Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

With the Pairs Final still fresh in the mind, the Manomanista Championship kicks off in earnest this week. There have already been various elimination matches for the right to a berth in the main draw. Last Friday, Aritz Lasa beat Aitor Zubieta, clearly lacking in match fitness, 22-4 in Altsasu. Yesterday he played Iker Arretxe in the first round proper, and triumphed 22-10. His next opponent will be Asier Olaizola. Aritz Begino was beaten by Arretxe in their play off, but finds himself back in the draw as a replacement for fellow Asegarce player Mikel Beroiz, who is still afflicted by the injuries he sustained in the Pairs semi finals. His prize is a first round match against Abel Barriola on Sunday. The other first round games are between Gonzalez and Urrutikoetxea (tonight, Orduna) and Olaetxea and Albisu (tomorrow, Tolosa). For the full draw, see ASPE’s website.

The early playoffs in the Promocion championship have also started. Asegarce have given Lemuno and Ibai Zabala passes into the main draw, but the others have to compete to join them. Earlier in April, Apraiz beat Aretxabaleta 22-5 but he was knocked out 22-10 by Rico IV subsequently. Mendizabal II beat Tainta 22-21 and takes on Untoria tomorrow. For ASPE, Gorka and Zabaleta won their opening qualifying matches, beating Ongay and Ladis Galarza respectively. Mendizabal III is also through, having beaten Miguel Merino 22-6. The coming games are between Gorka-Ezkurdia (Arbizu, tonight), Jaunarena-Larrinaga (Sunday) and Olazabal-Zabaleta (Sunday). For the full draw, see here.