Tag Archives: Gernika

This weekend’s pelota, and a round-up

Cuatro y Medio: the week that was

Shell shocked Xala beaten 22-12 by Arretxe
The quarter final rotations got underway last Friday, across the bay in Iparralde, when Arretxe II took on Xala in Hendaia. Nobody would have made Arretxe favourite for this game; Xala is by far the more decorated, the more experienced at this level and had near home advantage to boot. However, the upset happened. Xala was simply never in the game and looked utterly lacklustre, but nothing must be taken away from the underdog, for this was not a simple case of the favourite being dramatically off colour. Arretxe bossed almost every point, finishing with a whopping sixteen winners. That Xala made only six errors in a match where he was so comprehensively beaten is testament to Arretxe’s dominance. The final score is flattering to Xala, and came about thanks only to a relatively late rally from the former Manomanista champion, who mustered six winners in a row on the way from 3-18 to 12-19. However, any hope of an extraordinary comeback was dashed by some further Arretxe shot play. Xala appeared stunned, along with his legion of fans, and now has work to do to make the semis.
Scoring sequence: 0-5, 1-5, 1-10, 2-10, 2-14, 3-14, 3-18, 10-19, 12-19, 12-22.
Winners/errors: Xala 8/6, Arretxe 16/4
Balls hit: 197
Match time: 39:42 with 7:13 of actual play

Hendaia

(Image by Patrick Janicek under Creative Commons)

Olaizola II beat Bengoetxea VI 22-13. The following day it was the turn of the defending champion to take the stage in Pamplona, and he demonstrated to the public in no uncertain terms why he has won this title on five occasions. Bengoetxea, although he has never been Cuatro y Medio champion, is a great exponent of the short court game, having won the Navarrese title twice, including the last two editions, but he found the going tough here, despite fighting every inch of the way in his customary style. Olaizola punished him with a physical game, littered with trademark left handed hooks, and although Bengoetxea pushed him close in the mid part of the game, closing to 8-10, he had little answer in the latter stages.
Scoring sequence: 3-0, 6-3, 10-3, 10-8, 13-10, 15-10, 17-11, 18-13, 22-13
Balls hit: 259
Match time: 46 minutes

Pamplona

On Sunday, the pelota cognoscenti gathered in Eibar, where Martinez de Irujo beat Retegi Bi 22-18. In contrast to Friday’s game, this one appeared to be matching the form book from the start, when Irujo stormed into a 10-1 lead. Playing with more speed and vigour than Retegi could handle, the man from Ibero was in complete control. However, spurred on by his great father in the botillero’s chair, the less lauded player fought his way back, first to 4-10 and from thence to 5-13, 13-14 and 15-15 before seizing the lead at 15-16 with his second service winner in a row. His lead grew when Irujo hit low for 15-17 and an upset looked on. However, Irujo snapped into action when it really mattered, breaking his opponent’s heart with a run of five straight points. Retegi pulled on back at 20-18 to restore a little hope, but when he hit high in the next point, Irujo wasted no time in producing a winning serve to take a win which was far less comfortable than it should have been.
Scoring sequence: 2-0, 2-1, 10-1, 10-2, 10-4, 12-4, 12-5, 14-5, 14-13, 15-13, 15-17, 20-17, 20-18, 22-18
Winners/errors: Irujo 16/10, Retegi Bi 8/6
Balls hit: 234
Match time: 40:40 with 9:51 of actual play

Eibar

Berasaluze VIII beat Barriola 22-11. On Monday it was the turn of Abel Barriola and Pablo Berasaluze to strut their stuff as they clashed at Santanape in Gernika. This looked on paper to be a potential close run thing, but Berasaluze proved by far the stronger. He prevented Barriola from unleashing his left arm by taking many balls on the volley and defended like a terrier. With the score at 20-5 in Berasaluze’s favour, Barriola looked to be in for an embarrassing evening but the Leitzarra managed to rally to a degree, saving face by adding six further points. This was nowhere near enough however to prevent the Asegarce player from seizing the day.
Scoring sequence: 1-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-7, 4-11, 5-20, 11-22
Balls hit: 200
Match time: 52 minutes

Gernika

In the Promocion Championship, the results were as follows:
26^th October, Arrigorriaga: OLAZABAL beat ELEZKANO II 22-19

27^th October, Pamplona: JAUNARENA beat LEMUNO 22-16
27^th October, Ezcaray: UNTORIA beat GORKA 22-18
28^th October, Eibar: RICO IV beat APEZETXEA 22-12

This week, the main championship fixtures are:
Friday 2^nd November, Leitza: XALA v BENGOETXEA VI
Saturday 3^rd November, Pamplona: BERASALUZE VIII v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO
Sunday 4^th November, Bilbao: BARRIOLA v RETEGI BI
Monday 5^th November, Tolosa: OLAIZOLA II v ARRETXE II

The Promocion Championship games are:
Friday 2^nd November, Leitza: JAUNARENA v UNTORIA
Saturday 3^rd November, Pamplona: GORKA v LEMUNO
Sunday 4^th November, Bilbao: APEZETXEA v ELEZKANO II
Monday 5^th November: Tolosa: OLAZABAL v RICO IV

Xala the difference in win over Bengoetxea VI and Apraiz

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Sunday 5^th February, Gernika

XALA – LASKURAIN beat BENGOETXEA VI – APRAIZ 22-12

The stage was set fair for Oinatz Bengoetxea and Alexis Apraiz to continue where they left off in beating Irujo and Barriola the previous week. They seemed very much a pair on the up, growing in confidence after a brace of disappointing losses and although the same could be said of Xala and Laskurain, the game promised to be fascinating and closely matched. They also had hometown advantage of a sort, for Apraiz is a native of Gernika. However, further proof of their clear potential failed to materialise, as Xala and Laskurain never looked in the remotest of trouble. Xala alone was the difference; neither defender had a great game and Bengoetxea, the bane of Irujo, was totally out of sorts.

Right from the start, the red pair put their best feet forwards, winning the first three points through a mixture of Xala’s skill and Bengoetxea’s carelessness. The blues picked up their early points thanks to Laskurain’s errors but these were not numerous enough to prevent Xala propelling his pair to an 11-3 lead. He hit some searing winners in this passage, notably his gantxos on 4-2 and 10-3 which Bengoetxea appeared barely to see and he moved his opponents into positions of weakness with minimal effort. On 5-2, his placement succeeded in getting both blues out of position, which led to a miscue from a flummoxed Apraiz. He also put telling pressure on Apraiz, something which Bengoetxea largely failed to do to Laskurain. Apraiz’s error on 8-2was borne of Xala’s persistence and also Bengoetxea’s total inability to get anything past his opposite number, despite trying visibly with all his might.

Xala, potent force though he was, was not immune to errors and lapses on 11-3 and 11-6 gave Bengoetxea and Apraiz fleeting hope of a comeback. They came within four points at 13-9, in the one period of play where Bengoetxea really showed his considerable talents. On 13-7 he bombed Laskurain until he blew it and in the next point, he brilliantly pulled off a txoko winner after being forced right to the back by Xala. However, any window of opportunity was dispelled by Apraiz, who made two errors in the next three points. These, along with another fabulous crosscourt winner from Xala, restored the red advantage to seven points. The one moment of drama occurred at this juncture when Laskurain accidentally struck his partner in the head. The injury was clearly not as serious as that to Arretxe II who was recently hurt in similar circumstances, but as he left for treatment, Bengoetxea and Apraiz must have wondered fleetingly whether the misfortune of their nemesis had handed them an unlikely escape. Happily for Xala though, he returned seemingly unharmed and carried on where he left off. Two wayward hits from Laskurain were an irrelevance in the final analysis, as Xala overcame his nasty shock and a partner not entirely on top of his game, to seize the victory with a service winner.

Sunday’s result means that both pairs now sit on three points, just below the qualification spots, with Xala and Laskurain 5^th and Bengoetxea and Apraiz 6^th. Two pairs sit one point ahead of them and are very much there to be shot at; while Olaizola II and Beroiz appear unassailable at the top and Arretxe and Begino rooted firmly to the bottom, the fight for the other semi final berths is close. With seven rounds to go, both victors and vanquished in this particular skirmish are still firmly in the war.

Scoring sequence: 3-0, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 9-2, 9-3, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7, 13-7, 13-9, 16-9, 16-10, 17-10, 20-10, 20-12, 22-12.

Winners/errors: Xala 11/3, Bengoetxea 2/4, Laskurain 0/6, Apraiz 1/7

Match time: 103.22 with 26.36 on actual play

Balls hit: 534

The last laugh went to the Manomanista Champion

(Photo: mine)

The overall standings are now as follows:

	PAREJA	JUG.	GAN.	PERD.
1	OLAIZOLA II – BEROIZ	7	7	0
2	MTZ de IRUJO – BARRIOLA	7	5	2
3	BERASALUZE VIII – ALBISU	7	4	3
4	TITIN III – MERINO II	7	4	3
5	XALA – LASKURAIN	7	3	4
6	BENGOETXEA VI – APRAIZ	7	3	4
7	ARITZ LASA – ZUBIETA	7	2	5
8	ARRETXE II – BEGINO	7	0	7

Pairs Championship: Olaizola II/Begino slip as Xala/Barriola consolidate

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Saturday 26th February, Pamplona

MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – MERINO II beat OLAIZOLA II – BEGINO 22-13

At the start of the competition, this scoreline would have seemed inconceivable, so ill at ease did the Irujo-Merino II partnership seem. However, they are coming into their own, just as Aimar and Begino appear to have, temporarily they hope, lost the plot. The former leaders have now lost three matches in a row, although there is no need to panic just yet, as they maintain second place on their own. The always well anticipated Irujo-Aimar duel failed to spark, as Aimar played at a level below his exalted best. Both forwards made early errors, but when they found their range mid way through the game, it was Irujo who came of slightly the better. He was ably supported by a Merino growing in confidence, who conceded only one error to Begino’s five. Irujo and Merino now sit in 5th, but are tied on points with Gonzalez and Laskurain in 3rd.

Scoring sequence: 0-1 1-1 2-2 4-4 9-6 10-9 11-1 17-11 17-13 22-13

Friday 25th February, Gernika

XALA – BARRIOLA beat BERASALUZE VIII – APRAIZ 22-14

There were no surprises in Gernika, as Xala and Barriola took their seventh victory to cement their place at the top of the standings. The favourites did not have it all their own way in the early exchanges, being forced to come back from 1-6 and 8-12, but they pulled level at 14-14 and lit the afterburners, employing the extra gear which they so often have at their disposal. Berasaluze and Apraiz failed to add to their score, as Barriola in particular underlined the Aspe partnership’s superiority. The victors are assured of a place in the last four, but it is over and out for their opponents, who despite a mid tournament flourish, have now lost six of their nine games.

Scoring sequence: 1-0 1-6 3-8 7-10 8-12 13-12 13-14 22-14.

Merino II and Irujo continue to grow as a pair

Image from Rioja2.com

Jai Alai: Master Jai's results from Gernika

Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

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