Monday 19th January
Beotibar, Tolosa
Berasaluze VIII/Begino beat Xala/Laskurain 22-17
Pablo Berasaluze and Aritz Begino of Asegarce earned a valuable point last night in Tolosa, defeating Yves Xala and Aritz Laskurain, who were unable to maintain the form which saw them vanquish the defending champions last week. Begino was the player of the match and dispelled any lingering doubts about the state of his right hand after an operation earlier in the winter. Laskurain, his opponent in defence, could not live up to the standards of his rival and committed a total of nine errors, six balls falling short and three landing wide. Pablo Berasaluze played well enough, although was not up to the level he achieved last summer, but he did sufficiently well to keep Xala at bay. Xala did however enjoy a better game than Laskurain, showing at least intermittent sparkle and doing his best to pin Begino to the back of the fronton. It was he who fuelled an Aspe recovery which saw the score move from 19-10 to 21-17 thus keeping the match alive, but he and Laskurain came up short and it is they who now languish in the bottom half of the table.
Sources: Asegarce, Diario de Navarra
Pablo Berasaluze
What are the amounts of the cash awards? How mych do these players earn annually from playing pelota mano?
I don’t know actually. I will investigate it for you.
/Christian