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 

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. 

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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).

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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

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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

Remonte--Enhanced linescore E IV-EIII v S-I

January 7, 2017. Match 3.

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

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

Key: Server (E=Etxeberria III, I=Ion); number of balls in play; score (E IV-E III led from beginning to end); player E IV=Etxeberria IV, E III=Etxeberria III, S=Segurola, I=Ion; +=Winner, - =Error, +a=Service ace, 2w=2 wall winner. Note Player listed first on the team is the front court player. Back court players always serve in doubles Remonte.

Note: all scoring is my own judgement. EITB provided no visual scoring in this match. My bias is for winners Calling a close one a winner makes two players happy. Calling a close one an error makes two players angry. I use my experience, such as it is, along with player body language to help me. All points that end with the serve are considered service aces, whether or not I think the receiver should have been able to return it.

E IV--E III won the coin toss and served.

E....7.....1-0........E IV+2w
E....3.....2-0........E III+2w
E....3.....3-0........E IV+2w
E....2.....3-1........S+
I.....6.....4-1........E IV+
E....6.....4-2.........I+
I.....6.....5-2.........E IV+
E..17.....6-2.........E IV+
E....6.....6-3..........I+
I.....4.....7-3..........S-

E.....3.....8-3.........E IV+2w
E....11....9-3.........E III+
E......1...10-3........E III+a
E......7...11-3........E IV+
E......2...11-4.........S+
I.......2...12-4.........S-
E......4...12-5.........S+
I.......9...12-6.........S+2w
I.......2...13-6.........S-
E......7...14-6.........E IV+

E......9...15-6.........E IV+
E......5...16-6.........E IV+
E......3...17-6.........E IV+
E......1...18-6.........E III+a
E......1....19-6........E III+a
E.....18...19-7........S+
I......12...20-7.........E IV+2w
E......3....21-7.........E III+2w
E......2....21-8.........S+
I.......2....22-8.........E III+

E.....4.....22-9.........S+2w
I......6.....23-9.........E IV+
E.....3.....24-9........,S-
E....10....24-10.......E IV-
I.......7....24-11.......S+
I.....13....24-12.......S+
I (pasa)
I.....1......24-13........I+a
I.....3......24-14........I+
I.....4......25-14........E IV+2w
E....2......25-15........I+2w

I.....2......26-15........E IV+
E....9......27-15........E IV+
E...13.....28-15........E IV+
E.....2.....28-16........I+2w
I......8.....29-16........S-
E....5......30-16........E IV+
E....8......30-17........S+2w
I.....2.......31-17.......I-
E....9.......32-17.......E IV+2w
E....4.......32-18.......S+2w

I.....2.......33-18.......E IV+
E....2.......33-19.......S+
I.....5.......33-20.......S+
I.....1.......33-21.......I+a
I.....2.......34-21.......S-
E....8.......34-22.......I+ (1:52:23--1:53:04 on the video. E III behind the back rebote).

I.....7.......34-23.......I+2w
I.....6.......35-23.......E IV+ (E IV ends up in back court during point and wins point from there)

E....5.......36-23.......E IV+2w
E....4.......36-24........I+

I.....1.......36-25.........I+a
I.....6.......37-25.........E IV+2w
E....9.......38-25.........E IV+ (1:57:17-1:57:45 on the video. Another E III behind the back rebote).

E....3........39-25........E IV+2w
E....2........39-26........S+2w
E....3........40-26........E IV+2w

40-26

Number of balls in play: 346

Balls in play/points
0-4=35
5-9=24
10-14=5
15-19=2

Longest point: 18 (19-6 to 19-7)

Scoring:

Etxeberria IV +26 (11 10 2w) -1; Etxeberria III +7 (including 3 service aces, 2 2w) -0 (error corrected January 16, 2017)
Segurola +14 (4 2w) -6; Ion +11 (including 3 service aces, 3 2w) -1

Back to the update

Remonte: 2016 Orona Tournament: from beginning to end

Note 1: EITB televised four of the matches in this tournament. They are linked to below, with their individual match articles. They are:

November 5, 2016

Ezkurra II-Ion defeated Ezkurra-Etxeberria III 40-38

November 19, 2016

Urriza-Zubiri defeated Ezkurra II-Ion 40-28

December 3, 2016 (1st semi-final)

Uterga-Endika  defeated Ezcurra-Etxeberria III 40-34

December 17, 2016 (Final)

Uterga-Endika defeated Ezkurra II-Ion 40-30

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Note 2:  If you would like to follow this tournament chronologically, begin at the bottom of the page.

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A major doubles tournament, the 46th Campeonato Oficial de Remonte Parejas Orona 2016, began on November 3 and ended with a final on December 17, 2016. It was contested as a round robin league phase with 5 pairs:

Urriza-Zubiri
Ezkurra II-Ion
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III
Segurola-Barrenetxia IV
Uterga-Endika

Winners of each match received 4 points. Losers with 36-39 points received 2 points, 32-35 points received 1 point, and less than 32 points received 0 points. The top four teams at the end of the league phase met in two semi-finals (1 v 4 and 2 v 3) on December 3 and 10. Semi-final winners met on in a final on December 17. All matches took place at Galarreta Fronton, Hernani (1) (2).  For more information about this tournament see the Oriamendi2010 announcement.

Tournament announcement article (Diario Vasco)

December 17, 2016 (Final)

Uterga-Endika defeated Ezkurra II-Ion 40-30 

Full match video (EITB)

Full match video (EITB via Oriamendi2010)

Preview article (Oriamendi 2010) Article contains a list of winners of this tournament from 1972-2015 and also 1964, 1957, and 1943

Preview articles (Diario Vasco)

1st preview article
2nd preview article 

Match article (Oriamendi2010)

Diario Vasco

Match Statistics, scoring, and linescore (Diaro Vasco)

"Time of the match: 62 minutes and 14 seconds. Actual playingtime: 19:25

Balls in play: 394.

Service Aces: Endika, 3. Ion, 3.

Service Faults: Endika, 0. Ion, 0.

Winners in play: Uterga, 21. Endika, 8. Ezkurra II, 19. Ion, 4.
Errors in play: Uterga, 2. Endika, 2. Ezkurra II, 5. Ion, 3.

Scoring (EITB)

Uterga +19 -2, Endika +10 -4; Ezkurra II +18 -8 Ion +6 -3

Condensed inescore (winners always listed first): 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 5-2, 5-3, 9-3, 9-4, 10-4, 10-11, 12-11, 12-13, 15-13, 15-15, 16-15, 16-17, 18-17, 18-19, 23-19, 23-21, 24-21, 24-22, 27-22, 27-24, 32-24, 32-25, 33-25, 33-27, 35-27, 35-28, 39-28, 39-30, 40-30."

It is difficult to imagine a match played this well (53 or 58 winners, 12 or 17 errors in total, depending on who was scoring) could end up this one sided. The answer is that U-E built small advantages into a big victory. Uterga was +1 (EITB) or +2(DV) winners and -3(DV) or -6(EITB) errors v Ezkurra II. Endika was +4 (both sources) winners and -1(DV) or +1(EITB) errors v Ion. It added up to a decisive win for the champions, but a quick look at the linescore shows that this match was very close during its first half. It wasn't until a 9-3 run from 24-22 that U-E were able to break it open (46:02-54:55 on the video). U-E finished the tournament with 5 wins and 2 losses. E-E finished 4-3.

Endika, Urriza, and Ion won individual awards. Selected awards were presented by José Joaquín Erkizia, a Remonte fan who has attended matches at Galarreta regularly since it opened in June of 1970. Mr. Erkizia is 94.

December 10, 2016 (2nd semi-final)

(Star Match): Uterga-Endika defeated Ezkurra-Etxeberria III 40-27

(3.): Urriza-Zubiri defeated Ezkurra II-Ion 40-39

Match article for both matches
 
Match Article for both matches (Diario Vasco)

U-E v E-E

Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)

6-1; 23-21; 29-21; 35-26; 40-27

Partial Scoring: Uterga +17 -2 Endika +14 -3
                          (Ezkurra-Exteberria III) +22 -9

E-E needed to win by at least 6 points to advance to the final. They never came close as U-E advanced. A 6-1 start and then a 6 point run in mid-game clinched the victory. Again, as in the first semi-final, Exteberria III's serve set up Uterga for easy points. E-E finish the tournament 1-5 (including a forfeit defeat due to an Ezkurra injury).  U-E meet Ezcurra II-Ion in the final next Saturday, December 17, 2016.

U-Z v E-I

Selected linescore (winners always listed 1st)

5-10; 10-13; 17-13; 26-19; 26-25; 32-29; 32-32; 38-36; 38-39; 40-39

Partial Scoring: Urriza +23 -3   
                           Ion +22 -1

This match had much more drama than the first, as U-Z needed to win by 9 or more in order to advance.  At 26-19, it looked like they had a real opportunity. But some excellent play by Ion got E-I back in the game. At 26-25, U-Z needed to win by at least 14-6. At 32-32 E-I were in the final. The last 15 points were closely contested, but, in the end, academic. Ion had a magnficent match with a + 21 differential and over half his team's points. Urriza was his usual magnificent self, to no avail. U-Z finished the tournament 4-2.

December 8, 2016 (1st semi-final)

Ezkurra II-Ion defeated Urriza-Zubiri 40-31

Match article

Selected line score (winners always listed first)

8-3; 8-8; 10-11; 15-19; 17-21; 19-22; 27-22; 30-26; 36-27; 39-28; 39-31; 40-31

Scoring: Ezkurra II +19 (including 10 two-wall winners) -4; Ion +11 -7
               Urriza +16 -4 Zubiri +5 -6

Note that totals do not add to the final score. This is either a translation error by me or an incorrect count of scoring in the match article.

Urriza recovered from his auto accident and this semi-final match, which had been postponed last Saturday, was the Star match. A 20-6 run turned a 22-19 U-Z lead into a 39-28 E-I lead. Since there are two semi-finals with total point differential the determining factor if the matches are split, E-I need to score 32 points in the 2nd semi-final to move on to the final. A split with an equal 40-31 win by U-Z would put them in the final based on their victory in the second match. Ezkurra II was spotlighted in the match article for his excellent play. The article also speculated that Urriza possibly was still suffering from the effects of his accident, as he seemed to run out of stamina in the second half of the match after dominating the first half. The second installment of the first semi-final (Uterga-Endika v Ezkurra-Exteberria III) will be played in Saturday December 10. U-E need only score 35 points to move on to the final.

December 3, 2016 (1st semi-final)

Uterga-Endika  defeated Ezkurra-Etxeberria III 40-34

The second semi-final, Urriza-Zuberi v Ezkurra II-Ion, was postponed due to a neck injury suffered by Urriza in an auto accident. The match was re-scheduled for next Thursday, December 8.

Match article

Full match video (EITB) (added Dec. 17, 2016)

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

1-1; 29-28; 33-30; 37-31; 40-34

Match Statistics: 446 balls in play (Uterga 108, Endika 118; Ezkurra 104, Etxeberria III 116)

Time of the match: 1 hour, 4 minutes, 58 seconds.

Scoring (EITB): Uterga +17 - 9 Endika +5 -11
                           Ezkurra +9 -8  Etxeberria III +5 -10           

Oriamendi2010 scoring was replaced with EITB scoring and match statistics added Dec. 17, 2016.

U-E were in control of the match almost from the beginning. They quickly established a cushion of around 5 points and weren't challenged until late in the game. But as soon as they were they re-established the lead that they had throughout the 1st 3/4 of the match. The match article underlines the play of Uterga and Etxeberria III, for different reasons. Many of Etxeberria III's serves were too far off the left wall, allowing Uterga to feast on 2 wall shots (8 winners from that shot, although I'm not sure all of those were off the serve). Ezkurra had (for him) a rather ordinary match. The win puts U-E in a position where they only need to score 35 points in the 2nd semi-final, as point differntial is tie-breaker in case the two semi-finals are split. If E-E win the 2nd semi-final by the identical score they lost this one, they will advance to the final based on having won the 2nd match.

December 1, 2016 

Urriza-Zubiri defeated Ezkurra-Etxeberria III 40-39


Match article

Selected linescore (winner always listed first

19-25; 31-30; 33-30; 33-36; 40-39

Scoring: Urriza +22 -4 Zubiri +6 -4
               Ezkurra +20 -6 Etxeberria III +12 -6

Note that totals do not add to the final score. This is either a translation error by me or an incorrect count of scoring in the match article.

This was the final match of the league phase. Of the 9 matches played (the match between Uterga-Endika and Ezkurra-Etxeberria III was forfeited to U-E due to an injury to Ezkurra), 6 were decided by 4 points or less, 5 by 3 points or less, 4 by two points or less, and 2 by the minimum. This was another great match that went down to the last point. E-E needed 36 points to pick up the two league points they needed to make the playoffs. A 6 point run at 30-33 gave them the points they needed to equal Segurola-Barrentxea IV's 8 points. Since E-E defeated S-B 40-37 on November 3, they earned the final semi-final slot. S-B were eliminated from the tournament. 

It turns out that Uterga-Endika were awarded 40 points for their forfeit win. It also turns out that in spite of what the match article from last week said, this tournament was determined by points, not by record, and the tie breaker was indeed point differential when head to head competition couldn't determine it. This is difficult to understand because the point differential that put U-E in first place was not actually earned by points scored on the court, but by forfeit. A strong argument could be made that U-Z should have finished first, E-I second (both with 3-1 records, and U-Z defeated E-I head to head (40-28) on November 19), with U-E third. However, Oriamendi2010 has not contacted me about this :) :)

The league phase will be followed by 2 semi final matches (December 3 and 10, 2016):

Uterga-Endika v Ezkurra-Etxeberria III
Urriza-Zubiri v Ezkurra II-Ion

In case each team winning one match, the first tie breaker will be point differential. If point differential is identical, the winner of the second match will move on to the finals.

Final League table. Note: Oriamendi2010 uses point differential to rank teams with equal points. E-E earned the final playoff slot because they defeated S-B in their league match.  


Uterga-Endika................... 2-2.....12pts.......157-107*
Urriza-Zubiri.....................3-1......12pts........151-145
Ezkurra II-Ion....................3-1.....12pts.......148-153
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III......1-3......8pts.........117-157*
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-3......8pts.........140-151

* Points from a forfeit (40-0) U-E victory over E-E due to an Ezkurra injury are included in final point differential totals.

November 26, 2016

Ezkurra II-Ion defeated Segurola-Barrenetxea IV 40-36

Match article  

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

0-7; 8-8; 11-16; 36-36; 40-36

Scoring: Ezkurra II +20 (including 6 two wall winners) -3 Ion +9 (including 7 service aces) -5
               Segurola +18 -1 Barrenetxea IV +10 (including 3 service aces) -5 (including 3 service
               faults)

Note that totals do not add to the final score. This is either a translation error by me or an incorrect count of scoring in the match article.

The match article said this was the best match of the tournament so far. The score was tied at 36 before Ezkurra II led his team to victory. This win guarantees E-I a place in the semi-finals.The other possibilities are thoroughly discussed in the match article.  Included in the discussion is the fact that due to an injury to Ezkurra, Ezkurra-Etxeberria III were forced to forfeit a match to to Uterga-Endika (40-0). If Ezkurra is unable to play again in the tournament, E-E will be eliminated, leaving the other four teams to contest the semi-finals. If he can play, the possibilities are discussed in the match article.

League table. Note: Oriamendi2010 uses point differential to rank teams with equal points.

Ezkurra II-Ion....................3-1.....12pts.......148-153*
Uterga-Endika................... 2-2.....12pts.......117-107**
Urriza-Zubiri.....................2-1......8pts.........111-106
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-3......8pts.........140-151
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-2......6pts.........78-77**

*E-I are listed above U-E in spite of their lower point differential due to the fact that the match article for the Nov. 26 match said that they were.

**Includes a U-E defeat of E-E by 40-0, a forfeit due to an injury to Ezkurra. It is unknown if the "points" in this match will be included in each team's point differential. For the purposes of the table above, I have not added them in.

 November 24, 2016

Uterga-Endika defeatged Segurola-Barrenetxea IV 40-27

Match article

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

4-9; 9-13; 13-13; 15-13; 17-16; 31-20; 34-26; 40-27

Scoring:  Uterga +18 -4 Endika +17 (including 8 service aces) -4
                Seguroloa +10 -2 Barrenetxea IV +9 (including 5 service aces) -3

After a slow start, U-E outscored S-B 36-18 for an easy victory. The match article highlighted Endika's play. The scoring shows what he is capable of from the back court. Although this was U-E's first tournament victory, it catapulted them into first place in the league. At present 2 points separate the five teams. The league table makes for curious reading, especially for those used to sports league tables that are arranged by win-loss record. In this tournament team points are paramount (see tournament explanation above) and point differential, rather than winning percentage, breaks ties. It is entirely possile that a team with a losing record could finish higher than one with a winning record.

League table. Note: Oriamendi2010 uses point differential to rank teams with equal points.

Uterga-Endika...................1-2......8pts.........117-107
Urriza-Zubiri.....................2-1......8pts.........111-106
Ezkurra II-Ion....................2-1......8pts........108-117
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-1......6pts.........78-77
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-2......6pts.........104-111

November 19, 2016

Urriza-Zubiri defeated Ezkurra II-Ion 40-28

Match article

Full match video (EITB)

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

1-1; 11-2; 16-6; 24-15; 31-22; 34-27; 40-28

Scoring: Urriza +23 -2 Zubiri +9 (including 4 service aces) -9*
               Ezkurra II +14 -5 Ion +3 (including 2 service aces) -3

*Estimated from the other scores.

Urriza took over this match as only he can, totally dominating the scoring. An early 10-1 run gave U-Z an advantage that E-I could never dent. The dominant win moved U-Z from last place in the league table to a tie for first. Their superior point differential actually moved them into first place. E-I's Cinderella run (2 wins by a total of 3 points) came to a crashing end... for the moment :)

League table Note: Oriamendi2010 uses point differential to rank teams with equal points.

Urriza-Zubiri.....................2-1......8pts.........111-106
Ezkurra II-Ion....................2-1......8pts........108-117
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-1......6pts.........77-71
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-1......6pts.........78-77
Uterga-Endika...................0-2......4pts.........77-80

November 17, 2016

Urriza-Zubiri defeated Uterga-Endika 40-38

Match article

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

24-18; 28-28;  33-37; 39-37; 39-38; 40-38

Scoring: Urriza +21 -4 Zubiri +11 (including 8 service aces) -3 (including 1 service fault)
               Uterga +20 -7 Endika +11 (including 7 service aces) -3

Note that totals do not add to the final score. This is either a translation error by me or an incorrect count of scoring in the match article. 

The tournament served up another close and entertaining match, with a 7-1 U-Z run at the very end making the difference. The teams were never more than 6 points apart.

League table

Ezkurra II-Ion....................2-0......8pts........80-77
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-1......6pts.........77-71
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-1......6pts.........78-77
Uterga-Endika...................0-2......4pts.........77-80
Urriza-Zubiri.....................1-1......4pts.........71-78

Note: Oriamendi2010 uses point differential to rank teams with equal points.
Hence U-E rank higher than U-Z even though U-Z have a better win-loss record. This is an incredibly close competition so far. Of the 5 matches played, 4 have been decided by 3 or less points.

November 12, 2016

Ezkurra II-Ion defeated Uterga-Endika 40-39

Match article

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

8-8; 21-21; 21-27; 30-27; 35-35; 37-37; 39-37; 39-39; 40-39

Scoring: Ezkurra II +17 -6*; Ion + 11 (including 1 service ace) -2
               Uterga +17 -3*; Endika +14 (including 5 service aces) -9

*Estimated from the other scores.

In a wild match that went to the final point, EII-I won their 2nd straight to go to the top of the table with 8 points. Their total point differential for the two wins is 3 points. Endika, back in action for the first time since October 1st, had his usual productive offensive output but an uncharacteristically high number of errors, not terribly surprising given the long layoff. The tournament has been tremendously exciting and competitive to this point, with scores of 40-31, 37, 38, and 39. If the matches stay this competitive, it could be "anybody's ball game."

League table

Ezkurra II-Ion....................2-0......8pts........80-77
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-1......6pts.........77-71
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-1......6pts.........78-77
Uterga-Endika...................0-1......2pts.........39-40
Urriza-Zubiri.....................0-1......0pts.........31-40

November 10, 2016

Segurola-Barrenetxea IV defeated Urriza-Zubiri 40-31

Match article

Selected linescore (winners always listed first):

13-8; 13-16; 18-25; 19-26; 20-27; 21-28; 22-29; 30-29; 30-31; 40-31

Scoring: Segurola +13 -3; Barrentxea IV +20 (including 8 service aces) -2
               Urriza +19 -3* ; Zubiri +7 (including 5 service aces) -4

*Estimated from the other scores

S-B used a tremendous finish (18-2 made up of two segments--8-0 and 10-2, after trailing 22-29) to turn what looked like a sure defeat into a dominant victory (U-Z ended up with no points). As the linescore indicates, U-Z were in control for much of the match from the time they took an early lead on the strength of an 8-0 run of their own, until the end. The match story points to Barrenetxea IV as the star, and it is difficult to dispute that after looking at his statistics. His +20 led all scorers, and his 8 service aces were noteworthy. In recent matches between Barrenetxea IV and Urriza, Urriza has had good success nullifying Barrentxea IV's tremendous service game. He stopped Barrentxea IV's serve cold in the Kutxa Bank singles final September 10 and also shut him down in matches on Sep. 15. and Oct. 15.  On Oct. 27, when Barrenetxea IV had 12 service aces, his team beat Urriza's. And so it was today. His 8 service aces helped win the match. The match story credited a switch in position from where he usually serves as key to the effectiveness of the serve.

League table

Segurola-Barrenetxea IV...1-1......6pts........77-71
Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-1......6pts........78-77
Ezkurra II-Ion....................1-0......4pts........40-38
Urriza-Zubiri.....................0-1......0pts.........31-40
Uterga-Endika

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

November 5, 2016

Ezkurra II-Ion defeated Ezkurra-Etxeberria III 40-38

Match article:

Selected linescore (winners always listed first):

1-6; 10-10; 14-14; 20-16; 22-22; 27-27; 32-27; 32-31; 35-35; 35-37; 37-37; 38-38; 40-38

Partial scoring: Ezkurra II +16 Ion +10 (including 3 service aces) -0
                          Ezkurra +16

Full match video (Source: EITB)

In a wildly fluctuating and competitive match E II-I finally prevailed. The match was close throughout, neither team able to open more than a 5 point lead. The loss broke Ezkurra's 7 match (all Star match) winning streak. Uncle Ezkurra's record v nephew Ezkurra II is now 9-2. The win moved E II-I into second place in the competition, the 4 points moving them past Segurola-Berrenetxea IV.

League table

Ezkurra-Etxeberria III.......1-1......6pts........78-77
Ezkurra II-Ion....................1-0......4pts........40-38
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV....0-1.....2pts........37-40
Urriza-Zubiri
Uterga-Endika

---------------------------------
November 3, 2016

Ezkurra-Etxeberria III defeated Segurola-Barrentxea IV 40-37

Match article

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

7-0; 16-16; 23-22; 32-32; 40-37

Scoring: Ezkurra +14 -4 Etxeberria III +21 (including 3 service aces) - 3*
               Segurola +18 -2 Barrenetxea IV +12 (including 1 service ace) -3*

* Estimated from the other scores

E-E began the match with a 7-0 run. S-B followed with a 16-9 burst. The match was closely contested from then on before E-E finally won. Etxeberria III had a fantastic match, outscoring his front court partner 21-14. Segurola starred for S-B. This was the Star match for the day. It was Ezkurra's 7th straight Star match victory.

League table

Ezkurra-Etxeberria III........1-0.....4pts........40-37
Segurola-Barrenetxea IV....0-1.....2pts........37-40
Ezkurra II-Ion
Urriza-Zubiri
Uterga-Endika

Back to the update

Bote Luzea--Primer Titulo de Euskal Herria--How they got there: the entire the tournament (scores, match articles, match videos and photos) from beginning to end

In this tournament matches were played to 11 games or 70 minutes, whichever came first. Each game is won by the team scoring 4 points. In this tournament the 6 teams were split into "A" and "B" groups, with a round robin in each group. At the end of the round robin, the first place team played each second place team in the other group in semfinals. Those winners met in a final. Read this article from bottom to top to replay the tournament in chronological order.

Source for all match articles: EEPF. Source for all video: Bote Luzea Facebook page.

September 25, 2016

Final

Plaza de Leitza (1) (2): Lapurdi 1 (Bessonart, Valencia, Urkia, Fagoaga, Etcheberry, Otegi, and Tikoipe) defeated Gipuzkoa 2 (Jon Urbieta, Jauregi, Esnal, Ibai Urbieta, and  Andoni Urbieta) 6-3 (70 minutes). Note: Gipuzkoa 2's Inaki Esnal and Jon Urbieta played and won the Oriatsun V Txapelketa Pasaka final (covered in this blog) in August.

Match article

Selected match video 1

Selected  match video 2

Photos Part 1

Photos Part 2

Advertisement of Final

September 19, 2016

Semi-Final 2

Lapurdi 1 (Bessonart, Valencia, Urkia, Fagoaga, Etcheberry, Otegi y Tikoipe) defeated Lapurdi 2 5-3 (70 minutes).

Match article:

September 18, 2016:

Semi-final 1

Zubieta Plaza (1) (2): Gipuzkoa 2 (Jon Urbieta, Jauregi, Esnal, Ibai Urbieta and Andoni Urbieta) ,defeated Gipuzkoa 1 (Andoni Zabala, Ekaitz Lasa, Julen Chiapuso, Beñat Arzelus, Josu Leonet, Aritz Leonet and Joseba Azpiroz  7-4 (70 minutes)

Match article:

Selected match video 1

Selected match video 2

Photos

The winners of each of the below listed matches faced the loser of the other match in the semi-finals.

League phase Group B

September 11, 2016

Amasa Villabona (1) (2):  Lapurdi 1 (Bessonart, Valencia, Urkia, Fagoaga, Etcheberry, Otegi and Tikoipe) defeated Gipuzkoa 2 (Jon Urbieta, Jauregi, Esnal, Ibai Urbieta and Andoni Urbieta) 7-3 (70 minutes)

Match article

Selected match video

Photos

League phase Group A

September 10, 2016

Sara: Gipuzkoa 1 (Andoni Zabala, Ekaitz Lasa, Julen Chiapuso, Beñat Arzelus, Josu Leonet, Aritz Leonet and Joseba Azpiroz) defeated Lapurdi 2 8-3 (70 minutes)

Match article

Selected match video 1

Selected match video 2

Photos

For the league matches of Sep. 2-3 see EEPF Results pages. I think the matches listed here on September 1 actually happened on August 26 (source: tracking back the Bote Luzea  Facebook page and matching up the EEPF match articles).

Group A

Sep. 2, 2016:

Lapurdi 2 defeated Behe Nafarroa 10-6 (70 minutes)

Match article

Group B

September 3, 2016:

 Gipuzkoa 2 (Jon Urbieta, Jauregi, Esnal, Ibai Urbieta y Andoni Urbieta) defeated Lapurdi 3 10-3 (70 minutes)

Match article

August 26, 2016

Beheko Plaza, Oriatsun: (1) (2) Gipuzkoa 1  (Andoni Zabala, Ekaitz Lasa, Julen Chiapuso, Beñat Arzelus, Josu Leonet, Aritz Leonet and Joseba Azpiroz defeated Behe Nafarroa 9-1 (70 minutes)

Match article

Selected match video

Photos

Senpere : Lapurdi 1 defeated Lapurdi 3  9-4 (70 minutes)

Match article

Selected match video

Photos

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

Announcement of tournament

Further news:

Rules of the tournament:

Back to the update

Remonte--XI Torneo Comunidad Foral de Navarra--from start to finish

This tournament meandered through two months and a good bit of Navarra, mostly in small towns and villages. If you look at the populations listed for the venues (with the exception of one match in Pamplona), you see that the final was held in the smallest venue of all, and most of the matches were played in towns of less than 3,000. To follow the tournament from beginning to end, scroll to the bottom of the page and read up. Enjoy the tour.

Sources for all match scores, articles, and tables: Euskal Jai Berri and Oriamendi2010 unless otherwise specifically stated. I used Oriemendi2010 because it maintained current tables for the A Tournament league phase.

September 25, 2016 at Zubiri (1) (2) (435)

A Tournament final

Endika-Ion defeated Uterga-Etxeberria III 35-25

The experiment with Endika in the front court worked from beginning to end as E-I were undefeated in the tournament with four wins. The match article praises Endika's performance. He is known as a shot maker in the back court and this was transferred to the front court for this tournament. He executed several types of shots that yielded points for his team. Ion played excellent Remonte in the back court. The result was a surprisingly easy victory over last year's champions.

Correction:  The match article noted Endika's great play in the front court in the Navarra Tournament. This indicated my ignorance about Endika's career. In researching the history of the Sagardoaren Txapelketa for the 2017 edition, I discovered that Endika had played in the inaugural final (2011) in the front court. Some research in the Oriamendi2010 database showed that records of Endika's matches (going as far back as April 29, 2010) had him in the front court from April of 2010 until October 3, 2013. So his being in the front court in the Navarra tournament was no "experiment." (Added March 3, 2017).

B Tournament final:

Goikoetxea V-Azpiroz defeated Eburu-Otano 35-32

Match articles for both matches (Euskal Jai Berri)

September 23, 2016 at Fronton Toki Alai, Huarte (Uharte) (6776)

A Tournament semi-final

Uterga-Etxeberria III defeated Ezkurra II-Barrenetxea IV 30-23

Selected linescore (winners always listed first)

19-8; 20-15; 24-18; 30-23

Match article (Euskal Jai Berri)

E-B started tentatively and the vastly experienced U-E took advantage for a big lead. E-B played hard during a 7-1 run that got them back in the game, but they never were able to overcome their poor start.

A Tournament league phase final

Endika-Ion....3-0
Uterga-Etxeberria III....2-1
Ezkurra II-Barrenetxea IV....1-2
Urriza-Aizpuru III....0-3

Note that Endika, a back courter, played this entire tournament in the front court.

In addition to the players listed, Ansa II, Segurola, Zubiri, and Garces played as substitutes.

September 20, 2016 at Villafranca (Alesbes) (1?) (2) (2805)

Ezkurra II-Barrenetxea IV defeated Urriza-Garces (substituting for Aizpuru III) 30-28

Match article and final A tournament league table:

With the victory, E-B earned a place in the semi-final against Uterga-Exteberria III

September 16, 2016 at Labrit Fronton, Pamplona (Iruna) (195,893)

A Tournament:

Endika-Ion defeated Urriza-Aizpuru III 30-26

Match article and A tournament league table

Match article (Noticias de Navarra)

The victory finished a perfect 3-0 league phase for Endika-Ion and gave them a place in the final.

August 16, 2016, at Aoiz (Agoitz) (1) (2) (2601)

B Tournament: 2nd semi-final

Eburu-Otano defeated Barricart-Martirena (substituting for Zaldua) 30-23

Match article (Euskal Jai Berri)

 Eburu-Otano v Goikoetxea V-Azpiroz in the final of the B Tournament

August 11, 2016, at Sumbilla (Sunbilla) (1) (2) (3) (648)

A Tournament:

Uterga-Etxeberria III defeated Urriza-Zubiri (substituting for Aizpuru II) 30-25

Match article and tournament league table

Due to injuries, Urriza played each match in this tournament with a different partner.

August 7, 2016, at Doneztebe (Santesteban) (1) (2) (1658)

 A Tournament:

Uterga-Etxeberria III defeated Ansa II (substituting for Ezkurra II)-Barrenetxea IV 30-29

Match article and tournament league table

August 5, 2016, at Lekumberri (Lekunberri) (1) (2) (1386)

A Tournament:

Segurola (substituting for Endika)-Ion defeated Uterga-Etxeberria III 30-27

B Tournament: 1st semi-final

Goikoetxea V-Azpiroz defeated Rodriguez (substituting for Benat)-Labaka (substituting for Martirena) 30-10

Match articles for both matches and A tournament league table

B Tournament:

Goikoetxea V-Asproz
Eburu-Otano
Barricart-Zaldua
Benat-Martirena

In addition to the players listed, Rodriguez and Labaka played as substitutes.

July 23, 2016, at Irurzun (Irurtzun) (1) (2) (2194)

Endika-Ion defeated Ansa II (substituting for Ezkurra II)-Barrenetxea IV 30-17

Match article and A Tournament league table

A Tournament league phase

Endika-Ion
Uterga-Etxeberria III
Ezkurra II-Barrenetxea IV
Urriza-Aizpuru III


Back to the update

Remonte--Uterga's masterpiece in the game after.

June 10, 2016

Uterga-Ion defeated Ezkurra-Etxeberria III 40-18.

Full Match Video (match begins at 1 hour, 20 minutes, 15 seconds on the video).

Full match video (EITB via Oriamendi 2010)

Full Match Video (EITB)

On Thursdays and Saturdays there are four Remonte matches at the Galaretta Fronton in Hernani. The second match is the "Star match," when the highest quality players on the Oriamendi 2010 roster face off against each other. The third match is also a high quality match. Whenever the "Star Match" is a tournament final, all three other matches that day become afterthoughts. This day was no different, which was unfortunate, because Uterga played a masterpiece.

Uterga has now won two in a row.  The first was last week's star match where he and Exteberria III came back from 32-38 to win 40-38, and now this great match. Before that, going back to July 1, for matches we have results for from the Oriamendi 2010 Match database, he was 2-8, including losses in the Kutxa Bank Tournament to Barrenetxea IV and Urriza, as well as two losses in the San Fermin tournament, one to Urriza. When Ezkurra returned from injury, his first match was a victory v Uterga. The last two months have been difficult ones. In the grind of a fixture list as demanding as the Remonte fixture list is, players are bound to have ups and downs. Sometimes a mechanical flaw creeps into one's game. Sometimes a nagging injury can be the cause. Any number of things can cause a slump. For a player of Uterga's caliber, this was a long slump. But the last two victories have been great ones, the first one with back firmly bolted to the wall, the second an absolute clinic in shot making that reminded us all of what an artist with the cesta he is.

He and Ion crushed Ezkurra-Exteberria III. Uterga really hit his stride in the second half of the match, turning a still competitive 20-13 lead into a 40-18 route. In the ten points when U-I really put the match out of reach (26-14--35-15), he scored 8 of the points. He scored on 4 two-wall shots, 2 dejadas, a high and deep passing shot on one of the longest points of the match (20 balls in play) and a left wall shot. These 10 points take place from 1:55:33 to 2:03:53 of the video. It is an absolute master class in Remonte offense, well worth the 8 minutes.

Oh and by the way, you might also want to check out the point that began at 36-17 and ended at 37-17 (2:06:32--2:06:41). Uterga wins that point with a two wall shot from the 7 line, with his shoulder almost against the left wall. For the match he had, by my count, 14 two wall winners. It's a beautiful thing to see Uterga at his best.

Back to the update.

Pasaka--How these two teams got to this match

Oiartsun V. Txapelketa

August 3, 2016

Final

Urbieta-Esnal defeated Nazabal-Zabala 13-1

Full match video (Source: EITB) (Match begins at 12 minutes 7 seconds on the recording).

This is the match we see. But before this match there was a tournament that stretched back to June 26. It was sponsored by the Gipuzkoako Euskal Pilota Fedrazio. I was unable to find any scores except the final at the website, but I was able to find them easily using the GEPF mobile application. If you have the app follow

Competitions-->Federado--->Gipuzkoa-Kontzejpea--->Pasaka Mano Parejas.

Here is the tournament from beginning to end. Enjoy the replay.

The tournament was contested in two league phases, followed by semi-finals and a final

Phase competition took place June 26, July 3, and July 17, 2016 Phase matches were played to 11 (must win by two). Semi-finals and finals were played to 13 (must win by two).

Group A

Journada 1

Nazabal-Zabala defeated Arzelius-Chaipuso 11-6

Enaut Esnaola-Alvarez defeated Mujika Andaro 11-4

Journada 2

Arzelius Chiapuso defeated Enaut Esnaola-Alvarez 11-4

Nazabal-Zabala defeated Mujika Andaro 11-4

Journada 3

Arzelius-Chaipuso defeated Mujika-Andaro 11-4

Enaut Esnaola-Alvarez defeated Nazabal-Zabala 11-3

Group B

Journada 1

Urbieta-Esnal defeated Flores-Jon Ander Esnaola 11-3

Saralegi-Sarasti (gonb.) defeated Lasa-Argote 12-10

Journada 2

Saralegi-Sarasti (gonb.) defeated Flores-Jon Ander Esnaola 11-6

Urbieta-Esnal defeated Lasa-Argote 11-3

Journada 3

Flores-Jon Ander Esnaola defeated Lasa-Argote 11-4

Urbieta-Esnal defeated Saralegi-Sarasti (gonb.) 11-5

Phase table

Group A

Nazabal-Zabala 5 points (2-1)
Arzelus-Chiapuso 5 points (2-1)
Enaut Esnaola-Alvarez 5 points (2-1)
Mujika-Andaro 3 points (0-3)

Group B

Urbieta-Esnal 6 points (3-0)
Saralegi-Sarasti (gonb.) 5 points (2-1)
Flores-John Ander Esnaola 4 points (1-2)
Lasa-Argota 3 points (0-3)

July 24, 2016:

Semi-Finals

Nazabal-Zabala defeated Flores-Jon Ander Esnaola 13-7

Urbieta-Esnal defeated Arzelus-Chiapuso 14-12

August 3, 2016:

Final

Urbieta-Esnal defeated Nazabal-Zabala 13-1

Final records

Urbieta-Esnal 5-0 (11-3; 11-3; 11-5; 14-12; 13-1) (60-24)
Nazabal-Zabala 3-2 (11-6; 11-4; 3-11; 13-7; 1-13) (39-41)
Arzelus-Chiapuso 2-2 (6-11; 11;4; 11-4; 12-14) (40-33)
Flores-Jon Ander Esnaola 1-3 (3-11; 6-11; 11-4; 7-13) (27-39)
Enaut Esnaola-Alvarez 2-1 (11-4; 4-11; 11-3) (26-18)
Saralegi-Sarasti (gonb.) 2-1 (12-10; 11-6; 5-11) (28-27)
Lasa-Argota 0-3 (10-12; 3-11; 4-11) (17-34)
Mujika-Andaro 0-3 (4-11; 4-11; 4-11) (12-33)

Back to the update

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Remonte--Pala-- Long court to short court trends in Jai Alai/Cesta Punta, Remonte, and Pala

It was very interesting to see Jai Alai/Cesta Punta played on a short court. The Bizkaia Fronton is a big short court at 38 meters, but it is still a short court. The powers that be on the Basque Country Jai Alai scene wish to take the game to more fans. And it is a simple matter of arithmetic. There are many more short courts than long ones. The players are good enough to adapt their game to the different conditions.

The trend is the same for two other implement modalities, Pala and Remonte. Pala has been going toward more short court matches for some time. A couple of InnPala's up and coming stars, Dan Necol and Sylvain Brefel are from the North Basque and learned their games on short courts. Remonte also plays several summer tournaments on short courts, again in an effort to spread the game. 

Before there were indoor courts there were outdoor courts (Fronton Place Libres). These have only one wall. They are much bigger than long courts, between 80 and 100 meters long. The long courts are around 54 meters long and the short courts around 36.

 I thought it might be interesting to show the evolution from long to short courts with video examples for these three sports. Each of them has a "cathedral" long court (Mungia for Pala, Hernani for Remonte, and Gernika for Jai Alai).There are matches from all three below. Things to look for in these examples are the differences in speed, implements (espcially for Pala, where the Grosse/Larga bat can weigh up to 950 grams, far heavier than the corta/motza bats used on short courts), and the subtle changes in strategies that the sizes of the courts encourage. The outdoor games seem to be the most conservative, the players are not really looking for kill shots. These games emphasize power to send deep shots over and over trying to induce mistakes. As the courts get smaller the ability to kill points quickly becomes more a part of the strategy.

Note: with the exception of the Grand Chistera video (a video of the first 23 minutes, 14 seconds of the match) all of the below linked videos are full match videos.

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta

Outdoors (Grand Chistera)

May 15, 2015: Section Paloise Pelote Fronton (Pau)

Chapionnat de France 2015 poule match

White (J.Olharan-L.Alliez-S.Itoiz) defeated Green (C.Pierrou-A.Alliez-
J.Portet)  40-34.

Match video (Source: Toute sur la Pelote Basque Youtube site)

Long Court

August 5, 2016: Fronton Gernika Jai Alai (1) (2)

Gernika II Jai Alai World Tour Final

3rd place:

Barandika-Amigorena defeated Erik-Lekerika 2-1

Final:

Hormaetxea-Aldazabal defeated Beaskoetxea-Txasio 2-1

Match Video (Source: EITB)

Short Court

August 28, 2016: Bizkaia Fronton (Bilbo (Bilbao)).

Jai Alai World Tour CPO Individual MPB Semi-Final

Olharan defeated Hormaextea 2-1

Match video (Source: EITB)

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

Pala:

Outdoors (Grosse Pala)

August 9, 2016: Soustons Fronton Municipal (1) (2)

2016 Championnat de France National A Final

Soustons (Jérome Bats-Fabien Brocas) defeated Esquiule (Michel Bassignana- Hervé Belestin) 40-20

Match video (Source: PilotariP Youtube site)

Pala Larga Indoor

April 16, 2016: Mundo Parejas Final: Udala (City) Fronton (Mungia)

Final:

Fusto-Brefel defeated Gaubeka-Imanol 3-2

3rd place:

Necol--Ibai Perez defeated Landeta-Ibargari 3-2

Match video (Source: EITB)

Short Court (Pala Corta/Pala Motza) 

August 17, 2016: Atano III Fronton, Donastia (San Sebastian) 

Kirol Txartela Masters Tournament 

3rd place:

Landeta--Ibai-Perez defeated Arozena-Irrigoyen 3-1

Final:

Navarro-Brefel defeated Zubiri-Ayerbe 3-2

Match video (Source: EITB)

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

Remonte: I have never seen an outdoor Remonte match

Long Court

December 12, 2015: Galarrata Fronton  (Hernani)

Tourneo Parejas ORONA (Binakako Txapelketa) Semifinal 

Ezkurra-Endika  defeated Urriza-Agirrezabala 40-35

Match video (Source: EITB)

Short Court

June 11, 2016: Beloki Fronton (1) (2)  (Zumarraga)

Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundiaren 2016ko Saria-VII Erremonte Kopa.

Final

Uterga-Aizpuru III defeated Urriza-Zaldua 35-25

Match video This match follows a mano match: it begins at 1:06:32 on the recording (Source: EITB)

Back to the update

Jai Alai/Cesta Punta--Cumulative match records for all participants in both Internationaux Cesta Punta and Jai Alai World Tour Summer Partidos through all 11 tournaments

In this space we will keep a cumulative accounting of the records of all of the players in both the Internationaux Cesta Punta and Jai Alai World Tour competitions. Many of these players are playing in both competitions and it will be interesting to track how they do over the course of the Summer partido season. The table will be updated periodically, after the conclusion of tournaments. Separate tables will be kept for front and back courters. Rank on the table will be determined by match winning percentage. Ties will be broken first by set winning percentage, and then, if necessary by point winning percentage. For purposes of this table, winning a third set will be counted as 1/3 of a set, as third sets are played to only 5 points. Sources are the results pages of Internationaux Cesta Punta and Jai Alai World Tour

August 25, 2016

Final: Eleven Finals: Hondarribia, Gernika I, Zumaia, Mutriku-Markina, Gernika II, Lekeitio (World Jai Alai Tour), Master 1, 2, 3, 4, and SLAM (Internationaux Cesta Punta).

Note: Txabi Inza suffered a grade 5 ankle sprain during the ICP Master 2 final,. After receiving medical treatment, he continued, playing most of that match with the injury.  He will, according to JAWT, be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. He was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray in Master 3 (ICP) and was scheduled to play with Ohla in the Lekeitio Master Series (JAWT) beginning July 30. He was replaced in that Master Series by Arnaud Alliez.

Eric Irastorza was injured and unable to partner with Diego Beaskoetxea in ICP Master 3. He was replaced by Unai Lekerika. Irastorza was supposed to partner with Alex Hormaetxea in ICP Master 4. He was unable to play in ICP Master 4 and was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray. He returned to play in (and win) the ICP SLAM competition.

Christophe Olha (groin) and Nicolas Etcheto (right bicep) were injured in non-JAWT tournaments before the 3rd place and final matches of the JAWT Lekeitio Master competition. They were replaced by Unai Alberro and David Minvielle respecitively.

For the ICP SLAM competition, the four Masters winners play against each other in a champion of champions competition. To recap:

Master 1: Olharan-Minvielle
Master 2: Olha-Minvielle
Master 3: Beaskoetxea-Lekerika (substituting for the injured Irastorza)
Master 4: Hormaetxea-Eyheragary (substituting for injured Irastorza)

The four teams in the SLAM competition are:

Master 1: Olharan-Lekerika
Master 2: Goikoetxea (substituting for the injured Olha)-Minvielle
Master 3: Beaskoetxea-Irastorza (returning from injury)
Master 4: Hormaetxea-Ihitsague (substituting for Eyheragaray)

Key: Player; Match record; Set record; Point record; Championships won

Beaskoetxea            9-2....16.2-7.3.....318-267.....4
Goikoetxea              7-3....15.3-5.6.....286-252.....2
Olha                         4-4....7.6-9.3......210-230......1
Hormaetxea             5-5....7.2-14.......246-274......2
Olharan                    5-6....10.9-12.9..307-311......1
Egiguren                  4-5....9-9.3..........247-223.....1
Erik                          2-4....8-5.2.........178-161
J. Tambourindeguy  1-2....3-3.3.........76-80
Barandika                 2-4....4.3-8.3.....143-170
P. Tmbourindeguy   0-2....1-3.3.........40-59
Alberro                    0-1....0-2............18-30

Back Court

Irastorza         2-0....3.3-1........62-36.........1
Etcheto           4-1....6.6-4........151-121.....1
Minvielle        4-1....6.9-4.3.....150-143.....2
Enbil               4-2....8-4...........161-149.....1
Eyheragaray    2-1....2.6-4........77-74.........1
Lekerika          6-4....14.3-6.9...294-253.....2
Aldazabal        5-4....10.6-8.6...241-226.....1
Inza                 3-3....6-6...........158-160
Amigorena      3-3....5.6-7.3.....166-172.....1
Txasio             3-6....8.3-10.9...221-252
Erkiaga           2-4....4.3-8.3.....166-174......1
Ihitsague         1-3....4-4.6........103-111
Alliez              0-4....2-6.6........80-126
Urtasun           0-2....0-4...........39-60

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

August 18, 2016

Ten Finals: Hondarribia, Gernika I, Zumaia, Mutriku-Markina, Gernika II, Lekeitio (World Jai Alai Tour), Master 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Internationaux Cesta Punta). Includes first sem-final of ICP SLAM

Note: Txabi Inza suffered a grade 5 ankle sprain during the ICP Master 2 final,. After receiving medical treatment, he continued, playing most of that match with the injury.  He will, according to JAWT, be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. He was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray in Master 3 (ICP) and was scheduled to play with Ohla in the Lekeitio Master Series (JAWT) beginning July 30. He was replaced in that Master Series by Arnaud Alliez.

Eric Irastorza was injured and unable to partner with Diego Beaskoetxea in ICP Master 3. He was replaced by Unai Lekerika. Irastorza was supposed to partner with Alex Hormaetxea in ICP Master 4. He was unable to play in ICP Master 4 and was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray.

Christophe Olha (groin) and Nicolas Etcheto (right bicep) were injured in non-JAWT tournaments before the 3rd place and final matches of the JAWT Lekeitio Master competition. They were replaced by Unai Alberro and David Minvielle respecitively.

For the ICP SLAM competition, the four Masters winners play against each other in a champion of champions competition. To recap:

Master 1: Olharan-Minvielle
Master 2: Olha-Minvielle
Master 3: Beaskoetxea-Lekerika (substituting for the injured Irastorza)
Master 4: Hormaetxea-Eyheragary (substituting for injured Irastorza)

The four teams in the SLAM competition are:

Master 1: Olharan-Lekerika
Master 2: Goikoetxea (substituting for the injured Olha)-Minvielle
Master 3: Beaskoetxea-Irastorza (returning from injury)
Master 4: Hormaetxea-Ihitsague (substituting for Eyheragaray)

Key: Player; Match record; Set record; Point record; Championships won

Beaskoetxea            8-2....14.9-6.3.....286-242.....3
Goikoetxea              7-3....15.3-5.6.....286-252.....2
Olha                         4-4....7.6-9.3.......210-230.....1
Hormaetxea             5-5....7.2-14........246-274.....2
Egiguren                  4-5....9-9.3..........247-223.....1
Olharan                    4-5....7.9-11.6.....252-261.....1
Erik                          2-4....8-5.2..........178-161
J. Tambourindeguy  1-2....3-3.3..........76-80
Barandika                 2-4....4.3-8.3......143-170
P. Tmbourindeguy    0-2....1-3.3.........40-59
Alberro                     0-1....0-2............18-30

Back Court

Irastorza       1-0......2-0........30-11
Etcheto         4-1....6.6-4......151-121.....1
Minvielle      4-1....6.9-4.3...150-143.....2
Enbil             4-2....8-4.........161-149.....1
Eyheragaray  2-1....2.6-4......77-74........1
Lekerika        5-3....11.3-5.6..239-203...2
Aldazabal      5-4...,10.6-8.6..241-226...1
Inza                3-3....6-6.........158-160
Amigorena     3-3....5.6-7.3...166-172...1
Txasio            3-6....8.3-10.9..221-252
Erkiaga          2-4....4.3-8.3....166-174...1
Ihitsague        1-3....4-4.6.......103-111
Alliez             0-4....2-6.6.......80-126
Urtasun          0-2....0-4..........39-60

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

August 12 nine Finals: Hondarribia, Gernika I, Zumaia, Mutriku-Markina, Gernika II, Lekeitio (World Jai Alai Tour), Master 1, 2, and 3 (Internationaux Cesta Punta). The table also includes the semi-finals of ICP Master 4, a championship that has not yet concluded.

Note: Txabi Inza suffered a grade 5 ankle sprain during the ICP Master 2 final,. After receiving medical treatment, he continued, playing most of that match with the injury.  He will, according to JAWT, be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. He was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray in Master 3 (ICP) and was scheduled to play with Ohla in the Lekeitio Master Series (JAWT) beginning July 30. He was replaced in that Master Series by Arnaud Alliez.

Eric Irastorza was injured and unable to partner with Diego Beaskoetxea in ICP Master 3. He was replaced by Unai Lekerika. Irastorza was supposed to partner with Alex Hormaetxea in ICP Master 4. He was unable to play in ICP Master 4 and was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray.

Christophe Olha (groin) and Nicolas Etcheto (right bicep) were injured in non-JAWT tournaments before the 3rd place and final matches of the JAWT Lekeitio Master competition. They were replaced by Unai Alberro and David Minvielle respecitively.

Key: Player; Match record; Set record; Point record; Championships won

Goikoetxea              7-2....14.3-4.3.....264-222.....2
Beaskoetxea            7-2....12.9-6.3.....256-231.....3
Olha                         4-4....7.6-9.3......210-230.....1
Hormaetxea             4-4....5.9-11.......205-222.....1
Egiguren                   4-5....9-9.3........247-223.....1
Olharan                    4-5....7.9-11.6.....252-261....1
Erik                          2-4....8-5.2..........178-161
J. Tambourindeguy  1-2....3-3.3..........76-80
Barandika                2-4....4.3-8.3........143-170
P. Tmbourindeguy   0-2....1-3.3...........40-59
Alberro                    0-1....0-2..............18-30

Back Court

Etcheto            4-1....6.6-4......151-121....1
Minvielle        4-1....6.9-4.3....150-143....2
Enbil               4-2...8-4..........161-149.....1
Lekerika          5-3..11.3-5.6...239-203.....2
Aldazabal        5-3....9.6-7.3....219-196....1
Inza                  3-3....6-6..........158-160
Amigorena       3-3...5.6-7.3....166-172....1
Eyheragaray     1-1...1.3-3........47-52
Ihitsague          1-2....4-2.6........92-81
Txasio              3-6....8.3-10.9...221-252
Erkiaga            2-4....4.3-8.3.....166-174...1
Alliez               0-4....2-6.6........80-126
Urtasun            0-2....0-4...........39-60

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

As of August 5, 2016 eight championships--Hondarribia, Gernika I, Zumaia, Mutriku-Markina, Gernika II (World Jai Alai Tour), Master 1, 2, and 3 (Internationaux Cesta Punta). The table also includes the semi-finals of Lekeitio, the final JAWT championship, which concludes August 13.

Note: Txabi Inza suffered a grade 5 ankle sprain during the ICP Master 2 final,. After receiving medical treatment, he continued, playing most of that match with the injury.  He will, according to JAWT, be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. He was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray in Master 3 (ICP) and was scheduled to play with Ohla in the Lekeitio Master Series (JAWT) beginning July 30. He will be replaced in that Master Series by Arnaud Alliez.

Eric Irastorza was injured and unable to partner with Diego Beaskoetxea in ICP Master 3. He was replaced by Unai Lekerika. Irastorza's availability for Master 4, in which he is scheduled to partner with  Alex Hormaetxea, is unkown at this time.

Key: Player; Match record; Set record; Point record; Championships won

Front Court

Beaskoetxea            7-1....12.9-4.3.....242-201.....3

Goikoetxea              5-2....11-3.3.......201-180.....1

Olha                         4-4....7.6-9.3......210-230.....1

Olharan                    4-4....6.9-10.3.....224-228.....1 

Hormaetxea             3-4....4.6-10.......176-200.....1

Egiguren                  3-5....7-9.3........217-205.....1

Erik                          2-4....8-5.2........178-161

J. Tambourindeguy  1-2....3-3.3........76-80

Barandika                 2-4....4.3-8.3......143-170

P. Tmbourindeguy    0-1....0-2..........18-30 

Back Court

Minvielle                 4-0....5.9-3......122-110.....2

Etcheto                     4-1....6.6-4......151-121.....1 

Lekerika                  5-3....11.3-5.6...239-203.....2

Enbil                        3-2....6-4........131-131.....1

Aldazabal                4-3....7.6-7.3....189-182.....1

Inza                          3-3....6-6........158-160

Amigorena               3-3....5.6-7.3....166-172.....1

Txasio                      3-5....7.3-9.6....199-223

Ihitsague                  1-2....4-2.6......92-81

Erkiaga                    1-4....3-7.3......133-146

Alliez                       0-2....2-2.6......48-66

Urtasun                    0-2....0-4........ 39-60

Eyheragaray             0-1....0-2........18-30

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

As of August 4, 2016 seven championships--Hondarribia, Gernika I, Zumaia, Mutriku-Markina (World Jai Alai Tour), Master 1, 2, and 3 (Internationaux Cesta Punta). The table also includes both the semi-finals of Gernika II and Lekeitio (JAWT), championships that have not yet concluded.

Note: Txabi Inza suffered a grade 5 ankle sprain during the ICP Master 2 final,. After receiving medical treatment, he continued, playing most of that match with the injury.  He will, according to JAWT, be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. He was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray in Master 3 (ICP) and was scheduled to play with Ohla in the Lekeitio Master Series (JAWT) beginning July 30. He will be replaced in that Master Series by Arnaud Alliez.

Key: Player; Match record; Set record; Point record; Championships won

Front Court

Beaskoetxea            7-0....11.9-3...... 216-168.....3

Goikoetxea              5-2....11-3.3.......201-180.....1

Olha                         4-4....7.6-9.3......210-230.....1

Olharan                    4-4....6.9-10.3.....224-228.....1 

Erik                          2-3....7-3.9........148-127

Egiguren                  3-5....7-9.3........217-205.....1

J. Tambourindeguy  1-2....3-3.3........76-80

Hormaetxea             2-4....3.3-9........143-174

Barandika                1-4....3-7.3........109-140

P. Tmbourindeguy   0-1....0-2..........18-30 

Back Court

Minvielle       4-0....5.9-3......122-110.....2

Etcheto           4-1....6.6-4......151-121.....1 

Lekerika        5-2....10.3-4.3...209-169.....2

Enbil              3-2....6-4........131-131.....1

Aldazabal       3-3....6.3-6.3....156-156

Inza                3-3....6-6........158-160

Txasio            3-4....6.3-8.3....173-190

Amigorena     2-3....4.3-6.3....132-142.....1

Ihitsague        1-2....4-2.6......92-81

Erkiaga          1-4....3-7.3......133-146

Alliez             0-2....2-2.6......48-66

Urtasun          0-2....0-4........39-60

Eyheragaray   0-1....0-2........18-30


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

As of July 29, 2016 six championships--Hondarribia, Gernika I, Zumaia, Mutriku-Markina (World Jai Alai Tour), Master 1 and 2 (Internationaux Cesta Punta). The table also includes both the first semi-finals of Gernika II (JAWT) and Master 3 (ICP), championships that have not yet concluded.

Note: Txabi Inza suffered a grade 5 ankle sprain during the ICP Master 2 final,. After receiving medical treatment, he continued, playing most of that match with the injury.  He will, according to JAWT, be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. He was replaced by Nicolas Eyheragaray in Master 3 (ICP) and was scheduled to play with Ohla in the Lekeitio Master Series (JAWT) beginning July 30. He will be replaced in that Master Series by Arnaud Alliez.

Key: Player; Match record; Set record; Point record; Championships won

Front Court

Beaskoetxea             4-0....6.6-2........126-97......2
Goikoetxea              4-2....9-3.3........171-155.....1
Olha                         4-3....6.6-8........186-196.....1
J. Tambourindeguy  1-1....3-1.3........54-50
Egiguren                  3-3....7-5.3........172-145.....1
Olharan                   3-4....5.6-9.3......190-204.....1
Erik                         2-3....7-3.9........148-127
Hormaetxea            2-4....3.3-9........143-174
Barandika               1-3....2-6..........80-110
P. Tmbourindeguy  0-1....0-2..........18-30

Back Court

Minvielle       4-0....5.9-3......122-110.....2
Enbil              3-1....6-2........106-101.....1
Etcheto           3-1....5.3-3......117-97......1
Lekerika        3-2....6.3-4.3....149-127.....1
Aldazabal       3-3....6.3-6.3....156-156
Inza                3-3....6-6........158-160
Amigorena     2-2....3.3-5......103-112.....1
Txasio            2-3....5-5.3......121-131
Ihitsague        1-2....4-2.6......92-81
Alliez             0-1....1-1.3......24-32
Erkiaga          0-4....1-7.3......103-121
Urtasun          0-1....0-2........19-30
Eyheragaray   0-1....0-2........18-30

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

July 26. At the end of five tournaments
Internationaux Cesta Punta Masters 1 and 2
Jai Alai World Tour Hondarrabia, Gernika I, and Zumaia

These standings also include both semi-finals of the Mitruku-Markina Master and the first semi-final of Gernika II Master (\), championships that have not yet concluded.

Key: Player; Match Record; Set Record; Points Record; Championships Won

Front Court

Beaskoetxea        3-0....5.3-1........93-69.......1
Goikoetxea          4-2....9-3.3........171-155.....1
Olha                     4-3....6.6-8........186-196.....1
Erik                      2-2....6-2.6........120-94
Egiguren              3-3....7-5.3........172-145.....1
Olharan                3-4....5.6-9.3.....190-204.....1
Barandika            1-2....2-4..........58-80
Hormaetxea         1-4....1.3-9........113-152
Tambourindeguy  0-1....1-1.3........24-32

Back Court

Minvielle       4-0....5.9-3......122-110.....2
Enbil              3-1....6-2........106-101.....1
Etcheto           3-1....5.3-3......117-97......1
Aldazabal      3-2....5.3-5......128-123
Lekerika        2-2....4.3-4.3....119-105.....1
Inza                3-3....6-6........158-160
Ihitsague        1-2....4-2.6......92-81
Txasio            1-2....3-3.3......69-83
Amigorena     1-2....2-4........70-84
Alliez             0-1....1-1.3......24-32
Erkiaga          0-4....1-7.3......103-121
Urtasun          0-1....0-2........19-30

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

July 15. At the end of three tournaments (Internationaux Cesta Punta Masters 1 competition, Jai Alai World Tour Hondarrabia and Gernika I competitions).

Key: Player; Match Record; Set Record; Points Record; Championships Won

Front Court

Egiguren               2-0....4-0....60-35....1
Beaskoetxea          2-0....3.3-1....63-45....1
Goikoetxea            2-2....5-3.3...111-104
Olharan                  2-2....2.6-6...105-116..1
Erik                        1-1....3-1.3....58-53
Olha                       1-2....2-4.......67-80
Tambourindeguy    0-1....1-1.3....24-32
Hormaetxea            0-2....0-4.......40-60

Back Court

Etcheto                     2-0....4-0....60-35....1
Lekerika                  2-0....3.3-1....63-45....1
Minvielle                 2-0....2.6-2....60-56....1
Ihitsague                  1-1....3-1.3....62-49
Txasio                      1-1....3-1.3....58-53
Enbil                        1-1....2-2....46-50
Inza                          1-1....2-2....49-55
Aldazabal                 1-2....2-4....68-80
Alliez                        0-1....1-1.3....24-32
Erkiaga                     0-2....0-4....45-60
Amegorena               0-2....0-4....40-60

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

July 12: At the end of the Internationaux Cesta Punta Masters 1 competition:

Key: Player; Match Record; Set Record; Points Record; Championships Won

Front Court

Egiguren                   1-0....2-0....30-16
Barandika                 1-0....2-0....30-20
Beaskoetxea             1-0....1.3-1....33-28
Goikoetxea               2-1....5-1.3....92-74
Olharan                     2-1....2.6-4....85-86....1
Erik                           0-1....1-1.3....28-33
Tambourindeguy       0-1....1-1.3....24-32
Hormaetxea               0-1....0-2....20-30
Olha                           0-2....0-4....37-60

Back Court

Minvielle                   2-0....2.6-2....60-56....1
Etcheto                       1-0....2-0....30-16
Inza                            1-0....2-0....30-25
Lekerika                     1-0....1.3-1....33-28
Ihitsague                    1-1....3-1.3....62-49
Aldazabal                   1-1....2-2....51-50
Txasio                         0-1....1-1.3....28-33
Alliez                          0-1....1-1.3....24-32
Erkiaga                       0-1....0-2....25-30
Amegorena                 0-1....0-2....20-30
Enbil                           0-1....0-2....16-30

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