Friday 10th February, Urretxu

22:00 (CET) RICO IV – OTXANDORENA* v MENDIZABAL III – LADIS GALARZA Promocion Pairs (Otxandorena replaces Untoria)

Followed by XALA – LASKURAIN v ARITZ LASA – ZUBIETA Pairs Championship

Sunday 12th February, Bilbao

17:00 (CET) GONZALEZ – PENAGARIKANO v IDOATE – MERINO

Followed by TITIN III – MERINO II v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BARRIOLA Pairs Championship

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv, http://www.eitb.com/es/television/etb-sat/ or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

The other Pairs Championship ties this weekend are: BENGOETXEA VI – APRAIZ v ARRETXE II – BEGINO (Tafalla, Saturday) and BERASALUZE VIII – ALBISU v OLAIZOLA II – BEROIZ (Barcelona, Saturday)

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Friday 3rd February, Idiazabal

18:30 CET (listed at this time by Deporte en Directo but it may be later. The schedules are not clear) RETEGI BI – LARRINAGA v APEZETXEA – PENAGARIKANO

Followed by BERASALUZE VIII – ALBISU v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO - BARRIOLA Pairs Championship

Sunday 5th February, Gernika

17:00 (CET) OLAZABAL – LARRINAGA v TAINTA – ARGOTE Promocion Pairs

Followed by XALA – LASKURAIN v BENGOETXEA VI – APRAIZ Pairs Championship

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv, http://www.eitb.com/es/television/etb-sat/ or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

The other Pairs matches this weekend are OLAIZOLA II – BEROIZ v ARITZ LASA – PASCUAL* (Pamplona, Saturday) and TITIN III – MERINO* v ARRETXE II – BEGINO (Logrono, Sunday)

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Friday 27th January, Hendaia

22:05 (CET) JAUNARENA – CECILIO v MENDIZABAL III – LADIS GALARZA Promocion Pairs

Followed by XALA – LASKURAIN v OLAIZOLA II – BEROIZ Pairs Championship

Sunday 29th January, Bilbao

17:00 (CET) URRUTIKOETXEA – IZA v LEMUNO – ARETXABALETA Promocion Pairs

Followed by TITIN III – MERINO II v BERASALUZE VIII – ALBISU Pairs Championship

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv, http://www.eitb.com/es/television/etb-sat/ or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

The other Pairs matches this week are between MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BARRIOLA and BENGOETXEA VI – APRAIZ (Bilbao, Saturday) and ARITZ LASA – ZUBIETA and ARRETXE II – BEGINO (Tolosa, Monday)

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Friday 13th January, Larrainzar

22:00 (CET) OLAZABAL – LARRINAGA v MENDIZABAL III – LADIS GALARZA Promocion Pairs

Followed by BERASALUZE VIII – ALBISU v ARRETXE II – BEGINO Pairs Championship

Sunday 15th January, Logrono

17:00 (CET) RETEGI BI – PASCUAL v EZKURDIA – MERINO 

Followed by XALA – LASKURAIN v TITIN III – MERINO II Pairs Championship

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

The others Pairs Championship games this week are between OLAIZOLA II – BEROIZ and BENGOETXEA VI – APRAIZ  (Pamplona, Saturday), and MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BARRIOLA and ARITZ LASA – ZUBIETA (Wednesday, Mungia).

In the Promocion Championship, PENAGARIKANO replaces Arruti tomorrow and plays with GORKA against JAUNARENA and CECILIO. On Sunday, LEMUNO – ARRETXABALETA play RICO IV – UNTORIA in Logrono while URRUTIKOETXEA – IZA play TAINTA – ARGOTE in Mungia.

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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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Olaetxea
7. Berasaluze VIII
8. Laskurain
9. Barriola
10. Merino II
11. Merino
12. Titin III
13. Beroiz
14. Idoate
15. Albisu
16. Cecilio
17. Retegi Bi
18. Pascual
19. Lemuno
20. Apraiz

Debutante of the year was without a doubt Mendizabal III, who came 27^th 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

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There is extra live pelota this week thanks to the inaugural Bizkaia 5 1/2 Pairs Tournament. The two semi finals take place tonight. Unfortunately Saturday’s final is not on ETB. The main Pairs Championship takes a break this weened but the Promocion Championship kicks off tomorrow in Eibar. Coverage is as follows:

Thursday 5th January, Bilbao: Bizkaia 5/12 semi finals

19:30 (CET) TITIN III – BARRIOLA v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – MERINO I

Followed by BERASALUZE VIII – BEROIZ v OLAIZOLA II – PATXI RUIZ

Friday 6th January, Eibar

22:05 (CET) OLAZABAL – LARRINAGA v JAUNARENA – CECILIO Promocion Pairs Championship

Followed by: TITIN III or MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – PENAGARIKANO v EZKURDIA – PASCUAL

Sunday 8th January, Eibar

17:00 (CET) APEZETXEA – CECILIO v IDOATE – LADIS GALARZA

Followed by GONZALEZ – MERINO v EZKURDIA – PASCUAL

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

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Friday 23rd December, Tolosa

22:15 (CET) RETEGI BI – LADIS GALARZA v APEZETXEA – PENAGARIKANO

Followed by XALA – LASKURAIN v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BARRIOLA Pairs Championship 2nd rotation

Sunday 25th December, Eibar

17:00 (CET) OLAZABAL – MERINO v MENDIZABAL III – ZABALETA

Followed by TITIN III – MERINO II v ARITZ LASA – ZUBIETA Pairs Championship 2nd rotation

In addition to the normal professional games, ETB will also show the finals of the Torneo Diario Vasco for elite amateurs on Christmas Day at 12:00 (CET).

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/ 

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Saturday 3^rd December, Tolosa

MENDIZABAL III beat LEMUNO 22-15

Aitor Mendizabal has only been a professional pelotari since 17^th July but on Saturday he took the first steps towards realising his staggering potential, beating Stephane Lemouneau to the Promocion Cuatro y Medio crown. The 22 year old from Antzuola played a consistently excellent tournament, beating Zabaleta and Rico IV comfortably on his way to the semi-finals, before comprehensive wins over Ongay and Albisu. His only significant challenge came from his eventual final opponent Lemuno, whom he squeezed past 22-21 in his second semi-final, halting a charging comeback at the very last minute. Given the closeness of their previous encounter, another tight match was expected here, but in the event Mendizabal was easily superior to his more experienced rival and showed little by way of nerves as he strode to victory.

With the exception of the first point, Mendizabal was ahead throughout, extending his advantage as far as 11-4 and 17-7. Lemuno, at whose behest the final was delayed from the previous weekend as a result of his hand injury, looked aimless and lacking in ideas. Many had Lemuno down as their favourite for the title, despite his sketchy performances in qualifying, and he was not without his chances to fulfil his billing. He threatened another comeback against his young opponent in closing to 11-17 and 15-19 but in the end his errors were his own undoing. Two late service fouls were the nails in his coffin and Mendizabal showed no sign of choking, deploying his customary verve and pace to pick up the first txapela of what promises to be a successful career.

Scoring sequence: 1-0, 1-5, 3-5, 3-6, 4-6, 4-11, 7-11, 7-17, 11-17, 11-18, 12-18, 12-19, 15-19, 15-22

Service winners: Lemuno 5, Mendizabal 1

Service errors: Lemuno 2, Mendizabal 0

Winners: Lemuno 7, Mendizabal 11

Errors: Lemuno 5, Mendizabal 3

4 ½ line faults: Lemuno 1, Mendizabal 0

Match time: 53 minutes

Botilleros: Salva Vergara with Lemuno y and José Mari Mendizábal with his son Mendizabal III

Aitor Mendizabal, an impressive prospect

Picture: mine

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Friday 2nd December, Donostia-San Sebastian

22:15 (CET) ONGAY – LADIS GALARZA v JAUNARENA – LARRINAGA

Followed by XALA – BARRIOLA v MARTINEZ DE IRUJO - LASKURAIN

Sunday 4th December, Eibar

17:00 (CET) OLAZABAL – MERINO v GORKA – PENAGARIKANO

Followed by RETEGI BI – ZUBIETA v ARITZ LASA – PASCUAL

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.tv or http://www.eitb.com/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/ 

Also this weekend is the Promocion Cuatro y Medio final between MENDIZABAL III and LEMUNO, postponed from last week due to Lemuno’s hand injury (Tolosa, 18:00 CET, Saturday). It will be televised by Nitro and so unfortunately will not be viewable online.

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Aspe today announced the signing of 20 year old Joseba Ezkurdia for the next three years. The forward, who hails from Arbizu, will play his first professional match on 28th December in Tolosa. His partner and opponents are yet to be named.

Name: Joseba Ezkurdia Galárraga
Place and date of birth: Arbizu, 22/4/1991
Position: Forward
Weight: 93 kgr.
Height: 1,91 m.
Amateur results: Campeón Campeonato de España manomanista 2011; Campeón Copa del Mundo manomanista 2011; Campeón Torneo Elgeta 2011.

Image from: Diario Vasco by Felix Morquecho

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