Tag Archives: Irujo

A British Girl in the Basque Country, Part 2: Lezama and Hondarribia

(You can read Part 1 HERE!)

We awoke on Friday morning to brilliant blue skies. The Basque Country was in the throws of a heat wave and it was set to continue. Our first port of call in an action packed day was a visit to the EiTB offices where we would meet my contact there, Igor Lansorena, and be shown around. My blog has been hosted by EiTB for over two years now and it was fabulous to see where the organisation operates and how everything works, as well as to meet the person with whom I’ve exchanged so many emails over the months! As well as all the offices, we had a look at the news studios, so familiar from ETB Sat. Here I am, pulling my best Serious News Reader Face:

Trying to look the part

Trying to look the part

Up until the evening, cycling filled the agenda, for this was the day the Vuelta a Espana returned to the Basque Country for the first time in 33 years. It was a special day on so very many levels and even now, looking back, I can hardly believe we experienced what we did; Euskaltel Euskadi’s Igor Anton, from Galdakao, just a few kilometres outside Bilbao, broke away on his own roads in front of friends and family to win on the Gran Via amidst scenes of collective and uproarious joy. The sight of the small and somehow vulnerable figure, celebrating as he rode through a sea of orange and ikurriñas was both beautiful and moving, something we felt highly privileged to have witnessed. I won’t go into too much more detail here, as I wrote about it on the cycling blog Podium Café; take a look at that for more outpourings of my Euskaltel love! This historic win would have been quite enough to make our day one to remember, but there was still pelota to come…

Local boy Igor Anton is just slightly happy

Local boy Igor Anton is just slightly happy

After the cycling, we walked back to the EiTB offices to meet Igor (Lansorena rather than Anton, who was presumably still beaming in the midst of a packed press room at this point) who was going to drive us to Lezama for the evening’s televised matches. It certainly felt surreal to be attending rather than watching back at home in the usual Friday evening slot. Lezama is a short drive from Bilbao and is known mainly for being home of the Athletic Bilbao training grounds, but football is not the only sport to be practised here and we arrived in plenty time at the small and slightly provincial feeling fronton. This fixture had a decidedly local feel to it; players were jogging around in the car park and we stepped straight from the outside virtually onto the playing area to take out seats. I came to love the immediacy of pelota, the fact that such great athletes are so close and so accessible. We were in Lezama not as ‘public’ but as guests of EiTB, and the first moment of the evening to make me grin from ear to ear was an introduction to Xabier Euzkitze, pelota presenter and commentator whose voice I knew so well. It felt like a great honour and I was so touched when he told me he knew about this blog. I truly felt welcome and at home in a foreign land.

There were two games on the menu for the evening. The first was between Apezetxea and Larrinaga, and Jaunarena and Merino, the former pairing winning 22-19. I don’t remember all that much about the game itself, but I certainly recall the moment not far into it when I saw a man approaching from my left with a video camera and a microphone. Now, I know they like to interview members of the crowd at matches, but they usually pick upon former players, people from the empresas and the like. Now it seemed the target was me and my jaw nearly hit the floor. I suppose I can understand why an English girl watching pelota in Lezama is considered out of the ordinary, especially when she runs a blog on it! I had no time to think of what to say so I’m sure I didn’t sound at all erudite, but I don’t think I said anything too unfortunate. Once again I was overwhelmingly flattered and excited, and couldn’t stop grinning. Amusingly, when we got back to Bilbao later that night, my friend turned on the TV while I was in the bathroom and hollered through the door at me that I was on it. Out I rushed to see my face on the screen and hear my very English accent ringing around the room. I’ve maybe used the word ‘surreal’ too many times, but please can I use it again here?!

In the second match, Retegi Bi and Zubieta beat Titin III and Zabaleta 22-13. We had seen Zabaleta accidentally injure Aritz Lasa the night before, and tonight it was his turn to do himself a mischief, landing literally at my feet on his right shoulder before leaving the fronton for treatment. Thankfully for him, he was able to return, but could not prevent Retegi and Zubieta from taking a classy win.

After 'The Interview'

After 'The Interview'

Lezama

Lezama

Merino

Merino

Titin

Titin

On Saturday, we went to Oier Zearra’s farewell match in his home town of Galdakao. I won’t write about that as I did a separate post on it, which you can read here. I felt it really deserved its own piece.

Sunday was our final full day in the Basque Country and for the first time, we left Bizkaia. The day’s matches, televised by ETB, were in Hondarribia which nestles up against the French border, across the estuary from Hendaye. We left Bilbao in the morning on the bus to San Sebastian, along with legions of people wearing the bottle green supporters’ garments of Kaiku, for today it was the famous Bandera de la Concha, one of the greatest of the traditional summer rowing competitions which are held up and down the Basque coast each. When we arrived in San Sebastian we realised swiftly just how big this day was in the local calendar. Kaiku’s fans were joined by those of all the other boats, including many for the eventually victorious Urdaibai, creating a colourful and good natured throng. We failed to see much at all of the actual competition save a boat or two in the distance, but merely being there was a fabulous experience.

A boat!

A boat!

Lots of people

Lots of people

We saw....very little!

We saw....very little!

The heaving old city

The heaving old city

However, we couldn’t while away the day in San Sebastian, beautiful and vibrant though it was, for we had to catch another bus to Hondarribia. We got there intentionally early in order to have a look around the old town, and we found yet another Basque gem, full of cobbled streets and gorgeous traditional houses, overlooking the water in one direction and the mountains in the other. Hondarribia, seemingly like almost everywhere else, was in the midst of its fiesta and food and drink was flowing in its pintxo bars.

Hondarribia's old town

Hondarribia's old town

Cobbled street

Cobbled street

In advance of the 5pm start time, we made the short walk to the fronton, which is on the edge of the town centre, outside its old protective walls. Hondarribia’s fronton was the largest one we had been to and it was almost full. It felt far more like a big sporting event than the other, rather cosier feeling evenings in smaller frontons had. We sat further from the frontis this time, in order to get the defenders’ perspective and gain an understanding for the vast distance they are required to hit.  In the first match of the evening, Zabaleta put his bad week behind him, teaming up with Gorka to beat Idoate and Cecilio 22-19.

Xabier Euzkitze got a helping hand from Abel Barriola

Xabier Euzkitze got a helping hand from Abel Barriola

Idoate

Idoate

Zabaleta throws to Idoate

Zabaleta throws to Idoate

Idoate and Zabaleta discuss

Idoate and Zabaleta discuss

Gorka is interviewed

Gorka is interviewed

The feature match once again included my favourite Zubieta, this time playing with Xala with whom he won the Pairs Championship in 2010. We were very excited to see this Rolls Royce of a couple in action, but they failed to fire with Xala especially off colour, losing to Irujo and Pascual 22-13. This was a small disappointment, both to me and to the middle aged woman on my right who was either Zubieta’s mother or was madly in love with him. Much to our amusement, his every strike of the ball was met with a whispered ‘aupa Aitor!’ from the terribly tense sweaty palmed fan, and his every error with a shriek of dismay.

Irujo smiles

Irujo smiles

All set

All set

A laughing Manomanista Champion, Xala

A laughing Manomanista Champion, Xala

Children take to the fronton once the pros have left

Children take to the fronton once the pros have left

When the last point came to an end, hands had been shaken and the players had retreated out of sight, I felt suddenly empty and rather sad. It was over. We hung around the fronton like lost souls, wandering onto the playing area to take in every vista, to commit everything to memory. We were just about to leave when Zubieta, still in kit, came jogging past. With pure reflex action, I somehow managed to ask him for a photograph in some bizarre mixture of Spanish, English and a little Basque. He apologised for having to run straight to a TV interview but came over when he was finished and happily posed for me. I have little clue what he said, but he was delightful. Milesker Aitor! Zabaleta also smiled for the camera. And so, that really was it. The next morning we were back in England, a little numb and a little sad, but brimming over with wonderful memories, of people, places and sporting action as well as a greater appreciation for the culture, the rhythms and the soul of Euskadi and its wonderful sport of pelota. I will be back, and soon.

No caption needed!

No caption needed!

Zabaleta, relaxed

Zabaleta, relaxed

All photos are mine

Manomanista Final: the defining dual of our era

Atano III, San Sebastian, 18:00 (CET) OLAIZOLA II v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO

 Live on ETB-Sat: https://www.eitb.eus/television/etb-sat

 At 6pm on Sunday, the world of pelota mano will stand still. The Basque Country over, time and place will become an irrelevance as fans young and old turn their minds and hearts to a world within a world, a world bounded by green walls and baying crowds, banners and television cameras. On Sunday, the two men who have ruled and defined pelota mano in the 21st century compete for the holy grail of their sport, the Manomanista title, in San Sebastian. Both Aimar Olaizola and Juan Martinez de Irujo have been here before and know the sweet taste of success but each will lay their entire being on the line in the quest for txapela number three. It is the dream final; since the turn of the century, 28 major championships have been held, and between them, Aimar and Irujo have won 13 of them, this despite the presence of other towering figures of the modern game such as Titin III and perennial bridesmaid Barriola. Their qualification for the Manomanista final means that they have reached every major final this season, Aimar having beaten Irujo in the Cuatro y Medio final in December and Irujo (with Goni III) having got the better of Aimar (with Mendizabal II) in the pairs final in the spring. It is divine justice that they should meet again.

 The defining duel of our era continues on the greatest of all stages; if you watch only one match of pelota mano this year, let this be it.

Manomanista final: Aimar and Irujo choose their playing material and discuss their chances

The two great pelotaris poised to clash in the Manomanista final on Sunday met at 12 noon today to select the balls they will use at Atano III. Aimar Olaizola selected balls weighing 106.4g and 105.3g, while Irujo went for heavier choices at 106.7g and 105.9g.

At a press conference which followed the selection, Olaizola declared his satisfaction with his balls and looked ahead to another meeting with his arch rival. He declared Irujo “hard to beat”, due to the pace of his play and his strength in the air. He highlighted lack of recent match practice as his major problem heading into his meeting with Irujo but seemed satisfied with his training and stated that the speed of the fronton at Atano III would suit him. Aimar is in the unusual position of having reached the final after playing only one match, this due to the injuries of his would be opponents, Barriola and Beloki. He professed that it felt ‘weird’ to reach the final in this way and stated that Irujo is the clear favourite owing to his greater competative experience of late. Aimar, due to the misfortune of cancelled games, has not played a competative match in over a month, and despite not having lost a game since the pairs final, the nature of his form is anybody’s guess. The Goizuetarra admitted his own doubts, declaring his fear at his possible lack of top end pace as a result of his enforced lay-off.

However, Irujo is in no mood to underestimate his opponent, who whatever his form, remains a great champion. He acknowledged the sense behind his favouritism with the bookmakers, having overcome three potential banana skins in Xala, Gonzalez and Bengoetxea VI, with barely a hair out of place. However, the man from Ibero does not place any store by odds, insisting that he will play the game as if his chances are 50-50. He recognised Aimar’s ability to rise to the big occasion, as well as his ruthlessness, given half an opportunity to impose himself. Irujo declared him “hard to beat” and a pelotari at the pinnacle of the game, who will come out and play “100 or 120%” to claim the top prize.

Sources: Asegarce, Diario de Noticias

 

Aimar and Irujo, ready to lock horns again

Aimar and Irujo, ready to lock horns again

2nd Division Manomanista Final: classy rookie Beroiz takes the title

Saturday 23rd May
Beotibar, Tolosa
BEROIZ beat ARGOTE 22-13

Mikel Beroiz has been a professional pelotari for all of nine months but yesterday the 19 year old from Navarre defeated Jokin Argote to lift the second division manomanista title in commanding style. Beroiz carried the slightly shorter odds going into the final but to beat a man five years his senior in his first major final, at this stage in his nascent career, is a significant achievement. The enthusiastic crowd at Beotibar was treated to an enthralling match in which both players displayed classic shot making prowess but it was the exciting youngster who brought the greater power to bear.

For the first half of the encounter, the pelotaris were deadlocked, reaching 6-6 and 8-8 after a sprightly start from Argote had netted him an early lead. Beroiz then advanced to 13-8 and had seemingly cut himself free, but once again the scores were levelled at 13-13. However, Beroiz now demonstrated his physical prowess, and after a total of eight service winners in a match lasting 55 minutes and 221 strikes of the ball, the young pretender was crowned. Argote began well and took the game to his opponent in the early stages but it was the strength of Beroiz, his violence in attack and his clever use of the walls which saw him through. Remember the name, for we will hear much more of Mikel Beroiz.

Source: El Correo

Victory for Mikel Beroiz

Victory for Mikel Beroiz

Other news

Earlier in the evening, the fans were treated to a high quality doubles match between Manomanista finalist Juan Martinez de Irujo and Asier Arruti, and Asier Olaizola and Oier Mendizabal. For Irujo this was a chance to maintain his barnstorming form of late as he prepares for his showdown with either Aimar Olaizola or Ruben Beloki on June 7th. However, things did not quite go to plan for him as Olaizola senior and Mendizabal took the win by a solitary point. Losing Manomanista semi finalist and defending champion Oinatz Bengoetxea also went down by one point; at the Mañaria Festival, he and Alexis Apraiz lost to Pablo Berasaluze and Oier Zearra by 22 points to 21. Meanwhile, in the headline match at the Arbizu Festival, Titin III and Zubieta beat Gonzalez and Lasa III 22-15.

Olaizola I took on Irujo and won

Olaizola I took on Irujo and won

Mano pairs: Irujo and Goni win the dead rubber and head to the final in style

Saturday 14th March
Labrit, Pamplona
MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – GONI III beat BERASALUZE VIII – BEGINO 22-15

Juan Martinez de Irujo and Fernando Goni have completed a clean sweep in the semi finals by defeating Pablo Berasaluze and Aritz Begino at Labrit. The victors had already claimed their place in the final on 29th March but served to bolster both their confidence and their status as probable favourites. For the losers, this was their chance to leave the competition with their heads held high; instead, the pair who have illuminated this competition on more than one occasion finish bottom of the last four.

In a game where both forwards played with spirit in attack and competitive determination, it appeared as if the Asegarce pair would fold in all too dramatic fashion, finding themselves down 3-9. However, in an exciting run of play, they turned the scorecard on its head to lead 11-9, making the game more competative than the Pamplona public can have hoped. It was not to last; step forward Irujo, who pulverised his opponents with a startling display of winners to which the ever lively Berasaluze had no answer.

In the end, the Asegarce competitors could do nothing but salute Irujo’s mastery but although disappointed, they must take encouragement from the form which saw them qualify in first place at the end of the quarter final rounds. Their contribution to this championship has been as a welcome gust of fresh air. Irujo and Goni will both play next weekend as they aim to fine tune their game to face the defending champions in San Sebastian in the ultimate showdown.

Dominant: Juan Martinez de Irujo

Dominant: Juan Martinez de Irujo

Image from: http://manista.blogs.com/bitacora/images/2008/11/17/irujo_adarraga.jpg