Upset at Adarraga: Titin succumbs to Arretxe

Sunday 21st October, Logrono

ARRETXE II beat TITIN III 22-19

Cuatro y Medio Championship 2nd round

Aspe, cashing in on the popularity of Titin III in Logrono, chose to stage his Cuatro y Medio second round tie in the Riojan capital. However, if the empresa intended this as a coronation, a way to usher their experienced campaigner into the league stage, Iker Arretxe refused to read the script. The first half of the match was incredibly tight, with ties at 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12. Nobody proved able to gain an advantage of more than two points; Titin did this on two occasions, raising hopes that he was beginning to break from the shackles imposed on him by his determined rival, but Arretxe proved tough, playing with speed and verve. The younger man imposed himself for a time thereafter, forging ahead to a 17-12 lead, but to the delight of all at Adarraga, their hero closed to 19-19, punishing Arretxe out wide. A grandstand finish looked in prospect, but Arretxe killed the home party by taking the next three points to reach 22 and break Riojan hearts. After his defeat of the 2007 champion, Arretxe finds himself in uncharted waters. He has never reached this stage of the tournament before but now enters the quarter final league, where he will face Xala on Friday.

Scoring sequence: 1-0/ 2/ 2-4/ 4/ 5/ 7/ 8/ 10-8/ 10/ 12-10/ 12/ 12-17/ 16-17/ 16-19/ 19/ 19-22
Titin: 4 service winners, 1 service error, 1 4 ½ line error, 10 winners
Arretxe: 1 service winner, 16 winners
Strikes of the ball: 263
Match time: 55.41 with 9.43 of actual play