Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

The 2012 Manomanista Championship was presented earlier this week at the headquarters of La Caixa in Bilbao. The pelotaris representing each empresa are as follows:

For Asegarce: Olaizola II, Bengoetxea VI, Olaizola I, Urrutikoetxea, Beroiz, Albisu and Olaetxea

For Aspe: Xala, Idoate, Mtz. de Irujo, Retegi BI, González, Merino II and Barriola

The first round will begin on 6^th May, with the final on 17th June. Each empresa will also hold play offs for the chance to enter the draw and these began this weekend. On the Asegarce side, Arretxe II won a place by beating Begino 22-8 today. For Aspe, Aritz Lasa came from behind last night to beat Ezkurdia 22-17. He will now face Zubieta for a place in the main draw. The groups look like this:

Group A: Barriola v Beroiz, winner plays Irujo, winner plays Xala

Group B: Arretxe II v Zubieta or Aritz Lasa, winner plays Olaizola I, winner plays Idoate

Group C: Gonzalez v Urrutikoetxea, winner plays Merino II, winner plays Bengoetxea VI

Group D: Olaetxea v Albisu, winner plays Retegi Bi, winner plays Olaizola II

For the full timetable see here