Aimar Olaizola’s lengthy list of successes in 2011 meant that he finished the year ranked number one, and wins the Txapela de Oro for the fourth time in his career after similar success in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The ranking is calculated by manista.com.
The top 20 in the ranking are as follows:
- Aimar Olaizola (Asegarce) 2635 points. 72,55% win rate (51 matches, 37 wins, 14 losses); 195 points advantage. Aimar won two of the three major championships, the Pairs and the Cuatro y Medio, and was a narrow runner up in the other, the Manomanista. He also won the Lekeitio and San Mateo tournaments.
- Xala (Aspe) 1840 points. 56,82% win rate (44 matches, 25 wins, 19 losses), 75 points advantage. Yves Salaberry crowned a year of great consistency with his first Manomanista crown. He was also runner-up in the Pairs.
- Martinez de Irujo (Aspe) 1690 points. 59,02% win rate (61 matches, 36 wins , 25 losses) 70 points advantage. Irujo was Cuatro y Medio runner-up and a Pairs semi finalist, and won the summer tournaments of Zarautz, San Fermin and San Sebastian. He was also San Fermin Cuatro y Medio runner-up.
- Begino (Asegarce) 1375 points. 49,06% win rate (53 matches, 26 wins, 27 losses), 17 points disadvantage. The highest ranked defender was Pairs champion and also won the tournaments of La Blanca and Bilbao.
- Bengoetxea VI (Asegarce) 1240 points. 49,09% win rate (55 matches, 27 wins, 28 losses), 8 points disadvantage. Bengoetxea was third in the Manomanista and won at La Blanca, Nitro Cuatro y Medio and San Fermin.
- Olaetxea
- Berasaluze VIII
- Laskurain
- Barriola
- Merino II
- Merino
- Titin III
- Beroiz
- Idoate
- Albisu
- Cecilio
- Retegi Bi
- Pascual
- Lemuno
- Apraiz
Debutante of the year was without a doubt Mendizabal III, who came 27th in the ranking despite not playing for the full year and won 67.8% of his matches, including the Promocion Cuatro y Medio final.
Titin III and Berasaluze VIII played the most matches in 2011, walking out onto the fronton 64 times. The honour of ending the year with the most wins is shared between Olaizola II and Cecilio, with 37.
For the full ranking list and for more statistics, look at Carlos Zuluaga’s piece at manista.com.
Aimar Olaizola, on top again
Image from Deia
