Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

I first got to see Bereikua play at Ocala back in 2003.That’s the first year Orlando replaced the Ft Pierce players,who had alternated between the Fort & Ocala.He came there with the reputation of a Superstar and lived up to the hype .He handily won the most wins and the frontcourt Doubles Championship but was denied the Triple Crown by Aizarna who had Bereikua’s number in the singles competition. I can remember asking Jack Carr who was visiting Ocala,to watch this guy play.He did and said “do you believe that” Bereikua had executed a shot with such power it was unbelievable ,especially for his size at that time.

The photo below shows his tender side but believe me he has another side and it’s tough.Back in 2003 in Spain in a Championship Tournament Bereikua-Enbil against Barronio-Irastorza he was hit in the mouth with the pelota hard,knocking out three teeth and bleeding badly.Well, he just stopped long enough to stuff some guage into his mouth and continued playing.

Since joining Miami on Thursday Feb 12th,he has turned in 6 wins from 38 starts playing in the late games with the best players in the world. His biggest career disappointment was when he played at Dania,back in 03/04 he never seemed to get untracked and turned in average stats. Bereikua is from Gernika,Spain,stands 6’1″ and weighs around 190 Lbs.He will turn 34 this November.He also played at Orlando and the Basque Country and has a long list of accomplishments including a Championship partido win over Goikoetxea in I believe a 35 point match.