac (always the mark of a champion; follows an error with a brilliant winner and with a touch shot to boot, the quickest way to stop the opponents possible momentum due to the error)

G; 7; 13-8; I-; dropped catch off the left wall, not easy, but one Inza should have caught

G; 4; 13-9; L-; dropped catch at the back wall, again not easy, but Lopez, during this entire match, was catching everything in sight. It was his only error of the set. An absolute stone wall on defense.

O; 11; 13-10; O+; two wall
O; 6; 14-10; G+; deep pass
G(pasa); 4; 14-11 G-; dropped catch
O 16; 15-11; G+; cortada (quite a finisher, a long and hotly contested point, until Goikoetxea ends it with his go to throw, something to leave O-I thinking about as they leave the concha)

231 balls in play

-------------

Set 2

Goikoetxea serves

G; 6; 0-1; I+; chula; (a magnificent throw by Inza, particularly on this concha, and especially after his difficulties in the first set; another mark of a champion, a short memory and large store of confidence)

O; INTERFERENCE--REPLAY THE POINT
O; 13; 0-2; I+; big bounce over Lopez
O; 6; 1-2; I-; goes for the winner with a long one to the outside, throws it off the concha

G; 2; 1-3; O+ 2 wall (this was a classic "quick kill", caused by... not the best serve from Goikoetxea, which did not clear the front defender). A player like Olharan's eyes will light up when opportunities like this present themselves, and, though he doesn't always convert, he did this time. Actually, at this level, this might be seen as a service "error", though not a fault. Goikoetxea, throughout the season, served magnificently and with great power. This was an anomaly.

O 12; 2-3; L+; cortada from the 13; Lopez didn't do a lot of scoring in this match. He is capable of over 10 winners in a match--which he has done on many occasions at FM in the last 3 seasons--an extraordinary amount for a back). Tonight he was fairly content to play lights out defense, but this was a back breaker. When you have just taken advantage of a not great serve from the best player in the world, and you are off to a hot start that portends a tie-breaker,  your team is riding a wave of confidence. And then, after a long struggle, Lopez pulls this arrow out of his quiver. A message sent.

G; 10; 2-4; L- dropped catch (oops?!--happens to the very best of them)
O(pasa); 7; 2-5; L- looks for the outside winner, throws off the concha
O; 5; 2-6; G-; two wall low into the front pad

O; 7; 2-7; O+; rebote (rebound off the back wall) pass (and Olharan sends a message of his own.) Frankly G-L looked pretty gassed to me at this point, perhaps all the matches had finally caught up with the veteran pair...

O; 12; 3-7; G+; cortada from the apron (and this is why Goikoetxea is the best in the business... his team down and out, and now locked in another long struggle of a point, and he pulls off a great throw to stanch the bleeding)

G; 1; 4-7; G+; a service ace

G(pasa); 11; 5-7; L+; cortada; after a Goikoetxea blistering cortada was caught and returned on a fantastic play at the left wall by Olharan. Can anything be more deflating than that?

G; 3; 6-7; G+; left pass; Gokoetxea kills this point at the first opportunity.
G; 2; 6-8; L-; dropped catch
O; 6; 7-8; I-; dropped catch (it appeared Inza lost this ball in the lights)
G; 7; 8-8; I-; dropped catch
G;5; 9-8; I-; throws into the upper pad
G; 5; 10-8; G+;cortada from the apron
G; 6; 10-9; O+; chic-chac
O; 9; 10-10; I+; big bounce left over Lopez
O; 4; 11-10; L+; long chula over Inza
G; 2; 11-11; O+; intercepts the serve, left pass past Goikoetxea
O; 11; 11-12; O+; chula
O; 6; 12-12; G+; cortada
G; 10; 12-13; O+; cortada
O; 10; 13-13; G+; cortada
G; 15; 14-13; I-; dropped catch
G; 5; 15-13;  I-; dropped catch

192 balls in play.

Note that my comments were written while I was watching the match live. This invites errors, and I should have watched the match again. But some of the FM camera angles make judgments difficult because of the quick cuts from front to back. Sometimes even the replays don't help. This probably has to do with the size of the concha. I decided to stay with my first impressions and just copy them out. Corrections are always gratefully accepted. But if this match (and especially the 2nd set) doesn't tell the story of why G-L are the best forward and back in Cesta Punta today, I can't think of what would. What a team. What a match!

June 29

Second Semi-Final

Goikoetxea-Lopez 2 (Aritz) Erkiaga-Irrastorza 1 (Fronton Mexico Youtube full match video--only match on the video--1ST TWO SETS ONLY) Tie breaker
(15-12, 12-15, 5-3) (32-30)

Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)

Condensed linescore (winners always listed first)

Set 1:

0-1; 5-1; 5-3; 7-3; 7-5; 9-5; 9-6; 10-6; 10-10; 14-10; 14-12; 15-12

Set 2:

1-0; 2-1; 2-2; 4-2; 4-4; 5-4; 5-6; 6-6; 6-7; 7-7; 7-9; 8-9; 8-11; 9-11; 9-12; 11-12; 11-14; 12-14; 12-15

Tie breaker:

0-1; 4-1; 4-3; 5-3

Scoring (my judgments, yours may be different)

Set 1:

Goikoetxea +7 -3; Lopez +1 -0
Erkiaga +6 -3; Irastorza +3 -4

Set 2:

Erkiaga +7 -1; Irastorza +4 -2
Goikoetxea +6 -2; Lopez +3 -2

Tie breaker:

Goikoetxea +1 -0; Lopez +3 -0
Erkiaga +2 -0; Irastorza +1 -1

 Total:

Goikoetxea +14 -5; Lopez +7 -2
Erkiaga +15 -4; Irastorza  +8 -7

Balls  in play: Set 1: 145; Set 2: 181; Tie breaker: 60: Total: 386.

This match was a play in 3 acts. 1: With the exception of the first point of the match, G-L led throughout the 1st set and and almost halfway through the second set. They opened a 5-1 lead with the help of 1 Lopez and 4 Goikoetxea winners. Two winners by Erkiaga were followed by errors by Irastorza and Erkiaga. 7-3.An Erkiaga winner and Goikoetxea dropped catch were immediately followed by an Erkiaga fault (on a very close call) and Goikoetxea winner: 9-5. Irastorza had a big bounce winner followed by a missed rebote. 10-6. 4 straight winners (3 by Erkiaga) tied the set at 10. Dropped catches by Irastorza and Erkiaga were sandwiched around a Goikoetxea bullet cortada: 13-10. A Goikoetxea winner, followed by a  fault and an Irastorza winner made it 14-12. Goikoetxea then closed the set out with a very nice chic-chac. 15-12. With a liberal dose of help, G-L were able to maintain most of their early lead to win. E-I had  their chances, but their 7 errors were too much to overcome.

The second set was even until Irastorza dropped 2 consecutive catches. 4-2. An Erkiaga winner and Goikoetxea dropped catch evened the score. Goikoetxea followed a winner with a dropped catch. 5-5. A two wall big bounce by Irastorza finally gave E-I the lead. A Goikoetxea winner tied the score at 6. At 7-7 a Lopez dropped catch followed by an Erkiaga two wall at the end of a 15 ball point, the point of the match, gave E-I a 9-7 lead. An Irastorza passing shot and Erkiaga cortada gave E-I an 11-8 advantage. The teams pretty much split points after that until Erkiaga put the set away with an outside pass. Erkiaga's +7 and Irastorza's turn around from the first set contributed greatly to the win.

E-I started the tie breaker positively with an Erkiaga two wall. But then G-L took over, with Lopez scoring 3 winners sandwiched around a Goikoetxea two wall for a 4-1 lead. But winners by Erkiaga and Irastorza (the latter finishing a 15 ball point), put E-I right back in it. An Irastorza dropped catch ended E-I's hopes for a championship. It was an excellent match with a great deal of tension and excitement, though not without flaws. Irastorza got off to a slow start but really hit his stride later. The final drop seemed to really go against the flow of how he was playing when it happened. The 7-8--7-9 point in the second set was as good a point as you will see. 14 points that took 10 or more balls in play gives another indication of how hard fought the match was.

June 28

1st Semi-final

Olharan-Inza 2 Olha-Ekhi 0 (ESPN Mexico via Fronton Mexico full match video--video is cued to the beginning of the match) 
(15-14, 15-11) (30-25)

For the 2nd weekend in a row ESPN Mexico picked up the FM feed and gave  the Premier League matches much wider exposure. For our purposes, it means much less muffled sound than what we have become accustomed to in these transmissions, and a better overall viewing experience. As far as the match was concerned, O-I both came back from injuries which, though the sets were closely contended, showed that they were not much worse for wear due to the injuries or the layoffs. 

(Aritz) Erkiaga-Lopez 2 Goikoetxea-Irastorza 0 (ESPN Mexico via Fronton Mexico Youtube full match video--video is cued to the beginning of the match)
(15-9, 15-11) (30-20)  (Exhibition "Dual of the Titans" match).

This was ESPN's marquee match, which was unfortunate because it had no meaning (competitive or monetary) within the context of the Tournament matches that would determine the Copa Moises Cosio. All it meant was that some combination of these players would be forced to play 3 matches in 3 nights to win the tournament. There was also a risk that one or more players might be injured (Irastorza was returning from an injury in last week's final). If that happened, it could be ruinous for the Premier League matches the next 2 nights. But, of course, the show had to go on, as most sports these days bow to the demands of TV exposure. CP/JA is, of course, one of the sports that needs the exposure most. Luckily, everyone played, no one was injured, and FM dodged a large bullet. I did not watch this match. The match article praised the play of Erkiaga and Lopez, saying they completely outclassed their opponents. 

Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook----Fernando Sierra Felgueres)

National League

June 30

FINAL

Ochoa-Del Rio 2 Inclan-Ihitsague 1 (Fronton Mexico Youtube full match video--video is cued to the beginning of the match) 
(9-15, 15-10, 5-4) (29-29)

Match article (Jai Alai y Mas--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)
Match article (Fronton Mexico)

Del-Rio had a "very bad day at the office" in the first set, making many errors. But he adjusted and was back to his excellent form in the second set. The third set went to the final point, which, unfortunately ended with a dropped catch by Ihitsague, The total points scored by each team reflected the closeness of the match through almost 60 points. 

June 29

2nd Semi-final

Ochoa-Del Rio 2 (Angel) Egea-Portet 1 (Fronton Mexico full match video--video is cued to the beginning of the match) 
(15-13, 5-15, 5-2) (25-30)

O-D came back from a thrashing in the 2nd set to win the tie breaker and punch their ticket to the final. Unfortunately, the video is truncated with O-D leading 2-0 in the tie breaker after a low throw by Egea and dropped catch by Portet.  

Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)

June 28

1st Semi-final

Inclan-Ihitsague 2 Sierra-Perez 0 (Fronton MexicoYoutube full match video--video is cued to the beginning of the match)
(15-9, 15-11) 30-20)
 Ihitsague returned from his injury last week. He and Inclan advanced to the final with a relatively straightforward straight set win. It was the last straight set match the NL tournament would see. 
Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook----Fernando Sierra Felgueres)

Finally the match discussed above, the amateur-semi-pro final on June 29.

Fidel-Osorno 30 Nabor-Safont 29  (Fronton MexicoYoutube full match video--Note: there is no sound until 12:43 on the video)
Match article (Jai Alai y Mas Facebook--Fernando Sierra Felgueres)

At the end of this match the packed crowd gave the players a prolonged standing ovation, Nabor said it best: 

google translate: 


"What more can I ask of life if at 64 I can still take a standing ovation like tonight [on the court] of the Palacio de la Pelota?"

Indeed, what more could any of us ask for than the amazing exhibition of Jai Alai/Cesta Punta presented by FM over the last two months? To the officials, judges, fans, workers behind the scenes, many thanks.  to the players, who worked as hard as possible on this mammoth concha in this iconic, resurrected, magnificent "Palacio de la Pelota", during each game, and through a sometimes very testing stretch of assignments, Muchos Gracias! Eskerrik Asko! Merci Beaucoup!

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COMPLETE COVERAGE OF IPARRALDE (NORTH BASQUE) CESTA PUNTA FALL PRO TOUR  (INCLUDES LINKS TO 10 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF IPARRALDE (NORTH BASQUE) CESTA PUNTA SUMMER PRO TOUR (INCLUDES LINKS TO 22 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF IPARRALDE (NORTH BASQUE) CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR/FFPB (FEDERATION FRANCAISE DE PELOTA BASQUE) SPRING TOURNAMENTS (INCLUDES LINKS TO 4 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF JAI ALAI WORLD TOUR  (HEGOALDE--SOUTH BASQUE) SUMMER SEASON (INCLUDES LINKS TO 24 FULL MATCH VIDEOS)