Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--NO SPOILER VIDEO LINKS TO JAI ALIVE HONDARRIBIA GRAND SLAM FINAL--ALSO OTHER SOUTH AND NORTH BASQUE FALL PRO TOURNAMENT MATCHES)

HEGOALDE (SOUTH BASQUE)

JAI ALIVE HONDARRIBIA GRAND SLAM

FINAL (October 16)

(Diego) Beaskoetxea-Lopez v Goikoetxea-Irastorza (EITB FULL MATCH VIDEO: MATCH BEGINS AT 42:57 ON THE VIDEO) (2 SETS TO 15 AND AND A TIE BREAKER TO 5 IF NECESSARY)

If direct link doesn't work

http://eitb.tv/es

Programas A-Z

WXYZ

Scroll to "Zesta Punta"

Note: if you find the match this way look for the wordS "Goikoetxea/Irastorza", as EITB has mixed in a couple of Mano (handball) matches with the Jai Alai, a mistake on their part that might be confusing.

"Curtain Raiser"

Bastera (a Hondarribia native)-Del Rio v Benetrix-Manzisidor (EITB FULL MATCH VIDEO; BEGINS AT 0:00 ON THE VIDEO) (A 25 POINT PARTIDO) (Olha-Del Rio and Barandika-Manzisidor were participants in the main tournament. Bastera and Benetrix are young "up and comers".

Del Rio has participated in many Jai Alai Mexico Spring Partido competitions. 

More information on Maxime Benetrix (who is part of the B Group Cesta Punta Fall Pro Tour)

FINAL MATCH stories (which are full of spoilers, but are great stories) are available at 

Jai Alive Facebook (Castilian)

Jai Alai News Facebook (Castilian)

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

SEMI-FINALS (October 9)

Olharan-Etcheto v (Diego) Beaskoetxea-Lopez AND Goikoetxea-Irastorza v Olha-Del Rio (FULL MATCH VIDEOS--EITB, in the order given above)

If direct link doesn't work

http://eitb.tv/es

Programas A-Z

WXYZ

Scroll to "Zesta Punta"

Note: if you find the match this way look for the words"Finalderak", as EITB has mixed in a couple of Mano (handball) matches with the Jai Alai, a mistake on their part that might be confusing.

If you want to find out more (including spoilers) (Castilian)

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JAI ALIVE HONDARRIBIA GRAND SLAM

Day 3 of Round Robin League (October2)

(Diego) Beaskoetxea-Lopez v Barandika-Manzisidor and Aaron Gonzalez (substituting for Hormaetxea--back injury)-Minvielle v Olha-Del Rio (FULL MATCH VIDEOS--EITB, in the order given above)

If direct link doesn't work

http://eitb.tv/es

Programas A-Z

WXYZ

Scroll to "Zesta Punta"

If you want to find out more (including spoilers) (Castilian)

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

HEGOALDE (SOUTH BASQUE)

A. JAI ALIVE  HONDARRIBIA GRAND SLAM

JAI ALIVE GRAND SLAM:  Hondarribia:  Day 2 of Round Robin League (September 25)

(Diego) Beaskoetxea-Lopez v Goikoetxea-Irastorza and Olharan Etcheto v Hormaetxea-Minvielle (FULL MATCH VIDEOS--EITB, in the order given above) 

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

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IPPARALDE (NORTH BASQUE)

B. HOSSEGOR

 CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 3: Hossegor Group A Final (September 26)

Laduche-(Manex) Urtasun v J. Tambourindeguy-Minvielle (FULL MATCH VIDEO--Canal +)

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B. BIARRITZ

CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2: Biarritz GROUP A FINAL (September 23)

Ohlharan-T. Basque v Olha-Minvielle (FULL MATCH VIDEO--Canal +)

CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2: Biarritz GROUP B FINAL (September 23)

Garcia-Ibar (substituting for de Betelu) (Green) v Etcheberry-Oyenart (Red) (FULL MATCH VIDEO--Biarritz Jai Alai Facebook--not commercial quality) 

CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2: Biarritz GROUP A SEMI-FINAL 2  (September 21)

Olharan- T. Basque (Green) v Gonzalez-Laborde (Red)  (FULL MATCH VIDEO--Biarritz Jai Alai Facebook--not commercial quality)

CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2: Biarritz GROUP B SEMI-FINAL 2 (September 21)

Etchegaray-Berthon (Green) v C. Garcia-Ibar (substituting for de Betelu) (Red) (FULL MATCH VIDEO--Biarritz Jai Alai Facebook--not commercial quality) (a "barnburner" of a match)

CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2: Biarritz GROUP A SEMI-FINAL 1 (September 16)

Olha-Minvielle (Green) v L. Garcia-Etcheto (Red) (FULL MATCH VIDEO--Biarritz Jai Alai Facebook--not commercial quality)

CESTA PUNTA PRO TOUR 2: Biarritz GROUP B SEMI-FINAL 1 (September 16)

Etcheberry-Oyenart (Green) v Zabaleta-Salaberry (Red) (FULL MATCH VIDEO Biarritz Jai Alai Facebook--not commercial quality)

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JAI ALAI WORLD TOUR

DECEMBER 27

SINGLES FINAL:

BERRIARTUA

BOTH MATCHES, IN THE ORDER GIVEN BELOW (EITB FULL MATCH VIDEOS)

LOPEZ (ZAGERO--BACK) v (AIMAR) ALDAZABAL (ZAGUERO)

ALSO:

JON MUGARTEGI (EX-MIAMI PLAYER)-IBON (ALDAZABAL) v OLHA-ROBERTO LEKUE.

Preview of the final (Jai Alai News Facebook)  (Castilian, use Google Translate). It contains a complete listing of Championship Finals going back to 1992. Goikoetxea has won this Tournament 12 times. Felix Espilla is 2nd with 3 Titles. Lopez has won played in 4 finals and won 1. Goiko decided to skip this tournament this year.

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

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour

CPPT Fall Tour Player Page

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour Final: Donibane Lohizune (Saint-Jean-de Luz) (December 27, 2019). The number 1 ranked front and back played against the number 2 ranked front and back for the Championship of the CPPT Fall tour.

Final Rankings: (Cesta Punta "A" Pro Tour)

Olharan-Basque (#1-#1) v Hormaetxea-Inza (#2-#2) (Canal + via Cesta Punta Pro Tour Youtube full match video)

There was also 2nd division Fall Tour. It's final was played on December 27 as the "lever de rideau" (curtain raiser) of the program.

Ludovic Laduche-Stephane Amati (#1-#1) v Bixente Gonzalez-Guillen Oyenard (#2-#2) (Canal + via Cesta Punta Pro Tour Youtube full match video)

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

Gernika Final--Iparralde (North Basque--France) v Hegoalde (South Basque-Spain) Champions. (October 27, 2019)

Goikoetxea-Inza v (Diego) Beaskoetxea-Lopez

Other match

(Jokin) Arbe-(Aimar) Aldzabal v Olharan-T. Basque

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

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour Pau (Xeme Cesta de Nadau) Final (December 13, 2019)

P. Tambourindeguy-Etcheverry v Olharan-Inza (match begins at 17:27 on the video)

Note: this may be a temporary address, as it was the address for the live feed. It still works, but is not listed on the Cesta Punta Pro Tour Youtube site. This is how they do it. They usually remove this one and put up the permanent one. But I wanted to get this out as soon as possible to anyone who might want to watch it. If it doesn't work for you, just wait a bit and I will announce when the permanent address is available.

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour Villenave d'Ornon Final (November 16, 2019)

Olha-(Manex) Urtasun v Hormaetxea-T. Basque 

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour Biarritz Final (November 10, 2019)

Egiguren-Amati v P. Tambourindeguy-Etcheverry

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour Biarritz Final (October 31, 2019)

Olharan-Nicolas Toucoullet (substituting for Amati) v Hormaetxea-T. Basque) 

Cesta Punta Pro Tour Fall Tour St. Jean de Luz Final (October 29, 2019)

Egiguren-Minvielle v Olharan-T. Basque

All are links to full match videos

Earlier CPPT Finals (spoilers in this link)
Enjoy.

Remonte-X El Torneo Master UTS Indivual FINAL--FULL MATCH POINT BY POINT "MAP"

This was one of the great matches in Remonte history but, unfortunately, I could find no scoring for it. So I decided to score the match myself. These are obviously my judgments, and yours may be different. Please see this as a point of departure, not a definitive answer to the inner workings of this match. Feedback of any kind (especially including error correction) will be gladly accepted.

jbsolock1@gmail.com

Barrenetxea IV 30
Urriza 29
(EITB full match video: match begins at 0:00)

Condensed linescore (winner always listed 1st)

0-2; 1-2; 1-3; 3-3; 3-4; 4-4; 4-5; 9-5; 9-6; 11-6; 11-7; 12-7; 12-8; 15-8
15-10; 16-10; 16-12; 17-12; 17-15; 20-15; 20-17; 25-17; 25-25; 26-25; 26-26; 29-26; 29-29; 30-29

6 equal scores, 1 lead change

Scoring (my scoring, as I could find no scoring from any other source). My judgments, yours may be different.

Barrenetxea IV +26(including 8 service aces -5(including 2 service faults)
Urriza +24(7a) -4(1f)

Pasas: (1st serve over serves, server gets a second opportunity)
Barrenetxea IV 7(including 1 fault and 1 ace); Urriza 5(0 faults)

Total scoring for the match: +50 (.847) -9 (.153)

Balls in play: 231
Barrenetxea IV 116(?); Urriza 115(?)

Non error % .961

Saves: 85
Barrenetxea IV 44(including 7 rebotes); Urriza 41(7r)

Save % (saves/bip): .368

Time of the match: 71:23
Average balls per point: 3.92
Average time per point: 1:18

+++++

SCORING KEY:

Point number; Pasas (over serves--2nd serve allowed); Server (U or B--note that the zaguero (back) serves in Remonte);  Balls in Play; Score after the point (winner always listed 1st) ; + (winner) +(a) (service ace) -  (error) (-f) (service fault); selected comments about the winner or error; Saves B ; Saves U (r indicates rebote--rebound off the back wall); (*--best points); time of the point on the video.  For ease of  viewing, the match will be broken up into 10 point "decades," with sub and running cumulative statistical totals given at the end of each.

Note: winning shots: TW: Two Wall; LW: Left Wall; LP: Left Pass; OP: Outside Pass; D: Dejada (a soft drop shot)
Errors: TH: Hits Too High; OC: Hits Off the Concha

Note: a save, for these purposes, is any excellent shot that extends a point. Saves do not necessarily win points. However, they are an indication of defensive range and ability. How do you know when you see a save? It's like art. You may not be able to define it, but you know it when you see it. Saves that are unique to Remonte are returns when the player is pinned to the left wall. Because the cesta is so long and firm, it is very difficult to retrieve one that is on the left wall. Rebotes shots are also very difficult in this modality, as are apron or wall or net climbs.

Pt.1;    U; 1; U+a;   0-1;                    (5:48-5:51)
Pt.2(P); U; 9; U+;    0-2; Saves: B 1(r) U 2  (6:14-7:20) 
Pt.3;    U; 2; B+(TW);1-2;  S: B 1; U 0       (8:08-8:19)    Pt.4(P); B; 1  B-f ;  1-3;                   (9:29-10:02)
Pt.5;    U; 6; B+;    2-3;  S: B 1 U 1;     (10:39-11:01)
Pt.6;    B; 1; B+a;   3-3;                  (11:35-11:42) 
Pt.7;(P) B; 8; U+(r)  3-4;  S: B 0 U 3(1r); (12:07-13:05)
Pt.8;    U; 2; B+(TW);4-4;                  (13:59-14:09)
Pt.9;    B; 2; U+(D); 4-5;  S; B 0 U 1;     (14:35-14:41)
Pt.10;(P)U; 4; B+;    5-5;  S; B 1 U 1;     (15:25-16:15)
-------
BIP: 36; B +5(1a)-1(1f); U +4 -0: S: B 4(1r)U 8(1r); 5-5
-------

Pt.11;   B;  1; B+a:     6-5;                (16:50-17:00)
Pt.12;   B; 11; B+(TW)   7-5; S; B 1 U 2;   *(17:21-17:53)
Pt.13;   B;  1; B+a;     8-5;                (18:49-18:57)
Pt.14;(P)B;  1; B+a;     9-5;                (19:30-20:06)
Pt.15;   B; 14; U+(LW);  9-6; S; B 2 U 3;   *(20:37-21:23)
Pt.16;   U;  2; B+(LW); 10-6; S; B 1 U 0;    (22:32-22:40)
Pt.17;   B;  5; B+(TW); 11-6; S; B 1 U 0;    (23:31-23:52)    Pt.18;   B;  2; U+(LW); 11-7;                (24:49-25:01)   
Pt.19;   U;  4; B+(LW); 12-7; S; B 0 U 1;    (25:46-26:01)
Pt.20;   B;  4; U+(2W); 12-8; S; B 0 U 1;    (26:44-26:55)
-------
BIP: 45;   B  +7(3a) -0; U +3 -0; S; B 5 U 7; 7-3
BIP: 81;   B +12(4a) -1(F); U +7(1a) -0 S B 13(1r) U 15(2r)
-------

Pt.21;(P)U;  4  B+(LW); 13-8;  S; B 0 U 1;   (27:38-28:18)
Pt.22;   B;  9; B+(LW); 14-8;  S; B 2 U 3;  *(28:55-29:18)
Pt.23;   B;  1; B+a;    15-8;                (30:13-30:21)
Pt.24;   B;  1  B-f;    15-9;                (30:51-31:06)
Pt.25;   U;  7; U+(D);  15-10; S; B 2 U 0;   (32:55-33:20)
Pt.26;   U;  2; B+(OP); 16-10;               (35:02-35:11)
Pt.27;   B;  2; U+(OP); 16-11; S; B 0 U 1;   (35:51-36:02)
Pt.28;   U;  5; U+(2W); 16-12; S; B 2 U 0;  *(36:39-36:55)
Pt.29;   U;  1; U-f;    17-12;               (37:33-37:46)
Pt.30;   B;  2; U+(LP); 17-13; S; B 0 U 1;   (38:22-38:46)
------
BIP:  33; B  +4(1a) -1(1f); U  +4 -1(1f); S; B 6 U 6  5-5 
BIP: 115; B +16(5a) -2(2f); U +11(1a) -1(1f) S; B 19(1r) U 21(2r)
------

Pt.31;   U;  1; U+a;   17-14;                (39:18-39:24)
Pt.32;   U;  1; U+a;   17-15;                (39:54-40:03)
Pt.33;   U;  2; B+(LW);18-15;                (40:37-40:50)
Pt.34;(P)B;  1; B+a;   19-15;                (41:22-41:56) 
Pt.35;   B;  7; B+(TW);20-15; S; B 2(1r)U 0;*(42:54-43:19)
Time out
Pt.36;   B;  4; U+(LP);20-16; S; B 1; U 0    (46:49-47:18) 
Pt.37;   U;  3; B-(TH);20-17; S; B 1; U 1;   (47:52-48:05) 
Pt.38;   U;  2; B+(TW);21-17;                (48:44-48:54)
Pt.39;   B;  3; U-;    22-17; S; B 1; U 1;   (49:22-49:35)
Pt.40;   B;  1; B+a;   23-17;                (50:00-50:09) 
------
BIP:  25;  B +5(2a) -1; U +3(2a) -1; S; B 5(1r) U 2; 6-4   
BIP: 140; B +21(7a) -3(2f); U +14(4a) -2(1f) S: B 24(3r) U 23(2r)
------

Pt.41;   B;  3; U-(TH); 24-17;               (50:30-50:45)
Pt.42;   B;  1; B+a;    25-17;               (51:16-51:27)
Pt.43(P);B;  2; U+(LW); 25-18;               (51:50-52:22) 
Pt.44(P);U;  3; B-(TH); 25-19; S; B 0 U 1;   (53:45-54:32)
Pt.45;   U;  1; U+a;    25-20;               (55:07-55:16)
Pt.46;   U;  5; U+(LW); 25-21; S; B 1 U 2;   (55:51-56:10)
Pt.47;   U;  1; U+a;    25-22;               (57:37-57:43)
Pt.48;   U; 13; U+(D);  25-23; S; B3(1r)U3(1r)*(58:28-59:06)
Pt.49;   U   3; U+(TW); 25-24; S; B 1 U 1;   *(60:25-60:38)
Pt.50;   U;  1; U+a;    25-25;                (60:48-60:55)
------
BIP 33; B +1(1a) -1; U +7(3a) -1; S; B 5 (1r) U 7 (1r); 2-8
BIP 173; B +22(8a) -4(2f); U +21(7a) -3(1f) S: B 29(4r) U 30(3r)
------

Pt.51;   U;  8; U-(OC); 26-25; S; B4(1r) U1(1r)(62:46-63:20)
Pt.52    B;  4; B-(OC); 26-26; S; B1(1r) U1(1r)(64:27-64:49)
Pt.53    U;  4; B+(D);  27-26;                 (65:45-66:03)
Pt.54(P);B;  3; B+(TW); 28-26; S; B 0 U 1      (66:39-67:19)
Pt.55;   B;  5; B+(LW); 29-26; S; B 2 U 2      (67:51-68:11)
Pt.56;   B;  6; U+(LP); 29-27; S; B 2 U 0      (68:49-69:08)
Time out
Pt.57;   U;  9; U+(LW); 29-28; S; B1 U2(1r)    (71:24-71:53)
Pt.58(P);U; 15; U+(D);  29-29; S; B5(1r U3(1r)*(72:57-74:22)
Time out
Pt.59;   U;  4; B+(OP); 30-29; S; B 2 U 1;    *(76:56-77:11)  ------  
BIP 58; B +4 -1; U +3 -1; S; B 15(3r) U 11(4r); 5-4 
BIP 231; B +26(8a) -5(2f); U +24(7a) - 4(1f); S; B 44(7r) U 41(7r)
------ 

Back to the Update       

Mano--2019-20 Binakako Txapelketa /Parejas--Expanding the Playoffs and the Curious Decision by ASPE to Drop Last Year's Champion Delantero from the Competition.

Back to the update

This year's BT/CP sees 3 interesting and perhaps controversial changes, 1 involving format,  and 2 involving players.

1. The format has added two teams to the post season. Since the present format was instituted in 2012, the top 4 finishers in the League season have played off in a 3 match round robin Semi-final League, The top two finishers in that League played in a final. This year the top 6 teams will enter the post season. The top 2 teams will be guaranteed a place in the Semi-final League. #3 v #6 and #4 v #5 will have a play in match to fill the other two slots. Some think this simply dilutes the meaning of the regular League competition. Others think of it as an exciting addition to keep more fans interested longer. These have been points of view in American team sports for many years, as the tendency is for more teams and more playoffs. 

Last year, the 5th and 6th place finishers (BLOG POST; scroll to the bottom of the page), Artola-Mariezkurrena and Ezkurdia-L. Galarza, finished with 7 wins and 7 losses. If this year's new rules were in effect, they would have made the post season, with elimination matches against Victor (substituting for the injured Oliazola II)-Albisu and Altuna III-Martija respectively. 

In 2017-18 the 5th and 6th place finishers (Wikipedia), Urrutikoetxea-L. Galarza and Victor (Laso)-Albisu finished 6-8 and 5-9 respectively.

In 2016-17 the 5th and 6th place finishers, (Wikipedia), Ezkurdia-Merino II and Artola-Albisu finished 6-8. 

In 2015-16 the 5th and 6th place finishers (Wikipedia), Martinez de Irujo-Barriola and Retegi BI-Rezusta were 7-7 and 6-8 respectively. 

Of the last eight 5th and 6th place finishers, five finished with less wins than losses. There is an argument to be made about what the minimum amount of wins necessary should be. In the last 4 competitions, no team has made the Semi-final League with less wins than losses. The idea of a 5-9 team winning the championship is abhorrent to some fans. A team that is 3 and 8 and then wins 3 in a row is a "hot" team, but not necessarily a good team. In my opinion, no team that wins less than it loses in a double round robin of this magnitude has any business getting anywhere near post season play. But it may increase interest, and it does make for more TV revenue.

2. Mikel Urrutikoetxea, after 3 years in the front (20-36 and no post League play) has been, I think, wisely moved back to the back court, where he was dominant in 2015-16.  He will partner with Aimar Oliazola (Olaizola II), the 40 year old 3 time champion in this competition, who is making a strong comeback from a possible career threatening leg injury. U-O partnered together in 2015-16 to win this title. The speed, quickness, and power of Urrutikoetxea, and the offensive potential he brings to the back court, is a unique combination for that position. It will be interesting to see how this reunion works out.

3. By far the most controversial aspect of this competition was the decision by ASPE to drop Danel Elezkano (Elezkano II) and replace him with Erik Jaka. Elezkano II is the defending delantero (front) champion in this competition, and he was runner up for the 2017-18 championship. Direct comparisons between the two are unavailable, as detailed statistics for Jaka are missing from the ASPE database (interestingly and frustratingly, detailed statistics for Iker Irribarria, who also has won a championship and was runner up in the last 4 years, are also unavailable). What we do know is that Elezkano has a career record (according to that database) of 120-97 (.553) to Jaka's 152-120 (.559). However, Elezkano's competition has been, for the most part, at a higher level than Jaka's.

Jaka's experience in this competition consists of 4 matches as a substitute in 2017 (2-2). Elezkano has played in 55 CP matches in his career and has been a regular the last 3 years. In the last two CPs his record was 27-9. In the last three, 34-16. 

Elezkano's complete record for the 2018-19 season was 24-22. (11/15/18--11/10/19).

Jaka had a very successful 2019 4 1/2 competition, but he did not make the Final.

It is difficult to see, from the above data, the reasoning behind the ASPE decision. 

And it is also interesting to look at the history of this competition, which is easily accessible back to 2001 via the Baikopilota historical database. In the 19 seasons between 2001 and 2018-19, a player who won a championship has missed the next competition 3 times. Eulate (zaguero-back) in 2009, Goni II (z-b) in 2010, and Zubieta (z-b) in 2011, Goni II retired. No champion delantero-front, has ever been absent from the next competition in those 19 seasons.

In short, in my opinion, this was a decision that had no justification whatsoever behind it. I wish Jaka well, and, judging by his early magnificent performance in the dismantling of  Irribarria-Rezusta by Jaka-Zabaleta, he is certainly out to show everyone that he belongs. And perhaps he does. But not at the expense of a defending champion.

Back to the Update 

Non-spoiler for some of the latest and best partido jai alai--5/20/2019

Since I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't already found out the scores, use this page to link to full match video of the following recent matches

For spoilers,simply go to:

and Scroll to "current results--Cesta Punta/Jai Alai

https://basquepelotaupdates.blogspot.com/p/current-results.html

For just the matches themselves:

1, Fronton Mexico Tournament 2

Tournament 2: May 17-28 2019

Premier League and National League Tournaments

T2 Information (Fronton Mexico Facebook)

The Premier League will consist of 4 pairs:

Olha-Lopez; (Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza; Goikoetxea*-Ekhi; and Olharan-Irastorza

* Winner of Tourmament 1

There will be a Round Robin May 17-19, and 24-25, and Final will be May 24-26.

National League will be a 6 team competition.

There will be two groups:

Group A: Inclan-Mauricio; Polanco-Ihitsague; Ochoa**-Portet

Group B: (Angel) Egea-Echenique; Sierra-Perez**; Juan-Leon-Del Rio*

*Winner of 1st Premier Tournament; **Winner of first League Tournament

There will be a Group Round Robin May 17-19. The top to finishers will advance to the Semi-finals the weekend of May 24-26. The Final will be on May 26.

Note: there is now complete sound and commentary (en Espanol) for these matches. The video is high definition and fantastic for a Facebook video. If there is silence at first, just be patient.

May 19, 2019

Goikoetxea-Ekhi v Olha-Lopez (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at -1:23:08 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Track back from there to -1:23:08)

May 18, 2019

(Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza v Olharan-Irastorza (Fronton Mexico Facebook--match begins at -55:25 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Track back from there to -55:25.

May 17, 2019

Goikoetxea-Ekhi v Olharan-Irastorza  

Olha-Lopez  v (Aritz) Erkiaga-Inza 

Full match videos of both matches  (FM Facebook) (matches begin at: -2:33:14 from the RIGHT side of the slider bar. Track back to -2:33:40 to get the beginning of the first match. Second match follows the first.

National League

May 19, 2019

Group A

Ochoa-Portet v Inclan-Mauricio (Fronton Mexico Facebook: match begins at 0:00--this match is joined early in the first set

May 18, 2019

Group B

(Angel) Egea-Echenique v Sierra-Perez  (Fronton Mexico Facebook video--match begins at 0:00) 

May 17, 2019

Group B:

Juan-Leon-Del Rio v (Angel) Echea-Echenique  (Fronton Mexico Facebook --match begins at 0:00) 

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

2. First Cesta Punta Pro Tour Tournament (this is the organizaton that promotes the St. Jean de Luz Master Tournaments in July).

Trophee Landes Atlantique Sud

May 17, 2019

Hossigor (1) (2)

P. Tambourindeguy-Minvielle v Arbe-(Manex) Urtasun  (Canal + via Cesta Punta Pro Tour Youtube). A commercial quality video.

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

3. FFPB (Federation Francaise de Pelota Basque Championnat de France Pro-Am Final

April 26, 2019

Pau (1) (2)

Luzean  (St. Jean de Luz) (Olha-Inza) v Olharroa (Guethary) Laduche (Etchegarray)-Etcheto (Canal + via Cesta Puntaq Pro Tour Youtube

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4. EEPF (Euskadia Euskal Pilota Federakuntza) (Basque Pelota Federation Under 22 Final (Grabni Txapelketa)

May 5, 2019

Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa (1) (2)

(Gipuzkoa--South Basque) Agirre-Manzisidor v (Ipparalde--North Basque) Gonzalez-Iturralde (EITB)

The next generation. You may be seeing some of them at a Fronton near you soon :) :)

Back to the Main Blog

The 2018-19 Liga Kutxabank--Match by Match. Also, a few Librarian's tricks.

Pala is an ancient Basque Pelota modality, with roots going back at least the 17th Century. Invitation to a Game of Argolla, a painting (ca. 1665-1670) by Bartolome Murillo, shows the ancestor of the implement used today, though the actual game played at the time was more like croquet than Pala. Another painting, The Game of Pelota by Francisco de Goya (1779) clearly shows what looks like a modern pala corta or pala larga bat. The sport did not become professional until about 1904 and Bilbo (Bilbao) has always been an important location. (InnPala Pala history article by Jesus Azurmendi).

It has had its ups and downs over the years and now has the smallest roster of any of the professionally played modalities. It is not covered particularly well in the press, as far as I can tell. Usually, the only matches covered are tournament championship matches. The website of InnPala and Munduko Pilota Batzarra (Basque Pelota World Council) cover some professional Pala (but MPB does not cover this tournament).

I wanted to recap this tournament as exhaustively as I could. I  did not follow it in real time.  That meant I wanted to find not just joko (set) scores, but individual game scores also. Innpala sometimes covers the game scores at its Twitter feed. Game scores are also sometimes available at Innpala Fronton Facebook. But there is no full coverage. Knowing how the tournament works helped me to get started. A Liga preview article (Deia) informed me that the tournament would start on the weekend of October 26, 2018. Experience covering previous Liga competitions reminded me that the 8 Liga matches are usually spread over 10 weeks. The first three Jornadas (rounds) are usually played at various locations (identified in one of the above and/or below sources), the last seven almost always at Bizkaia, Bilbo (Bilbao). I didn't know where the other locations were and had to do some research to find them.

I knew that there was at least one newspaper, Diario Vasco, that had the electronic equivalent of "Agate pages," those very small type pages that provide results, but little more, of the more minor competitions in American sports (high school and small college results, for example). DV has a magnificent archive of around 1,500 BP articles going back over the last 12 years. You can browse these stories, but page by page browsing is very time consuming. The Internet addresses provide a clue as to how to streamline this process. Go to the DV pelota page. At the bottom of any page that lists the titles of  articles, there are numbered links to older articles. If you click on any number and then pay careful attention to the address, you will see how you can move through articles much faster by making a simple change to the address. Higher numbers take you further back into history. So if you know the date, or even approximate date (I still don't know the exact date of some of the below listed matches--the date I give is my best approximation), you can move to the date you need pretty quickly.

Once you get to the Cartelera (calendar) page that you need, you will almost always find the matches you are looking for with results broken down to the game by game scores. I was able to find information on every Liga match but one, which I was able to infer from the final joko standings provided by InnPala.

One of the problems for an American reader in interpreting the scores is that for many matches the tradition is to list the score by color rather than by winner. In most BP matches there is a red team and a blue team. The scores are given in that order. I almost always adjust that and give the scores, winning team first. There are so many scores below that I decided to simply cut and paste them out of the Carteleras. This caused many mistakes when I tried to reconcile the match scores with the InnPala table. It also caused many mistakes when I tried to translate the raw Joko scores into match wins and losses (another bias of an American observer). Nothing in this competition was decided by match wins and losses. Everything was decided by total number of Jokos won.

Putting together the historical winners of this tournament going back to 2013 presented a whole host of other problems that challenged my Librarian skills. The main one was that I never knew the date of old finals. I only knew that the tournament was almost always played in December and January. This is where being able to locate DT Cartelera dates by using the address trick really came in handy. It didn't, in the end, keep me from having to move page by page at some times, but the titles of other stories and my knowledge of players' names helped a lot. There were also other general BP sites that gave me clues. And patience helps a lot. Sometimes, if you haven't already found out, sites that you think might give you easy access to the information you need, do not, because they are poorly organized. This is where simply Googling players names and years (to look for this AND that in Google simply use the "and" connective. For exact phrase searching surround the phrase with quotation marks). For Twitter there is a search syntax that allows you to search old messages (which came in very handy in locating joko scores from 7 or 8 years ago). You can use Twitter advanced search. Once you do a search, copy out the address. Here are a couple:

A.
https://twitter.com/search?l=&q=fusto%20OR%20ibargarai%20from%3Ainnpala%20since%3A2014-01-20%20until%3A2014-05-30&src=typd

This is a date limited search for players Fusto or Ibargarai in messages sent between January 20 to May 30 of 2014 from the Innpala twitter feed. Once you have this, simply replace the variables you need with anyone from any site and then the delimited dates.

B.
https://twitter.com/search?l=&q=from%3Ainnpala%20since%3A2016-01-01%20until%3A2016-02-01&src=typd

This is a simple date limited search for every post from Innpala in January of 2016. Note that the advanced search page is very powerful, it allows phrase and "Boolean" searching (AND or OR) as well as several other variables. Whatever Twitter search you do, copy out the address and you won't have to use the search page again.

Facebook allows basic AND searching and several delimiters.

One other item. Often times you will type in an address and get no retrieval. Many websites have gone out of "print" but that doesn't mean they are not still available in some form. The best place to start for this is the Wayback Machine at Archive.org, This great site trawls and saves uncounted numbers of websites as they were. This can be a life saver in this type of research.

 ================================================
Back to the Liga competition.

So here is what I found. The scores are presented exactly as they appeared in the DV Carteleras. Each score is linked to its Cartelera. For the last four rounds, there are selected links to short match articles at InnPala Fronton Facebook and a full Mundo Deportivo article for the final round of matches, where the Liga phase winner was determined. There was no IFF coverage of the first three rounds, I assume, because those rounds weren't contested in Bilbo. 

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

Key; Blue team; Red Team; match record; number of jokos won and lost, individual joko scores. e and y=and. All Jornada links, unless otherwise specifically stated, are to DV Cartelera pages.

Jornada 1 at Sopela (1)(2) October 26, 2018

Landeta e Ibargarai (0-1), 1; Garate y Brefel (1-0), 3 (9-10, 4-10, 10-9 y 6-10).
Gaubeka e Ibai Perez (1-0), 3; Fusto y Gordon (1-0), 2 (4-10, 6-10, 10-9, 10-9 y 10-5).

Jornada 2 at Sestao (1)(2) November 4, 2018. This round was played on a 42 meter court.

Fusto y Gordon (1-1), 3; Necol y Urrutia (0-1), 2 (4-10, 7-10, 10-7, 10-6 y 10-5).
Gaubeka e Ibai Pérez (2-0), 3; Landeta e Ibargarai (0-2), 1 (9-10, 10-9, 10-7 y 10-9)

1 point from the F-G v N-U match (Dan Necol Facebook video)

Jornada 3 at Mungia (1)(2)  Nov. 10, 2018   This round was played on a long (54 meter) court. All others were played on a short (36 meter) court

Necol y Urrutia (1-1), 3; Garate y Brefel (1-1), 0 (10-8, 10-7 y 10-8).
Fusto y Gordon (2-1), 3; Landeta e Ibargarai, (0-3), 1 (10-5, 10-8, 7-10 y 10-6).

The rest of the Liga phase was played at Bizkaia, Bilbo (Bilbao) (1)(2)

Jornada 4 November 16, 2018

Fusto y Gordon (3-1), 3; Garate y Brefel (1-2), 1 (10-9, 6-10, 10-6 y 7-5). The match was ended by a ball that hit Garate in the cheek.

Gaubeka e Ibai Pérez,(3-0), 3; Necol y Urrutia (1-2), 2 (7-10, 8-10, 10-3, 10-6 y 10-8).

Full match video for both matches (Dan Necol Facebook video)

Match article (Innpala Fronton Facebook)

Jornada 5 November 24, 2018

Landeta e Ibargarai (0-4), 0; Necol y Urrutia (2-2), 3 (4-10, 5-10 y 8-10).
Gaubeka e Ibai Pérez (4-0), 3; Garate y Brefel (1-3), 1 (4-10, 10-3, 10-3 y 10-5).

No match article

End of  1st half of Liga competition

Jornada 6 December 1, 2018

Landeta e Ibargarai (0-5), 0; Garate y Brefel (2-3), 3 (8-10, 8-10 y 7-10).
Gaubeka e Ibai Pérez (4-1), 0; Fusto y Gordon (4-1), 3 (5-10, 4-10 y 7-10)

Match article (Innpala Fronton Facebook)

Jornada 7 December 8, 2018

Necol y Urrutia (2-3), 2; Garate y Brefel (3-3), 3 (10-8, 7-10, 9-10, 10-7 y 8-10). Garat took a ball on the ankle in the second joko but continued.

Gaubeka e Ibai Pérez (5-1), 3; Landeta e Ibargarai (0-6), 1 (10-9, 10-5, 7-10 y 10-9)

Match article:

Jornada 8 December 14, 2018

Necol-Urrutia (3-3), 3 Fusto-Gordon (4-2) 2 (10-9; 10-9; 3-10; 6-10; 10-5)

Full match video (Dan Necol Facebook video--begins at 1:09:08)

Match article:

Jornada 9 December 21, 2018,

Landeta e Ibargarai (0-7), 0; Necol y Urrutia (4-3), 3 (4-10, 6-10 y 8-10).

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

Gaubeka-Ibai Perez (6-1) 3 Garat-Brefel (3-4) 0--inferred. I was unable to find any information about this match. This joko scoreline is the only one that reconciles both the Joko win numbers and match records listed in the table of the main article. Any feedback would be welcome. I very much doubt that this mat took place on this date. Again, any feedback would be greatly appreciated

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

No match article

Jornada 9 December 22

Fusto y Gordon (5-2), 3; Garate y Brefel (3-5) 2 (8-10, 10-7, 10-7, 8-10 y 5-10)
DV interposed the winner and loser, to the best of my knowledge.

No match article

Jornada 10 December 24

Fusto-Gordon (6-2), 3; Landeta-Ibargarai (0-8), 2 (10-6; 7-10; 10-4; 9-10; 10-4). This victory gives Fusto-Gordon 21 joko wins, top of the Liga table, and a place in the final. It is by far L-I's best effort of the competition.

Gaubeka e Ibai Pérez (6-2), 1; Necol y Urrutia (5-3), 3 (4-10, 4-10, 10-7 y 9-10). This game had no meaning for the Liga winner after the result of the first meeting. But these two teams would meet 4 days later (see linked post).

Match article for both (Mundo Deportivo)

There were three small discrepancies I was never able to work out. I had N-U at 21-12 Jokos. Innpala had them at 21-15. I had G-I at 19-13. Innpala had them at 19-16. And I had L-A at 6-24 (8 losses). Innpala had them at 6-21. Number of joko wins, as you can see, was uneffected.

Back to the Update

Dania Jai Alai 2017 Winter Season Final Standings Sorted by Wins and Wins by Position

Dania provides its final standings sorted by the number worn by the player. It might be interesting to look at this in a couple of other ways. Below are two sorts that I did that might be more entertaining (and maybe a little more enlightening). The first is a simple win sort. The second is a win sort by player position (front or back court).

Here are the full standings, sorted by wins.

Key:

Player Number-Player-Games-Wins-Places-Shows-Winning%-In the Money%-Position (F=Forward, B=Back).

Note: players tied for number of wins are sorted by winning percentage.

11 Erik       521 134 83 62 .257 .536 F

59 Leke      585 109 73 79 .186 .446 B
20 Iturbide  582 96 64 72 .165 .399  F
38 Urbieta   566 95 84 63 .168 .428  B
46 Arrieta    552 78 64 66 .141 .377  F

27 Aimar     517 77 60 72 .149 .404  F
28 Arbe       560 75 74 72 .134 .395  F
67 Bailo      567 74 84 69 .131 .400  B
22 Diego     499 72 62 54 .144 .377  F
31 Jairo       538 68 55 60 .126 .340  F

49 Amigorena  558 67 59 77 .120 .364  B
18 Chasio         520 62 65 66 .119 .371  B
54 Zulaika        480 60 70 68 .125 .413  F
25 Foronda       410 57 51 56 .139 .400  F
56 Zabala         523 57 60 74 .109 .365  B

42 Barandika  566 56 81 78 .099 .380  F
69 Goitia        380 55 44 50 .145 .392  F
62 Garita        413 55 65 52 .133 .416  B
47 Xabat         549 55 77 65 .100 .359  F
98 Elgezabal   556 54 73 70 .097 .354  B

30 Larrea     527 53 56 60 .101 .321  B
39 Israel       342 51 37 40 .149 .374  B
60 Salegi      460 51 60 58 .111 .367  B
15 Ibon         549 48 61 67 .087 .321  B
19 Minte       494 43 53 60 .087 .316  B

89 Urtaran    537 41 53 80 .076 .324  B
23 Ithurria     279 38 37 29 .136 .373  F
29 Manex      306 37 48 38 .121 .402  B
50 Elizalde    444 30 54 45 .068 .291  B
14 Arta          429 26 38 62 .061 .294  F

12 Beitia     301 24 41 40 .080 .349  F
26 Jagoba    250 22 34 16 .088 .288  F

Here are the full standings, sorted by wins by position.

Front Court

11 Erik       521 134 83 62 .257 .536 F

20 Iturbide  582 96 64 72 .165 .399  F
46 Arrieta    552 78 64 66 .141 .377  F
27 Aimar     517 77 60 72 .149 .404  F
28 Arbe       560 75 74 72 .134 .395  F

22 Diego        499 72 62 54 .144 .377  F
31 Jairo          538 68 55 60 .126 .340  F
54 Zulaika      480 60 70 68 .125 .413  F
25 Foronda     410 57 51 56 .139 .400  F
42 Barandika  566 56 81 78 .099 .380  F

69 Goitia     380 55 44 50 .145 .392  F
47 Xabat      549 55 77 65 .100 .359  F
23 Ithurria    279 38 37 29 .136 .373  F
14 Arta        429 26 38 62 .061 .294  F
12 Beitia      301 24 41 40 .080 .349  F

26 Jagoba     250 22 34 16 .088 .288  F

Back Court

59 Leke          585 109 73 79 .186 .446 B

38 Urbieta       566 95 84 63 .168 .428  B
67 Bailo           567 74 84 69 .131 .400  B
49 Amigorena   558 67 59 77 .120 .364  B
18 Chasio         520 62 65 66 .119 .371  B

56 Zabala       523 57 60 74 .109 .365  B
62 Garita        413 55 65 52 .133 .416  B
98 Elgezabal  556 54 73 70 .097 .354  B
30 Larrea       527 53 56 60 .101 .321  B
39 Israel         342 51 37 40 .149 .374  B

60 Salegi        460 51 60 58 .111 .367  B
15 Ibon           549 48 61 67 .087 .321  B
19 Minte         494 43 53 60 .087 .316  B
89 Urtaran       537 41 53 80 .076 .324  B
29 Manex        306 37 48 38 .121 .402  B


50 Elizalde      444 30 54 45 .068 .291  B

Back to the update

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Miami Jai Alai April 9, Game 4--complete enhanced linescore

Full match video of Miami Jai Alai Game 4, April 9, 2017

I decided to try my hand at scoring a quiniela match. It was a very difficult task. Normally I would not be able to do this because live scoring is beyond my capability and Dania, which offers live matches, does not offer them free on demand. Miami matches are pay per view. Since I had a Youtube video of a complete game (a video which only lasted a little over 12 minutes), I could stop the video at any time and study points to either verify or change my judgments. But there are other problems with scoring a Quiniela match. In this video, the order of the matchups was not posted on the screen, so I had to pay careful attention to keep the matchups correct. For Miami, that is not so easy. Some uniforms are so bleached out it is hard to tell color. Some players do not have numbers or names on their backs. I used the player list shown at the beginning of the video to decipher who was who. I think I got it right, but there might be mistakes in this game "map." Enjoy, and please let me know if you find any mistakes.

Winner-error judgments are my own, based on my limited knowledge of the game, as well as  player body language. I am a "generous" scorer, as, on a close call, a winner makes two players happy, and an error makes two players angry. My basic rule is like that used in baseball scoring of hits or errors. Could the play be reasonably expected to be made by a professional player?

Key: Team # Serving-(Team points); Team # Receiving (Team points); Number of balls in play; (Team # that won the point); Player +=winner +a=service ace - = error; selected comments, time of the point on the video. Note that in the first round 1 point is awarded. All subsequent rounds award 2. Game 4 is played to 9 points.

* Possible Game Point

Teams: 1 Sierra-Sierra II  2. Tevin-Ubilla  3. Jon-Garro  4. Jabe-Ladutxeb5. Berikua-Aldazabal 6. Aizarna-Santiso57. Zinkunegi-Arriza sl8. Aritz-Spinnersl
First
First Round

1(0)-2(0); 12(2); Tevin +; 6:02--7:34
2(1)-3(0); 14(3); Garro +; 1:40--2:34
3(1)-4(0); 3(3); Jon +; 2:46--3:01
3(2)-5(0); 1(3); Jon +a; 3:05--3:13
3(3)-6(0); 4(6); Aizarna +; (dejada); 3:19--3:37
6(1)-7(0); 25(6); Santiso +; 3:50--5:36
6(2)-8(0); 4(8); Aritz +; (cortada past Aizarna); 5:39--5:55

Second Round

8(1)-1(0); 21(8) Aritz +;  (chic chac or chula); 6:02--7:34
8(3)-2(1); 2(2); Aritz -;  (a simple dropped catch); 7:36--7:42
2(3)-4(0); 7(2); Jabi -; 7:49--8:23
2(5)-5(0); 3(2); Tevin +; (two wall); 8:34--8:47
2(7)*-3(3); 2(3); Jon +; (two wall); 8:50-8:56
3(5)-7(0); 6(7); Jon -; 9:07--9:35
7(2)-6(2); 4(6); Aizarna +; (nice shot to the outside); 9:35--9:57

Third Round

6(4)-1(0); 6(1); Sierra II +; 9:58--10:26
1(2)-8(3); 2(8); Spinner +; 10:35--10:45
8(5)-4(0); 14(4); Jabe +; 10:48--11:48
4(2)-5(0); 1(4); Jabe +a; 11:56--12:02
4(4)-2(7)*; 4(2) Ubilla +; 12:08--12:29

2: Tevin-Ubilla win

3(5)-8(5); 6(8); Aritz +; 12:40--13:07

8: Aritz-Spinner Place
3: Jon-Garro Show

6(4)-4(4); 6(4) Jabi +; 13:14--14:13

4: Jabi-Ladutxe finish 4th

2-8-3-4

Miami Jai Alai Results for April 9, 2017

Balls in play: 147

Teams "in the money" (to 4th place) actual point scores

2. Tevin-Ubilla 5-2
8. Aritz-Spinner 4-2
3. Aizarna-Santiso 4-3
4. Jon-Garro 2-3

21 points contested

Individual scoring:

Aritz +3 -1
Jabe +3 -1
Jon +3 -1
Aizarna +2
Tevin +2
Garro +1
Santiso +1
Sierra II +1
Spinner +1
Ubilla +1

Add up all the numbers (+ and -) as they all led to points. They add to 21.

Back to the update

j  Jon-Garrow3. Jo