This match marked the end of Peio Larralde's reign at the top of the EP rankings. Baptiste Ducassou replaced him. It also marked the end of a long and often frustrating chase for Ducassou, a chase that has lasted through much of 2016. For the year, Larralde and Ducassou are now 3-3 in pairs matches they have played against each other. In championship finals, Larralde now leads Ducassou 3-1 in pairs and 1-0 in singles (the individual Championnat de France). But Ducassou has stayed close enough that this match could change the table. They are both far and away the highest ranked players.
For Larralde, it broke a 12 match winning streak that began after a loss in a Lundi Garat match on May 30 (Etchegaray-Guichandut 50, Larralde-de Ezcurra 43). He also had a tournament final winning streak of 5 snapped. For the year 2016 he is now 20-4, and 6-1 in tournament finals.
For Ducassou, the victory raised his match record for 2016 to 25-5 and his tournament final record to 5-5.
Championnat de France Individuel Final Feb. 7: L 40, D 22
Championnat de France Pairs Group A match Mar. 12: Beille-Ducassou 40, Larralde-Guichandut 14
Pilotariat Anglet Semi-Final Apr. 29: Etchegaray-Ducassou 40, Larralde-Guichandut 30
Trophee Atharri Final May 14: Larralde-Guichandut 40, Etchegaray-Ducassou 38 (Full match video)
Trophee Elhina Final June 26: Larralde-Harismendy 40, Etchegaray-Ducassou 33 (Full match video)
Masters de Bayonne Final July 31: Larralde-Guichandut 40, Etchegaray-Ducassou 17 (Full match video)
Turnois de Larrau Final August 21: Ospital-Ducassou 40, Larralde-de Ezcurra 33
(Full match video)
Ducassou now holds a 450 point lead over Larralde at the top of the EP rankings table. Both of them are between 4,400 and 4,800 points ahead of the third ranked player, Mathieu Ospital. To put it another way, Ospital is 5 EP 1000 tournaments behind the top two. Things can change rapidly in the course of a few tournaments, but there is a yawning gap at the moment between Ducassou/Larralde and the rest of the EP roster.
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Turnois de Larrau Final August 21: Ospital-Ducassou defeated Larralde-de Ezcurra 40-33
(Full match video)
The fact that 36 of the 70 complete points on the video consumed 10 or more balls, 20 consumed 20 or more, and 10 consumed 30 or more (see balls in play-number of points table below) gives an indication of how hard fought this match was. O-D never trailed but this was perhaps a closer match than the final score indicated. The match turned on three consecutive points, the points beginning at 25-23 (49:54-51:40 on the recording), 25-24 (52:07-53:07) , and 26-24 (54:30-56:44), which consumed 41, 24, and 47 balls respectively. The first and third of these were the longest points of the match. L-D scored 7 straight points to bring the score to 25-24, with 4 Larralde winners and two services aces accounting for the the first 6. After the 49th point was terminated by a marginal error by Ospital, L-A were ready to "take the driver's seat." But it never happened. At the end of the 50th point de Ezcurra was pinned to 5th filet section from the front wall to make a return on an excellent Ospital shot. de Ezcurra had to go into the mesh and pushed off after the return. But he then hesitated and and was nowhere near the right side to cover when Ospital shot a beautiful cross court winner that beat Larralde. Larralde cried out as if he were asking de Ezurra where he was. He then truncated the cry, probably realizing the protocol he may have violated.
Whether de Ezcurra would have had any chance to get the ball is quite problematic. Judge for yourself. I think Ospital made two excellent plays to stop the bleeding and that was that.
What is amazing is that these three points took about 5 minutes to play. When they were over, O-D had re-established a three point lead. They very slowly built on that lead to the end of the match.
Long points are long because great plays are made during them. This match had its share of great plays. Ducassou continually impresses with his court coverage, speed in retreat when chasing a ball on the dugout roof, ability to play great defense off the back foot from the nether reaches of the court, and ability to put points on the scoreboard. Ospital played a great game, staying with Larralde throughout. de Ezcurra was yeoman like in defense. In the end it was Ducassou's offense that made the difference (see scoring summary below).
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Since there were no statistics given in the match video or at Esku Pilota, I created some myself.
Enhanced line score and basic statistics.:
Key: Server O-Ospital, L=Larralde; number of balls in play (includes serves, does not include Ospital's one pasa); Score, Player O=Ospital, D=Ducassou, L=Larralde, E= de Ezcurra; +=winner, +a=service ace, - =error. Note that O-D lead the match from start to finish. Winning team is always listed first in the enhanced linescore.
All judgments are my own. Yours may be different. Let this linescore be a point of departure. All serves not returned are scored as service aces. Balls in play count ends when one team does not keep a ball in play.
Linescore is given in decades for convenience.
The match video begins in the middle of the third point of the match.
Toss ?
(0:00-7:48 on the recording)
*incomplete video of the point
?....?........1-0......?
O....?........2-0......?
O...22*.......3-0......O+
O...13........4-0......D+
O....6........4-1......L+
L....1........4-2......L+a
L...16........5-2......O+
O....1........6-2......O+a
O...21........7-2......D+
O...14........7-3......O-
(7:48-18:42 on the recording)
L...30........8-3......D+
O....4........8-4......L+
L...34........9-4......E-
O...14........9-5......L+
L....6.......10-5......O+
O...17.......11-5......D+
O....8.......11-6......L+
L....3.......11-7......L+
L....8.......12-7......D+
O....1.......13-7......O+a
(18:42-30:30 on the recording)
O....1.......14-7......O+a (O: Pasa 1)
O...15.......15-7......O+
O....9.......16-7......L-
O...16.......16-8......O-
L....6.......17-8......O+
O....2.......17-9......E+
L....9......17-10......L+
L....4......18-10......O+
O....9......19-10......D+
O...20......19-11......L+
(30:30-41:38 on the recording)
L...29......19-12......D-
L...18......20-12......O+
O...13......21-12......O+
O....1......22-12......O+a
O...12......22-13......E+
L....5......22-14......L+
L....1......22-15......L+a
L....9......22-16......L+
L...10......23-16......O+
O....3......23-17......E+
(41:38-54:30 on the recording)
L...32......24-17......D+
O....3......25-17......D+
O...12......25-18......L+
L....1......25-19......L+a
L...33......25-20......L+
L....3......25-21......L+
L...35......25-22......L+
L....1......25-23......L+a
The three crucial points
L...41......25-24......O- (49:54-51:40)
L...24......26-24......O+ (52:07-53:07)
(54:30-1:07:45 on the recording)
O...47......27-24......O+ (54:30-56:44)
O...11......28-24......D+
O...14......28-25......L+
L...15......28-26......L+
L...10......29-26......O+
O....7......30-26......O+
O....1......31-26......O+a
O....8......31-27......O-
L...25......31-28......L+
L...32......32-28......D+
(1:07:45--) Note: in the middle of the point starting at 33-29, the sound stops on the recording. From the the point that starts at 33-29 until the end of the match IS REPEATED from 1:22:39-1:35:45, with sound. The dance after the match is also repeated with sound). The comments under the Youtube version of the match explain exactly where to switch to the repeated points with sound.
O....4......32-29......L+
L...20......33-29......O+
O...19......34-29......O+
O...11......35-29......D+
O....1......36-29......O+a
O...16......36-30......L+
L....6......37-30......O+
O....1......38-30......O+a
O....4......38-31......L+
L...35......38-32......L+
L....3......38-33......L+
L...14......39-33......O+
O....4......40-33......L-
Scoring
Ospital...+24(including 7 service aces)...-4
Larralde..+25(including 4 service aces)...-2
Ducassou......+11..-1
de Ezcurra.....+3..-1
=38-33. The first two points of the match (both scored by O-D) were not on the video.
Balls in play (seen on the video): 907. The first two points and part of the third point were not on the video.
Balls in play----Number of points
0-4----21
5-9----13
10-14--12
15-19---8
20-24---4
25-29---2
30-34---6
35-39---2
40-44---1
45-49---1
Note: There are only 70 coded points. The first point on the recording shows 22 balls in play. However, the point is already in play when the recording begins.The longest point of the match was 47 balls in play, the point that began at 26-24 O-D and ended at 27-24 O-D.
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