Daily Archives: 7 February, 2009

Jai Alai: Game 7 Dania Jai alai Friday Feb 6th

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Friday Feb 6 2009

GAME 7-Spec 9-Tri,Spr

  1. Xabat-Chasio
  2. Toto-Carvalho
  3. Erik-Larrea
  4. Angel-Elgezabal
  5. Arrieta-Eibar
  6. Korta-Ulises
  7. Olate-Amigoren
  8. Jairo-Sierra II

SUBS: Cancio-Manex


Friday night the 6th of Feb, just another night at the Palace of Dania Jai alai, Heck No!! this night the players were out to showcase their skills. The crowd though not huge , cheering and jeering on most points so I would say there was 2 things for sure, a lot gamblers, and some beer to make it sound like a full house on many points, well maybee not full but half full. lol.

The Night started with a couple of players scratched for the evening, giving a few pelotaris a very busy night. Amigorena and Oyarbide would not be there for their games some of the players would have to play 7 games this evening, taking the place of the scratched players. Lets get to the game, game 7 would start at 9pm eastern time, with 7 games remaining in the evening, Manex was the player who took the place of the scratched Amigorena. Xabat started the match off with an overserve, which was met with jeers from the crowd, Eric and Larrea would take out the Mexican Combo of Toto and Carvalho who had received a freebie thanks to Xabat.

Eric for the fans who dont know is the most talented player to come to dania in a very long time, only 22 years old has the shots and the catching ability of many veterans, Post 3 would run off 3 points in a very aggresive fashion, eric going for the kill shots on when the opportunity was there. Post 5 would send post 3 off the court ,they would be riding the bench in 3 minutes or so later when they were sent packing by Olate and Manex Post 7 , Manex who was subbing for Amigorena to say the least rose to the occasion, catching every ball that came his way,Olate the frontcouter was completely error free throwing with a very high speed to take out many teams, he also was a catching machine scraping balls off the wall that most players could not. This team would be doing the victory dance at the end.

There was a few to many overserves in this game 3 and one underserve. The match was Won by post 7 in the second round plainly outplaying all others on the court. The end result 7-3-2-1 Quinella $33 Perfecta $76 Trifecta $411 and the superfecta $1,042 Time of the match 30 minutes

Mano pairs: Asier and Patxi finally hit the high notes

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Friday 6th February

OLAIZOLA I – PATXI RUIZ beat TITIN III – PASCUAL 22-20

This has been a long time coming. For much of this tournament, Asier Olaizola has been forced to watch little brother Aimar scale the heights while he and his partner, an out of form Patxi Ruiz, plunged the depths. They remain lowly in terms of the overall table but they can now rejoice in a performance which has saved their faces. They hang onto a mathematical chance of qualification for the semi finals thanks to this win over fifth placed Titin and Pascual, although they would need a miracle. Their opponents for their part have failed to gain a crucial point as the fight to reach the last four hits fever pitch and will wait anxiously on other results this weekend to find out where they will stand as they enter the penultimate week.

The first four points of the match seemed depressingly like business as usual; Patxi hit short from the back, as has been his wont in almost every encounter so far. Asier then hit short down the wall and was beaten by Titin before the pair found themselves comprehensively out-manouevred. Asegarce eyes must have rolled. But then in what seemed a most unlikely turnaround, Patxi and Asier took the next eight points and had their opponents yelling and stamping in fury. The Aspe rot started when Titin miscued carelessly from close in to the frontis, and Olaizola pounced, bossing the great Riojan without any regard for his exalted status. While the man from Goizueta seemed inspired, Titin’s attempted winners appeared bafflingly lacking in bite. Pascual played his part by hitting carelessly short, in stark contrast to a rejuvinated Patxi Ruiz. A mishit from a disgusted Patxi halted the Asegarce run and onlookers must have been tempted to assume that Titin and Pascual would now stamp their authority, but despite their own run of points, Asier fired his pair ahead once again to 9-8. The underdogs built another lead, taking the score to 13-9 in their favour. Olaizola managed to partially nullify the Titin factor by hitting long, thus avoiding an ill advised forward battle and Pascual delivered the hoped for errors. However, yet again Titin and Pascual hit back and with the score at 16-16, hearts were in mouths on both sides. When the Aspe pair raced to a 20-16 lead, owing largely to some wayward defensive play from Patxi, surely the die was cast? Titin ensured that this was not the case as his two errors returned Patxi’s favour. With the glimmer of victory only just out of reach, Asier hit again, sending Titin into an undignified full frontal slide into the corner. The final two points were protracted, virtuousic and almost unbearably tense. The advantage ebbed and flowed like an angry river as neither pair would give a centimetre, but once again, Asier, dark curls flying, proved to have the coolest head; a beautifully executed drop shot and an opportunistic long smash sent Titin and Pascual reeling, terminally.

And so, not before time, Olaizola I and Patxi Ruiz have a pulsating win in the bag, to add to their somewhat dismal victory over Xala and Zubieta. Titin and Pascual must surely have viewed this match as an opportunity to regain their composure after last week’s rout at their expense by Olaizola II and Mendizabal II. They should perhaps have recalled the hackneyed adage of the wounded but dangerous beast, for the whipping boys tonight put in jeopardy their very survival in this championship.

Asier Olaizola rampant

Asier Olaizola rampant

Image from: http://www.elcorreodigital.com/vizcaya/prensa/noticias/200804/16/fotos/052D3VIZ001_1.jpg