The San Fermin Lau eta Erdiko (Quatro y Medio--4 1/2) Tournament got underway on June 4, 2016 with an emphatic victory for Bengoetxea VI.
Match Linescore (winner listed first).
0-1; 8-1; 8-3; 15-3; 15-4; 17-4; 17-6; 18-6; 18-9; 20-9; 20-10; 22-10
The linescore shows a dominant performance by Bengoetxea VI from the very outset. The first point consumed 21 balls in play before Victor won the point with a beautiful 2 wall (side-front) winner. But that was the only time he led in the entire match. Bengoetxea VI's 8 point run was fueled by three Victor errors, his 7 point run by four more, an ongoing theme in this match. Victor made 11 errors. If you give your opponent half the points needed for victory, he will win the vast majority of the time. A microcosm of this match can be seen in the point that began at 17-6 (44:32 on the recording linked to). The point began with Victor having just scored two points, cutting his deficit to 11. It lasted 44 seconds and consumed 16 balls in play. It ended, after some excellent play by Victor, with an unforced error.
This form of the game is interesting in that you will see more of a variety of shots than in other forms. Because the length of the court is cut so drastically, players have to be creative with how they move the ball around. There were a lot of two wall shots, not only side to back, but, going left, back to side. Having the ball hit the side wall so low that it can't be returned (called a txik-txak if it bounces and a chula if it rolls out) is a shot that is often attempted in this form.
There was one other feature of this match that was notable. If you are new to scoring in Mano, you can use this match as a sort of Rosetta Stone. I had questions about what was considered a ball in play. I counted them myself as I watched the match. Two or three times during play the number was given on screen. And at the end the number was given for the match. It turns out that on EITB balls in play are counted exactly the way I count them. That is, only balls that hit the wall and are kept in play are counted.
As far as scoring (eginaks (winners) and galduaks (errors)) watch this match closely. For the first time I can recall since I've been watching pelota matches on EITB, the winners were listed graphically as they happened. EITB has always graphically listed winners in its Mano telecasts, but never had I seen this done as it happened. Seeing a small animation of the type of winner allows the non-Basque (or Spanish or French for that matter) speaker to understand exactly what type of shot it was. And seeing winners listed as they happened gave me a much better picture of how a winner is judged. If you have been reading this blog, you know that I am very liberal in my judgment of winners. EITB (and, I assume other scorers) are not quite so liberal. They have vast experience doing this. I do not. This was a tremendously valuable learning experience for me. It will be for you too if you pay close attention. If EITB doesn't list a winner, then you can assume that the point was lost through an error. Note also that EITB always gives the server an ace if the serve is not returned, even if the ace is caused by an obvious return error, as was the case on the last point of the match. Victor's return of an innocuous Bengoetxea VI serve hit far above the line at the top of the front wall. So far that the frustrated Victor waited for it to come down and then smashed it again, this time in play, before stopping to congratulate Bengoetxea VI.
