Tag Archives: Promocion Cuatro y Medio

Bat, bi, hiru! Jaunarena nets historic third txapela

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Saturday 8th December, Pamplona

JAUNARENA beat UNTORIA 22-20

Promocion Cuatro y Medio Final

Jon Jaunarena lived up to his billing as the hottest young talent contemporary pelota mano last Saturday, becoming the first player ever to win all three Promocion championship titles in the same year. He adds the Cuatro y Medio crown to the Pairs title he won with Cecilio, and the Manomanista. This tournament has not been plain sailing for Jaunarena; he was forced to fight hard by Ongay in his first round match, coming from behind to win 22-19, and was beaten heavily by Gorka in the first round of group matches. However, Gorka’s dip in form coupled with a brace of excellent wins, one over the eventual runner up who qualified from the same group, saw the favourite through. Debutante Elezkano, who was impressive in reaching the semis, was easy prey and a final therefore awaited against Untoria who had come through a tough encounter with Jorge Rico in the last four. Jaunarena was the clear favourite at Labrit, especially given his 22-15 defeat of Untoria in the group stages, but the pressure was immense. The 20 year old knew that history beckoned and that a win would likely provide a launch pad into the elite echelons of the sport. The final was a tense one, played with great passion in front of a capacity crowd. Jaunarena raced to a 7-0 lead as if to eschew once and for all any notion that the expectation might get to him. However, Untoria proved a tougher adversary than this early discrepancy suggested and came roaring back into contention at 11-11. The rivals could not be split in the ensuing passage of play, finding themselves tied at 12, 13 and 14 before Jaunarena edged ahead again, taking an 18-15 lead. Again his opponent retaliated, coming to within a point at 18-17. In a developing pattern, Jaunarena surged once more, this time to 21-17 and match point. He made his army of supporters sweat however, ceding three straight points to a determined Untoria before finally seizing the championship, and with it the record, 22-20.

With this victory comes adulation but also expectation. Jaunarena is now seventh in the Manista.com rankings, above such established luminaries as Xala, Barriola and Laskurain, and his youth points to a career of greatness. However, Aspe will need to handle him well; his potential is clear but in order to deliver he will need astute management and a solid head. For now though, Leitza’s new champion can enjoy his success and growing celebrity while Oinatz Bengoetxea attempts to give the town its fourth txapela of 2012 against Aimar Olaizola on Sunday.

Scoring sequence: 7-0/ 7-2/ 8-2/ 8-3/ 9-3/ 9-8/ 11-8/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 17-14/ 17-15/ 18-15/ 18-17/ 21-17/ 21-20/ 22-20
Service winners/errors: Jaunarena 4/1, Untoria 4/0
Winners/errors: Jaunarena 13/7, Untoria 6/4
Match time: 74 minutes
Balls hit: 286

There is a good post match interview with Jaunarena in Noticias de Gipuzkoa, if you understand Spanish or have Google Translate to hand. There are also some pictures on Aspe’s Flickr (I can’t find any pictures of Jaunarena at all which are out of copyright so can’t post any directly!).

Cuatro y Medio: the State of Play

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Many apologies for the lack of updates, right in the middle of the Cuatro y Medio Championship; I have been away and things rather got on top of me. I promise that after this brief catch up on where we are in proceedings, normal service will resume!

In the main championship, we know the identity of one finalist but the second semi-final has yet to be played. Oinatz Bengoetxea is through after his semi-final defeat of Pablo Berasaluze in Pamplona last weekend. The man from Leitza, who has won the Navarrese 4 ½ championship for the past two years, won 22-16 to reach his first ever Cuatro y Medio Championship final. The second semi, between Aimar Olaizola and Juan Martinez de Irujo, was due to take place last Sunday at a sold out Bizkaia. However, Irujo’s immune system proved unequal to the task and a virus for the winner of 2006 and 2010 necessitated a postponement. The match will now take place this Sunday in Bilbao.

In the Promocion Championship, both semis took place as planned. First through to the final was Alvaro Untoria, who beat Jorge Rico 22-19 last Friday. Joining him will be Jon Jaunarena, who dispatched new professional Danel Elezkano 22-11 in Tolosa on Monday. This is the third Promocion final in a row for Jaunarena, who has already won the Pairs and Manomanista titles this year. A third win would be some achievement. It is also worth noting that of the four finalists across the two competitions, two come from Leitza, a small town of only 3000 inhabitants. Given Jaunarena’s rise, we could see a local derby like the 2008 Manomanista final in which Bengoetxea defeated fellow Leitzarra Barriola, before too long.

The final awaits Oinatz Bengoetxea

The final awaits Oinatz Bengoetxea

Photo: mine

Cuatro y Medio: the Qualification Fight Intensifies

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The Cuatro y Medio Championships, both the main competition and its Promocion counterpart, and nearing their endgame. As the semi-finals approach, we take a look at what happened this week. Who is through, who is out and who must play for their survival?

There were two thrillingly close games in the main championship last week. The first of these took place in Leitza on Friday, where BENGOETXEA VI beat XALA 22-20. The Navarrese town of Leitza, which sits a short distance over the border from Gipuzkoa, is something of a pelota hotbed. Bengoetxea is one of three current professionals who hail from there (the others being Barriola and Jaunarena). Home support can act in one of two ways, either putting further pressure on a player or pushing him to greater heights, and fortunately for Bengoetxea, the latter scenario played out. It was, however, desperately close; neither player managed a lead of more than three. In the middle portion of the game, Xala briefly threatened to put Bengoetxea on the rack with a quick fire run of four points, consisting of two errors from his opponent and two crunching hooks of his own. However, just as at every point where one or other pelotari found themselves with a lead, it was cancelled out. The game was not a vintage one from the point of view of consistently staggering shot play, although both proved why they are top tier professionals on various occasions, but for sheer tension it would have been hard to beat. The home favourite looked like he had finally broken from the shackles in the closing stages, going ahead 20-17 with the line in sight, but Xala fought back to 20-21 before a commanding txoko sealed the day. Bengoetxea now has one win and one loss in the quarter final league, so his fate depends on what happens this weekend. Xala, with two defeats, is out.

In Pamplona on Saturday, affairs were even tighter when BERASALUZE VIII pulled a 22-21 triumph against MARTINEZ DE IRUJO out of the fire. Whatever Berasaluze’s multitudinous merits, this result ranks as an upset, especially given the circumstances of the play which unfolded. Irujo went ahead 10-1 and 14-4 and to fall this far behind to a player of his quality should be terminal. However, Berasaluze, proving once more that in tenacity he is second to nobody in the world of pelota, came roaring back with a display littered with stinging hooks and audacious volleys. Irujo appeared utterly powerless as his Bizkaian rival took an unlikely 18-14 lead. There was a further twist when Irujo looked to have restored order, seizing the lead back at 19-18, but having come so far, there was no way Berasaluze would let the victory slip away. The players tied on 19, 20 and 21 but it was the underdog who dealt the final blow, winning by the smallest possible margin before the crowd rose in a standing ovation richly deserved by both. This result means Berasaluze is assured of a place in semi-finals, having defeated Barriola last weekend. Irujo, with a narrow victory and a narrow loss to his name, must beat Barriola on Sunday to go through.

Things were rather easier for the defending champion OLAIZOLA II, who was pushed hard in the early stages but in the end registered a comfortable 22-13 win over ARRETXE II.  Iker Arretxe has been something of a revelation in these championships, reaching the quarters by beating Titin and then backing this up with an easy win over Xala. Keeping pace with Olaizola at the mid-point of this game alone would have represented an improvement on his Pairs Championship form of earlier this year, but Aimar found a fifth gear when pressed and eased into the semi-finals with his second win, having beaten Bengoetxea by the same margin last week. Arretxe and Bengoetxea will play off this weekend for the second semi berth from Group A.

Back in Group B, BARRIOLA fought off RETEGI BI, winning 22-15 in Bilbao. The match was extremely tight in the early stages, with the protagonists locked together at 11-11. However, from this juncture it was the defender, unusually in Cuatro y Medio, who imposed himself. Barriola took seven points in a row to lead 18-11 and although Retegi closed to 18-14 he found the route back barred to him. Barriola therefore lives to fight another day, though he must defeat Irujo this weekend, while Retegi is out whatever the result of his game with Berasaluze VIII.

This weekend’s fixtures are:
Friday 9th November, Beasain: Berasaluze VIII v Retegi Bi
Saturday 10th November, Pamplona: Bengoetxea VI v Arretxe II
Sunday 11th November, Eibar: Barriola v Martinez de Irujo
Monday 12th November, Tolosa: Olaizola II v Xala

In the Promocion Championship, the semi-finalists are all set. From Group 1, Elezkano and Rico IV go through. Elezkano won his place thanks to an impressive 22-8 win over a far more experienced opponent in Jon Apezetxea. His only defeat in the tournament has been a narrow loss to Olazabal, and making it to this stage is quite a coup for the teenager who has only been a professional since September. Rico IV beat an off-colour Olazabal 22-12 to book his berth. In Group 2 everything came down to the final weekend but it was Jaunarena and Untoria who received their tickets to the last four. Gorka needed a win over Lemuno to progress but he fell three points short, losing 22-19. Jaunarena, playing in his home town of Leitza as a curtain raiser to fellow local Bengoetxea, did what he needed to do in defeating Untoria, but needed to wait until the other match was completed before absolute confirmation of his progression. Untoria goes through despite his loss, thanks to Gorka’s defeat. Both the semi finals take place next weekend. Rico IV plays Untoria in Najera on Friday 16th while the details of Jaunarena v Elezkano are yet to be confirmed.

Cuatro y Medio: the week that was

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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

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

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

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

Gernika

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

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

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

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


Promocion Cuatro y Medio success for Gorka, Olazabal, Untoria and Elezkano

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The first rotation of quarter final league matches in the Promocion Cuatro y Medio took place this weekend and while two saw easy wins, two were very tight indeed. First in the easy winners category came Gorka Esteban, who thumped Jon Jaunarena 22-9 in Logrono on Sunday. This was another superb performance from the 22 year old Riojan, who had eliminated Ezkurdia in a nail biter to get to this stage, against arguably more fancied opposition. He gets home advantage in his next game on Saturday, when he plays Untoria in his native town of Ezcaray. Equally impressive in victory was Mikel Olazabal who dispatched Jon Apezetxea 22-5 in Tolosa last night. Olazabal was probably the favourite here, but given Apezetxea’s impressive defeat of Zabaleta in the first round the signs were that this would be closer than it was. In the first of two cliff-hangers, Danel Elezkano a professional for less than two months, showed great character in coming from behind to snatch a 22-21 win from Jorge Rico in Balmaseda. Rico looked to have things sown up, but a combination of several errors on his part and the determination of his young opponent put paid to his hopes. Also grabbing a 22-21 win was Alvaro Untoria who beat Stephane Lemuno in Bilbao on Saturday. As with Rico on Friday, Lemuno seemed home and dry, but the Riojan proved why you should never relax until the line has been crossed. The fixtures for the next rotation are as follows:

Friday 26th October, Arrigorriaga: OLAZABAL v ELEZKANO II
Saturday 27th October, Ezcaray: GORKA v UNTORIA
Saturday 27th October, Pamplona: LEMUNO v JAUNARENA
Sunday 28th October, Eibar: APEZETXEA v RICO IV

A Guide to the Promocion Cuatro y Medio

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The Promocion championships are often left by the wayside amidst the chatter which surrounds the top tier competitions, which is a shame. The battle for the second tier txapela involves the potential future Olaizolas and Irujos and is an excellent guide to the credentials of up and coming young players, quite apart from being championship equally as hard fought as its more trumpeted counterpart. This year’s Promocion Cuatro y Medio featured a round of elimination matches to decide the composition of a quarter final league. These games finished on Sunday and produced the following results:

OLAZABAL beat MERINO I 22-10 (Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 5/10/12)
UNTORIA beat IZA 22-13 (Vitoria-Gasteiz, 6/10/12)
JAUNARENA beat ONGAY 22-19 (Eibar, 7/10/12)
APEZETXEA beat ZABALETA 22-13 (Arbizu, 14/10/12)
GORKA beat EZKURDIA 22-20 (Arbizu, 14/10/12)

Gorka Esteban made the quarters after an impressive defeat of Ezkurdia

Gorka Esteban made the quarters after an impressive defeat of Ezkurdia

Thus Olazabal, Untoria, Jaunarena, Apezetxea and Gorka proceed to the league stage. Meeting them there will be Elezkano, Rico IV and Lemuno, who were granted automatic entry. The quarter final league is divided into two groups of four, with Elezkano, Rico IV, Apezetxea and Olazabal in Group A and Untoria, Gorka, Lemuno and Jaunarena in Group B. Each player will play each of the other three in their group, with the top two proceeding to the semi-finals, to be held on 11th November. The final will be on 24th November in Tolosa. The quarter final league matches begin on Friday, and the fixtures for the first rotation are:

Friday 19th October, Balmaseda: ELEZKANO v RICO IV
Saturday 20th October, Bilbao: LEMUNO v UNTORIA
Sunday 21st October, Logrono: JAUNARENA v GORKA
Monday 22nd October, Tolosa; OLAZABAL v APEZETXEA

(Photo: mine)

Cuatro y Medio success for Urrutikoetxea, Saralegi, Apezetxea and Gorka

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In addition to the wins for Olaizola I and Arretxe II described in greater detail below, this weekend also saw Urrutikoetxea and Saralegi proceed to the second round of the Cuatro y Medio championships. Urrutikoetxea scored a comfortable win over Gonzalez in Tolosa, subjecting the 2009 winner to a 22-11 defeat. Urrutikoetxea played with great pace and virtuosity, displaying his full repertoire of hook and drops in often spectacular fashion. An increasingly disillusioned Gonzalez had no answers and ended with eleven errors. He now plays Oinatz Benogetxea in Balmaseda on Friday.

Statistics: 0-4 4-8 6-9 9-12 9-18 10-21 11-22, Urrutikoetxea 2 service winners/2 faltas, Gonzalez 0 service winners/0 faltas, 213 balls hit, 46 minutes played

Also in Tolosa, Saralegi got the better of Albisu, winning 22-12 to set up a meeting with Retegi Bi. Albisu is far from a specialist in the short court form of the game but made Saralegi work for every point in a game which was tougher than the scoreline suggested. However, once Saralegi opened up a gap over the younger player, his need for struggle abated.

Statistics: Saralegi 3 service winners/1 falta, Albisu 3 service winners/1 service falta, 195 balls hit, 46 minutes of play

In the Promocion Championship games played in Arbizu today, Apezetxea came from behind to beat Zabaleta 22-13 before Gorka scored a stunning 22-20 triumph over Ezkurdia.

Urrutikoetxea is through to round two in style

Urrutikoetxea is through to round two in style

Photo: mine