Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

Friday 29th January, Amorebieta-Etxano

TITIN III – PASCUAL beat BERASALUZE VIII – BEGINO 22-15

On Friday night, the people of Amorebieta witnessed an enthralling match, which ebbed and flowed like the tide of the Bizkaia coastline. As is often the case, most eyes were on the forwards. Titin III has played in a way which has belied his years in this tournament so far and applies boundless determination to everything he does. Tenacity is the word which comes to mind at the name of Berasaluze VIII. Pablito is a compact cannonball of a player who throws himself at anything and everything. However fascinating the fight up front though, the defenders were the difference here. Their trade is not as glamorous, not as flashy, as that of their attacking partners. It is rarely left to defenders to fling pinpoint perfect gantxos across the frontis, or to make the crowd gasp, but without a solid defender there is no platform for attack. Rare is the defender who can make something positive out of a desperate rearguard action, and Titin must therefore give thanks daily for the presence of Inigo Pascual at his rear. Berasaluze had no such magic carpet to ride.

The match began positively for Pablito and Begino. The Asegarce pair had failed to fire in the tournament, as they did last year, and for a while it looked as if they had resurrected their touch, assuming a 1-7 lead. The ball was set in motion by two rather ring rusty errors from Titin, but winners abounded too. Berasaluze’s serve was a dominant weapon which set the scene for several beautifully worked set pieces, and Begino, showing a clear intention to test Pascual, managed a rebote which proved unplayable. However, the Aspe pair rallied with intent, drew level at 7-7, and then edged ahead. Begino committed his first two errors at this juncture and they could be seen as symptomatic of what was to come. Pascual’s long range hitting game swung into gear and Titin loosened his arm, outmanoeuvring Berasaluze easily before finishing him off by hitting into clear space.

The middle phase of the encounter was tight and edgy, with the pairs tied at 9-9, 10-10 and 12-12. There were impressive winners from both forwards, as well as, less positively for Berasaluze, a falta, and the battle of the gargantuan strikes from the defenders continued: Pascual sent a searing ball spiralling long and high at a hapless Begino on 9-9 and Begino managed another impressive rebote on 12-12. The Asegarce partnership fought their way to a three point lead at 12-15 and looked composed and set to battle to the death.

However, the game swung in the blink of an eye, and the sea change centred on Begino. In the last nine points of the match, which took the score from 13-15 to 22-15, Begino made seven errors. His misdemeanours came in all forms, from total miscues, to misdirected and mistimed strikes, to overambitious attempted winners. He continued to test Pascual with high bombs but the Aspe defender was more than up to the task, returning everything with interest. The miracle Pascual pulled off to take the score to 20-15 was the shot of the match; pinned to the back wall, he did well to return a long ball in the right direction. Few could have turned it into a winner. True, the losing pair assumed he would not make it until it was too late to get in position for the return, but it underlined both the skill of Pascual and the never say die attitude of his partnership. As Begino lost the plot, his opposite number took up the thread and created a masterpiece.

It is obvious from the mounting error count of Begino that the varying fortunes of the defenders decided the outcome of this match. Pascual, while not free from all error, was a tower of strength, whereas Begino, for all his clever early tactics, crumbled in an instant. Titin also played a blinding game, all swagger and fight. Berasaluze was almost Titin’s equal and deserves credit for some exhilarating play, but Begino became a millstone. This was the third win of the tournament for Titin and Pascual, who now go second in the table. Berasaluze and Begino need to initiate a winning streak if they are going to play a part in the semi finals.

Scoring sequence: 0-1, 1-1, 1-7, 7-7, 8-7, 8-8, 8-9, 9-9, 10-9, 10-10, 10-12, 11-12, 12-12, 12-15, 22-15.

Inigo Pascual had an excellent night

Image from: Diario de Navarra

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Friday 17th April
Amorebieta-Etxano
PATXI RUIZ beat LEIZA 22-13

The first of the third round matches saw the entry of the first former champion. Patxi Ruiz won the Manomanista Championship in 2003, beating an injury afflicted Aimar Olaizola in the final. In order to progress into the latter stages of this year’s competition, the Navarrese defender will have to overcome injury troubles of his own. This very week, he informed the world, through the medium of Radio Euskadi, that he is not sure how much longer his back, which was operated upon in the autumn, will allow him to continue in the sport. He even went as far as to say that he had only entered this championship for the sake of his empresa. What sort of Patxi Ruiz, we wondered, would be on show in Amorebieta on Friday night? In his path stood the 28 year old Bizkaian Inigo Leiza, whose only manomanista triumph came in the second division championship in 2005. Leiza appeared to be in good form, having defeated Berasaluze IX last week, a player who himself has seemed on fire of late. However, in a topsy turvy match, it was Patxi who would overcome.

The early exchanges were all about Patxi Ruiz, who appeared a changed man from the player who, along with Asier Olaizola, propped up the table in the recent Pairs Championship. There, the pelotari from Estella seemed constantly out of his depth and never found any rhythm or confidence. Although the first point in this encounter went to Leiza, Patxi stamped his authority in the course of the next six, his serve and volley working to perfection. His opponent on the other hand looked ill at ease, his three errors coming as a direct result of the pressure exerted by his rival. However, it was not to be one way traffic and Leiza did find his touch. The turning point came in the play which took the score to 2-6; Patxi Ruiz pulled off two excellent saves in defence but could not prevent Leiza from playing him like a puppet on a string. As he dived, Leiza sent the ball spiralling over his head. Leiza went on to take the next five points, aided by three misses on the part of Patxi and two volley winners of his own.

With the score tied at 7-7, the crowd, who were mostly rather subdued, sensed a fight and warmed to the occasion. However, the latent class of Patxi Ruiz began to tell and the former champion, solid rather than flashy, began to build a lead. As the score crept from 7-7 to 12-7, Patxi ground his opponent into the floor in the style of a master accumulator rather than going for the knockout punch, though there was no doubt as to who was the superior player. Patxi displayed strength in closing out points with a beautifully judged drop and a driven volley which confused Leiza to the extent that he did not even chase it, but his greatest strength was in forcing his rival to crack. This was nowhere more obvious than in the point which took the score to 9-7, in which he repeatedly pushed Leiza back, mercilessly testing his overhead volleying power until he could take it no more.

Leiza did find the power to retaliate but his comeback attempt fell short of achieving parity with his opponent and in reality, Patxi never looked like a loser. As he carried on in the same vein of consistency, Leiza looked like a man who knew he was in for a beating. The errors became more numerous and as he hit high, miscued, and sometimes missed altogether, Patxi bossed the closing points with abandon, tying his opponent to the frontis before daring him to fetch balls for which he had to hare backwards in hopeless desperation. Leiza managed to accumulate a handful of points, more through Patxi’s carelessness than his own skill.

So, it is the 2003 victor who progresses to the next round, where he will face the formidable obstacle of defending champion Oinatz Bengoetxea, who showed good form in the curtain raising doubles match which preceded this manomanista encounter. There was little sign in the course of the play of discomfort caused by Patxi’s back, but he did use the rest periods to stretch, indicating that the problem is very much a reality. Only time will tell how much of an onslaught he can withstand, for there will surely be tougher tests ahead.

Scoring sequence: 0-1, 1-1, 6-1, 6-7, 7-7, 12-7, 12-8, 12-11, 15-11, 15-12, 18-12, 18-13 and 22-13.

Patxi Ruiz victorious

Image from: Asegarce

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Saturday 21st March
Amorebieta-Etxano
BERASALUZE IX – URBERUAGA beat MENDIZABAL I – IBAI ZABALA 22-6

In front of a capacity audience in Amorebieta, Asier Berasluze and Xabier Urberuaga were crowned champions in the second tier pairs competition on Saturday. The Aspe pair totally outclassed the Asegarce partnership of Aratz Mendizabal and Ibai Zabala. Zabala played a solid match but could not dent the armoury of 27 year old Bizkaian Urberuaga. The latter gave invaluable support to his attacking partner Beraslauze who used speed and guile to both outwit and out-hit Mendizabal and was especially deadly with his right hand and in his serve. This was a first pairs triumph for the victors, who have both previously won the second tier manomanista title, Beraslauze in 2006 and Urberuaga in 2007. Urberuaga has the added pleasure of going to the top, for the time being, of the manista.com rankings.

Asier Berasaluze

Image from: http://www.gara.net/Repository/Imagenes/Pub_3/Issue_1457/p045_f01.jpg

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