Aimar gains his revenge on Irujo in mano a mano rout

Saturday 8th August
Ogueta, Vitoria-Gasteiz
OLAIZOLA II beat MARTINEZ DE IRUJO 22-9

In a repeat of the Manomanista final, Aimar Olaizola played Juan Martinez de Irujo in a mano a mano match at Ogueta on Saturday, as part of the Virgen Blanco festival. Although an inconsequential game in terms of championships or the history books, this encounter had been talked up in the Basque press as something of a grudge match, with Aimar determined to avenge his 22-12 defeat to his great rival and prove his doubters wrong. There was no webcast so I cannot bring you a proper match report, but it is clear that Aimar reminded everyone of his status as a great champion in fairly emphatic style, racing to a 7-0 on his way to a 22-9 win. It is the second consecutive win over Irujo for the forward from Goizueta, following on the heals of his triumph in the final of the Navarrese Cuatro y Medio Championship last month.

Scoring sequence: 0-7, 4-7, 4-13, 5-13, 5-14, 7-14, 7-17, 9-17 and 9-22.
Match time: 40 minutes and 28 seconds
Stirkes of the ball: 195

Winners on serve: Olaizola 7, Irujo 1
Faults on serve: Olaizola 0, Irujo 0
Winners in play: Olaizola 10, Irujo 5
Errors: Olaizola 3, Irujo 5

Statistics from Diario Vasco: http://www.diariovasco.com/20090809/deportes/pelota/donde-toman-200…

Rivals: this time, as here, Aimar was on top

Mikel Ezkerro