MARTINEZ DE IRUJO –BARRIOLA beat BERASALUZE VIII – ALBISU 22-13

A narrow loss to Titin and Merino last week aside, Berasaluze and Albisu had been going excellently in recent rotations. They must surely have come into this match at a teeming Idiazabal with high hopes of toppling Irujo and Barriola, who were looking to stave off a third loss on the bounce. However, in a match which was not always pretty, the favourites battled from 2-6 to 15-8 and maintained a comfortable margin to the end. Irujo clearly had the better of Berasaluze, who was too error prone to maintain any lasting pressure. He managed nine winners to three errors, and while his forward rival beat him nine times, he also lapsed on seven occasions. The defenders were slightly more evenly matched, but the figures give an accurate indication of a Barriola who was more in control than his young counterpart Albisu. Irujo and Barriola rise to second, while Berasaluze and Albisu slip below them into third.

Scoring sequence: 1-0/5-1/6-2/7/8-15/10-15/11-17/13-18/13-22

Winners/errors: Irujo 9/3, Berasaluze 9/7, Barriola 2/1, Albisu 0/3

Match time: 52 minutes with 21 minutes of actual play. Balls hit: 449

OLAIZOLA II-BEROIZ v ARITZ LASA-PASCUAL* Suspended at 14-9 due to an injury to Pascual

Aitor Zubieta was replaced by Inigo Pascual in Tolosa due to an injured hand, and it was extraordinary bad luck for he and partner Aritz Lasa that his replacement succumbed to a strained back soon after. Lasa and Zubieta badly need points and this misfortune robbed them of any chance, though in reality a win against the top pair would have been unlikely. Neither has it done much for their points difference; while Olaizola and Beroiz had begun to accelerate away when the injury occurred, they were not completely out of the running and would likely have minimised the damage at the least. As it is, Olaizola and Beroiz now have their seventh win and stay resolutely on top, while Lasa and Zubieta only have two and are second from bottom.

TITIN III-MERINO* beat ARRETXE II-BEGINO 22-12

Arretxe and Begino travelled to Logrono with a mountain to climb if they wished to secure their first win of the competition. Titin and Miguel Merino, playing in place of his brother David who has an injured hand, were the favourites here and had the added advantage of a home Riojan crowd. The underdogs started well and tracked their rivals closely before drawing alongside them at 8-8. Begino showed some of his true class early on, taking the game to Merino but when the latter found his form, Begino had Little answer.Titin was far more potent tan Arretxe, who continues to appear rather out of his depth in the top flight.

Scoring sequence: 4-0/ 4/ 7-4/ 7-5/ 7/ 8-7/ 8/ 14-8/ 14-9/ 16-9/ 16-10/ 20-10/ 20-11/ 21-12/ 22-12

Winners/errors: Titin 12/2, Arretxe 8/4, Merino 2/2, Begino 1/4

Match time: 56 minutes, Balls hit: 488

Titin III out did Arretxe II with ease

In the Promocion Championship, Urrutikoetxea-Otxandorena* beat Gorka-Arruti 22-13, Mendizabal III-Penagarikano beat Lemuno-Aretxabaleta 22-14, Apezetxea*-Larrinaga beat Tainta-Mendizabal II* 22-10, and Ongay*-Cecilio beat Rico IV-Untoria 22-17.

Photo: mine

Share on Facebook

Sunday 22^nd January, Bilbao

OLAIZOLA II – BEROIZ beat MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BARRIOLA 22-15

It is unusual for an early stage round robin match to feel like a final, but from the packed house at Bizkaia, the electric atmosphere and the ruthless desire and intensity inherent in the play, it appeared every bit like one. The Pairs Championship has been craving this match, a head to head between the two pairs who have proved themselves head and shoulders over the opposition. There had been little high octane excitement in the competition up until this point, with too many matches ending in a landslide, so the fans resolved to enjoy this clash of the titans to the hilt. The result will probably mean little in the final analysis, for all these pairs need to do for the moment is make sure they saunter into the semi finals, but Olaizola II and Beroiz took a victory for morale, first blood, and inflicted upon Irujo and Barriola quite a body blow in a match which scintillated from start to finish.

There were two distinct periods in the match, one in which the pairs were so evenly matched that they could not be prised even a centimetre apart, before Aimar opened his shoulders to seize the day, supported by a fabulous Beroiz. As in any match involving Aimar and Irujo, most of the interest focussed on them in the latest round of their rivalry. Last time they met, Aimar rattled Irujo like never before in the Cuatro y Medio final and it seemed that here, his victim was in no mood to concede again, nostrils flaring and eyes glaring as he hurled himself after every ball. The defence of both the forwards was staggering; somehow, they sent spiralling back balls which appeared like sure fire winners and which probably would have been against many professional opponents. Both also induced gasps in attack. Aimar’s service return on 2-1 had to be seen to be believed; Irujo certainly appeared utterly incredulous as he saw the ball rip past him to his right, dipping to the base of the frontis and falling with incredible placement into open space. No less fabulous was Irujo’s dos paredes at 6-8 which found an almost unfeasible angle to dig him and Barriola out of a dreadful hole.

While the stellar forwards fought tooth and nail at the front, there was a no less intriguing battle playing out behind between experience and youth. Barriola is the consummate defender, a seemingly impenetrable wall, impossible to crack. 21 year old Beroiz, however, is not fazed by reputations and threw himself headlong into a war of attrition. Each attempted to grind the other down with patience and nerve and while each was stunningly good, Beroiz held the aces. Not only did he return the long ball with metronomic ease, but he also joined in attack, notably with a txoko winner out of the blue at 12-10. Asegarce must be beaming all over their faces at their signing of Beroiz from Aspe, for he is assuredly the real deal.

From 13-13, the Asegarce pair started to edge ahead and it appeared as if for the first time someone had grabbed the proverbial bull by the horns. On 15-13, Aimar and Beroiz got themselves into an extraordinary mess but somehow pulled themselves out of it to win the point, and it seemed as if this might finally break Irujo and Barriola’s resolve. However, a careless error from each threw the momentum away. For many pairs, this may have been a moment of panic and game changing frustration, but for Aimar it provided all the incentive he needed to seal the deal. Four crosscourt winners from the rampant defending champion, plus two errors forced by tactical mastery won the game as Irujo and Barriola became suddenly impotent in the face of a team both mentally and physically at the height of their powers. True, this win is little more than an early salvo but the confidence it will have given the victors may prove a vital edge when it really matters.

Scoring sequence:  2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-3, 5-3, 5-9, 11-9, 11-10, 13-10, 13-13, 16-13, 16-15, 22-15.

Winners/errors: Olaizola 12/5, Beroiz 1/2, Irujo 7/5, Barriola 2/2

Match time: 1:10.15, with 35:38 of actual play

Balls hit: 709

Mikel Beroiz: the real deal

Image: mine

Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

Saturday 17^th December, Pamplona

MARTINEZ DE IRUJO  – BARRIOLA beat TITIN III – MERINO II 22-17

Saturday’s game at Labrit went to the form book as the tournament favourites registered a win in their opener. However, they were pushed extremely hard by the Riojan duo of Titin and David Merino. Although Irujo and Barriola game out all guns blazing and surged to a 5-0 lead, their opponents found their feet and managed to sneak ahead at 8-6 and 9-7. Irujo and Barriola dominated most of the rallies but the red pair finished them well, with Merino controlling play impressively from the back. At 14-13 there was nothing to choose between the protagonists. However, thereafter the favourites began to exert their control. Merino’s level dropped and Barriola, who finished the match without a single error, was king. Irujo also lifted his game, though he was inconsistent throughout, and without Merino firing on all cylinders, Titin looked one dimensional. Irujo and Barriola never fully threw off the shackles of their rivals, who tracked them closely and fought hard, but this was in the end a job well done.

Scoring sequence: 0-5, 5-5, 5-6, 8-6, 8-7, 9-7, 9-11, 12-11, 12-13, 14-13, 14-16, 15-16, 15-19, 16-19, 16-21, 17-21, 17-22

Service winners/errors: Titin 1/0, Irujo 0/0

Winners/errors: Titin 8/0, Irujo 12/8, Merino II 0/6, Barriola 4/0

Match time: 63:13

Balls hit: 530

Irujo was inconsistent but did enough

Source: Diario Vasco, Photo: mine

Share on Facebook

It was do or die at Bizkaia. The baying capacity crowd knew it and the players knew it. The atmosphere was that of a final and the intensity almost overwhelming as Aimar Olaizola and Abel Barriola battled for their lives in the championship. The winner would net automatic qualification and the chance to take on Juan Martinez de Irujo for the txapela and the loser would leave with nothing. Aimar, the best player of the year, was the clear favourite, especially in the light of Barriola’s drubbing at the hands of Irujo the previous week, but the majority of the support was for the underdog who pushed the more fancied player for almost every minute of the hour it took to decide the winner. Aimar took the spoils in each department but was forced to scrap as hard as he has done all year, always ahead of Barriola but never able to bang the final nail into his coffin until the very end. Barriola’s refusal to lie down made for scintillating theatre but his beligerence must surely have pushed the nervous of disposition on both sides of the fence to the limits of their endurance.

A roar of anticipation rose from the crowd as Aimar took the first serve but fell rather flat as he opened his account with a falta. This was not the way the four time champion would have wished to start and although he negated the error in the next point when a powerful gantxo clattered into the seating like a warning shot, he lost the next two points to an error and a dos paredes from Barriola. Barriola seemed the more assured on this first assessment, and Aimar appeared unusually nervous. Two winners, and airez into space and a gantxo returned the score to parity at 3-3 but Barriola moved again, taking a 5-3 and 6-4 lead. Barriola controlled the space better and picked and executed the better shots, while Aimar chased the game, fighting like a demon to stay in each point. In this early passage of play, the does paredes proved both Barriola’s ally and his downfall. Two he hit with aplomb and two missed their target, ultimately handing the serve back to Aimar, and bringing him back to within one point. Given Aimar’s apparent unease, it seemed likely that the game would continue to hang in the balance, but from 6-6 he lit the fuse and pulled away, a different player in sweeping unopposed to 14-7. Barriola had a chance to stem the tide when an airez winner gave him the serve back at 7-11, but he handed it straight back with a most untimely falta. He was unable to counter the power of Aimar’s shot play, paticularly the searing strength of his left arm crosscourt play; five of his points in this run were taken with either a gantxo or an airez from left to right.

The Olaizola camp breathed a sigh of relief, for it was difficult to see how Barriola could overcome their man’s resurgent force. However, Barriola was anything but bowed by his predicament and set about plugging the gap in the scoreline. He gradually played his way back into the match and started his retaliation with three straight points to stand at 10-14. He closed further still to 12-15 before coming withing two points at 14-16 with a powerful service winner. Aimar eeked out a three point lead once more with a textbook ganxto-followed-by-txoko routine and then a service winner of his own and it appeared as if calm had been restored; four points stood between him and the final and his opponent stood a further four points in arrears. Barriola, though, never gives up and when Aimar carelessly hit high to make it 18-15, the door was open once again. Within three points Barriola had put himself firmly back in the frame, sitting at 17-18 and with his tail up. Aimar, rattled, retreated to the chair for the counsel of his brother Asier. When he returned he achieved three point lead once again but he was forced to fight tooth and nail for it. The first of the two points was gifted to him by an error from Barriola but the next was unbearably tense, a salvo of balls flying back and forth before he somehow, maybe through willpower alone, turned Barriola’s dos paredes into a miraculous winner across the frontis to the left hand wall. As the adage goes, no guts no glory. Abel, extraordinarily, came back again with a stunning gantxo eliciting a furious fist pump. Aimar was two points from victory but the line still seemed so very distant. Fortunately for the favourite, Abel gave him the help he craved, hitting low twice in a row to crown an auspicious effort with an inauspicous ending.

The relief was written for all to see across the faces of both Olaizola brothers as they embraced, but as we were later to find out, a lingering worry lurked behind their smiles. Aimar had hurt his finger trying to sccop up Barriola’s point-winning serve at 18-17 and went straight to hospital for a scan. The scan revealed a small crack in the tip of the middle finger of his left hand. This injury puts into a cetain degree of doubt the date of the final, due to be held in Bilabo on Sunday 27th November, All the signs are that he will be able to play and the Asegarce medical staff see no major cause for concern, but a decision will be taken after he has trained tomorrow or Friday following four days of rest. In the event that he cannot play on the 27th, the final will be moved to the 4th December. Whatever the outcome, Olaizola II and Irujo will renew their scintillating rivalry on the biggest stage in a match not to be missed.

Scoring sequence: 1-0, 1-1, 3-1, 3-3, 5-3, 5-4, 6-4, 6-11, 7-11, 7-14, 10-14, 10-15, 12-15, 12-16, 14-16, 14-18, 17-18, 17-20, 18-20, 18-22.

Balls hit: 270:

Match time: 59:51 with 12:22 of actual play

Olaizola II: winners 13, errors 8

Barriola: winners 14, errors 5

Aimar Olaizola will go for his fifth title against Irujo

Image from El Correo by JM Lopez

Share on Facebook

Sunday 30^th October, Eibar

BARRIOLA beat XALA 22-15

Abel Barriola is unusual in being a defender who is an expert player of the Cuatro y Medio variety of pelota mano. It is a game more suited to forwards who are used to the lightning cut and thrust of play close to the frontis, a fact borne out by the identities of the tournament’s recent string of winners which has included Olaizola II. Irujo, Titin III and Gonzalez. Barriola was one of only two defenders to start in this year’s championship, and the other, Patxi Ruiz, fell at the first hurdle. The man from Leitza has twice been a runner up in the 2000s, both times to Irujo, and is once again flying the flag for his breed. Sunday’s win over Manomanista Champion Xala was a triumph of calm assurance and an unshakable will to overcome, qualities which could once again take him to the brink of greatness, or maybe even to its lofty heights.

From the outset it was clear than a high quality game was in the offing. The players, colleagues in the Pairs at the start of the year and now adversaries, went at each other hard and could not be separated at 4-4. The opening points featured a range of both skills and lapses from both, highlights being the accuracy of Xala’s dipping service and a quite stunning dos paredes from Barriola which gave him a brief lead at 2-3. However, from this early parity it was Barriola who forged an onward path, winning six points to Xala’s one to lead 10-4. He opened his run with another dos paredes, which expertly skimmed the frontis and then died on impact with the floor and continued with an unlikely return winner from Xala’s gantxo. Xala, obviously rattled and little helped by an emergency time out, hit wide and low in succession, before a Barriola service winner continued the rot. To go to 4-10, Barriola produced a ball to the wide court’s open spaces which Xala could only stand back and admire.

Barriola seemed unstoppable and Xala out of ideas, but his war councils with botillero Aitor Zubieta began to bear some fruit just when required. The next passage of play was all about the man from Iparralde, who emulated Barriola in seizing six points on the bounce to regain the lead at 12-11. Barriola’s sequence ended when his drop attempt faded and fell low. He regained the serve straight away with a dos paredes error from Xala , but then three errors and some textbook cross court play from his rejuvenated rival negated his admirable defensive efforts. At 11-11 Barriola had a golden chance to win the initiative back with the point at his mercy before his gantxo missed its target, and amazingly, Xala was ahead. The pair traded blows, tied once again at 12 and 13, and it seemed as if this tie may go to the wire.

However, Barriola, never worked up and always in control of his emotions, was in no mood to let his erstwhile colleague take the spoils and he set about calmly and gradually eking out a new advantage. Xala once again let mistakes creep into his game and this aided Barriola, now serving with venom, to a four point lead at 13-17. It was a gap which Xala proved unable to bridge. He pulled two back when Barriola pushed his reply to a dos paredes wide and then fluffed a close range dos paredes of his own, but Barriola kept building. Xala helped to drive the nails into his own coffin with a falta on 15-19, and Barriola wasted no time at all in sealing the deal with a fourth dos paredes winner and an easy txoko. Having kept his emotions behind a veil for the duration of the encounter, Barriola released them with a whoop of joy. His dream of another final is very much alive and while he is not there yet, he can eye the prize. Will 2011 be the year of the defender?

Scoring sequence: 1-0, 1-2, 2-2, 2-4, 3-4, 4-4, 4-10, 5-10, 5-11, 12-11, 12-12, 12-13, 13-13, 13-17, 14-17, 14-19, 15-19, 15-20, 15-22.

Xala: winners (6) errors (7) service winners (3) service errors (1) 4 ½ line errors (1)

Barriola: winners (10) errors (5) service winners (3) service errors (0) 4 ½ line errors (1)

Match time: 55:09 with 10:33 of actual play

Balls hit: 264

Botilleros: Aitor Zubieta with Xala  and Miguel Irigoien with Barriola

Abel Barriola: on course

Image from Noticias de Gipuzkoa, by David de Haro

In the Promocion Championship, the semi final played yesterday in Eibar was won by Mendizabal III, who beat Ongay 22-11. The neo-pro was always on top, leading 9-1, 10-2 and 15-4. A late rally from Ongay was nowhere near enough. The impressive debutante will play his second semi final against fellow first rotation victor Lemuno in Antzuola on Friday.

Share on Facebook

Friday 20^th October, Beasain

BARRIOLA beat RETEGI BI 22-20

While Julen Retegi might never the scale the dizzy heights of his great father Julien, his recent progression as a championship player has been plain to see. The 26 year old has three second tier championships to his name, the Manomanista in 2008 and the pairs in 2008 and 2007 and subsequently made the step up to the major league. He got to the quarter finals in his first attempt at the main Cuatro y Medio draw in 2008 and progressed to greater things a year later, making the semi final league with an unlikely but deserved win over Olaizola II in the quarters. Last year he fell to Barriola in the last eight and this time around he had a golden opportunity to make amends in a repeat fixture. That this introduction has discussed the loser rather than the winner is testament to the fact that Retegi was the orchestrator of this match, the hare which Barriola was forced to chase. The younger man played as if possessed, only undone by the cool head of his desperate elder at the last. Credit is due to Barriola, but it is hard to imagine him ever having been pushed as hard.

Retegi came out of the blocks like a lightning bolt, making it abundantly clear that this game would not be Barriola’s by right. He won the first six points with ease, and his opponent was shut firmly out of the fixture. Uncharacteristic errors from Barriola played their part in this early meltdown, but Retegi showed enormous tactical skill in pushing him into places from which he could not escape. He sealed the early lead with a clever shot into the side wall in reply to a Barriola dos paredes which emerged as the wrong option in the circumstances. It seemed as if Barriola would come back as he took the text two points with classy winners, a skidding ball cross court and a dipping ball into the wall which caught Retegi off balance, but the early leader was anything but fazed. In taking affairs to 8-3, Retegi showed his ability to defend to death or glory, turning a point which should have gone to Barriola into a point for himself. Barriola looked to have taken it with a dos paredes but Retegi stretched for all he was worth, leaving Barriola tumbling and then sitting and slapping the floor in abject disgust.

The next passage of play belonged to Barriola, as he closed from 3-8 to 11-11. Though Retegi picked up points through a Barriola error, a wide skimming winner and another sterling defensive effort culminating in a ball of genius behind his opponent’s back, Barriola looked to have his number. His serve began to fire, as he picked up three sakez winners and he began to hit with aplomb to all corners. Retegi showed the first signs of fraying edges with a despairing wide gantxo on 9-11. Perhaps the big match experience of Barriola was paying off. However, it was then Barriola’s turn to throw away his momentum as his improving serve fell apart with a falta, possibly born of an attempt to be just a little bit too clever. Though he recovered the serve with a txoko in the next play, Retegi marched again, opening up a four point lead at 16-12. Each of these points was a stunning gem of pelota; the first saw a long dipping winner into the side wall, the second another point which Barriola should have won, was turned around brilliantly by Retegi’s dogged defence, and the gap was established with an astonishing long drop which stopped dead upon hitting the floor and a ball into acres of space out wide. Once again, Barriola was forced to respond, and respond he did, returning to level pegging at 16-16 but once again proved incapable of taking the lead. Again Retegi opened a gap, going up 19-16, once again turning epic defence into attack before pulling out a txoko and a drop of pure class.

It seemed improbable that Barriola would have the strength or resolve to recover. The line was in sight for Retegi and his morale was flying high. Barriola’s body language, in contrast, revealed a man puzzled and amazed by the tenacity of an opponent who refused to be headed. However, when it truly mattered, Barriola called upon all his nerve and all his willpower, coming through as only a champion can. From 18-19 down he went to 20-19 up with three service winners in a row, blowing Retegi’s cool confidence out of the water. It was the younger player’s turn to be rattled and it must have been with some relief that he saw Barriola’s shot in the next point dip low to regain parity. However, Barriola now moved with the confidence of a man for whom the final stages of a championship are well and truly home. When Retegi went wide to give him match point, he exhibited all the cool in the world to produce his eighth sakez. He jumped for joy as if the txapela itself were his.

Even Barriola’s most hardened fan cannot have left the fronton without a consoling thought for Retegi. Most of the memorable moments were his, and his defence was stunning in the extreme. Time and again he forced Barriola to come from behind, calling all the shots and issuing all the challenges. At times Barriola seemed lost as he tried in vain to work out a way to get past his opponent. In the end, he kept calm when it mattered most and used all his experience of crucial ties to come through. It is he who makes the final four, but the highly impressive Retegi will use this experience as ammunition for his next championship assault, and his future opponents will surely give him the respect he deserves.

Scoring sequence: 0-6, 2-6, 2-7, 3-7, 3-8, 7-8, 7-10, 9-10, 9-11, 11-11, 11-12, 12-12, 12-16, 13-16, 16-16, 16-19, 20-19, 22-10.

Barriola: 8 service winners, 1 service fault, 9 winners, 7 errors

Retegi Bi: 1 service winner, 11 winners, 5 errors

Balls hit: 318

A sigh of relief for Abel Barriola

Image from El Correo

Share on Facebook

Tonight sees the return to competition of Abel Barriola after five months on the sidelines following a wrist operation in April. The defender has been cautious about the timing of his return, fearing a relapse and wanting to be fully fit for the Cuatro y Medio Championships. Also tonight, there are two semi finals in the San Mateo Cuatro y Medio tournament. Retegi Bi plays Idoate in the first, which will be televised. The second is between Arretxe II, replacing Saralegi who has a hand problem, and Olaetxea. Cecilio and Lemuno have already progressed to the next stage, beating Zabaleta and Untoria respectively.

Monday 19th September, Logrono

19:15 (CEST) RETEGI BI V IDOATE

Followed by OLAIZOLA I – APRAIZ v GONZALEZ  – BARRIOLA

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

Share on Facebook

OLAIZOLA II – BEGINO beat XALA – BEROIZ 22-14

Phenomenal Aimar hits 16 winners in a performance of power and grace, as Xala fails to scale the heights

The word ‘epic’ is oft overused in the sporting arena, but while not especially close, this final was something akin to it. Take 3000 ecstatic fans in a new cathedral of a fronton, a great player on a mission to scale the summits he enjoyed prior to a serious injury, and a 35 year old desparate for his first professional txapela and hardly able to walk for the pain in his leg, and you have the recipe for a very special drama. Aimar Olaizola is one of the modern giants of the game, a man who has collected trophies for fun throughout his illustrious career. However, in last year’s Manomanista Championship he fell crashing to the floor in agony, victim of one of the most dreaded injuries in pelota, the complete anterior cruciate ligament tear. Medical practice tells us it is possible to return to the field of play roughly six or seven months later, but the truth is more complicated; many who succumb to this injury are never quite the same again, their speed lessened and their explosiveness deadened, and although he had produced some impressive performances since returning late last year, countless people wondered whether we would ever again see the Aimar of old. However, he took this match on like a bull to a red flag, and produced one of the finest displays of pelota seen in months. This was a recital, full of snap, vigour, pace, instinct and ruthless finishing. Aimar is back, let the world take note.

The cruel absence of Abel Barriola was rued, rightly, in the run up to the game. Quite apart from the fear over how Mikel Beroiz would react to the pressure of having to replace probably the greatest defender, in the biggest game of his life, the occasion seemed somehow sullied and incomplete by the fact that Xala, who had duked it out with his settled partner for sixteen weeks, would now have to reach for the txapela without him. However, the fevour and passion of both the play and the atmosphere in the first few points rendered all reservations meaningless; this was the biggest game of the year and the excitement was utterly contagious. The opening salvo seemed as if it would never end, with both pairs struggling to achieve supremacy and neither succeeding. The crowd reacted with a roar to every impressive strike as the ball ricocheted around the fronton careering off every surface, before Beroiz won the point with an oddly bouncing dipping long ball, to which a slightly baffled Aimar only just got a hand. The next point was almost as intense, but the result was different, as Aimar dropped the ball into the corner for a hapless Beroiz to chase. The Asegarce pair built on their base in the next three points, and began to look the more polished. Another Aimar drop, which took the score to 3-1, had both blue players spread eagled on the floor, though Beroiz had done well to reach his first attempt at the winner. In the next play, Aimar opened his shoulders with a trademark gantxo, a foretaste of things to come.

If this ominous show of strength from the great forward sounded a terrifying warning bell for Xala and Beroiz, they were not overawed, as they clawed two points back to a rare error apiece from each of their rivals, but their nascent revival was not to be, as a brace of lax, wide, hits from Xala, undoing all his sterling defensive work, opened the door to another Olaizola salvo. Whereas the opening points had been evenly fought, the next passage of play was utterly owned by the reds, spearheaded by an Aimar who was beginning to revel in his superiority. An airez on 6-3 out-manoeuvred both blues comprehensively, and although they let two points slip through mishits, in Begino’s case perhaps brought about by a moment of indecision, they surged again, from 7-5 to 12-5 in the blink of an eye. Another airez from Aimar sent Xala thudding onto his back, legs flailing, and he doubled the pain with a brutal gantxo. Xala tried to play him at his own game, but while a valiant effort, his own gantxo was low, and paled next to the extraordinary power and precision of Aimar’s example. Aimar then demonstrated his ability to strike winners even from positions of weakness, conjuring a cross court airez from somewhere as he fell and stretched forwards. He had earlier sent Xala and Beroiz into disarray when he forced the former to cover both a gantxo and the resulting spiralling long ball, and having found themselves the wrong way round, they were perpetually on the back foot. With a beautifully disguised txoko, Aimar stretched the reds’ advantage to seven. Xala had yet to strike a winner; Aimar had romped his way to nine.

Hope for Xala and Beroiz seemed vain, but fortunes in pelota can turn on a sixpence, and given their chance to play with their chosen balls thanks to a pair of errors from Begino, who temporarily misplaced his radar, the blue partnership came surging back. The massed ranks of fans roared with delight as the rot was stopped, in the knowledge that they may yet get a final which was tight as well as intense. The point which took them to 8-12 was immense. Both Xala and Beroiz tested Begino to the death, pummelling him over and over again. Every time, he powered the ball back, but when Xala had him where he wanted him, and had tied Aimar up with a txoko, an airez finished the job. When he took the next point with a wonderfully calculated txoko, the momentum had surely swung, for this was the Xala to whom we have become accustomed these past three months, cool and brutally effective. He continued in his march, ever growing in confidence and venom, with two gantxo winners, the second from an outrageous angle. When Begino hit low in the next rally, it was, amazingly, twelve apiece. Xala let his new persona slip a fraction, failing to scoop a dipping ball off his boots, but he drew his pair level again at 13-13 with yet another improbable gantxo, which took Aimar completely by surprise. The pairs traded points once more with an error from each of the defenders in turn, and at 14-14, it appeared to all the world as if we were in for a very long haul indeed.

However, for Aimar clearly enough was enough, the younger Olaizola brother is, and always has been, a consummate big match player. When a championship hangs on a knife edge, he knows no nerves and he grasped his destiny with fearsome force of will. His scintillating cross court winner for 15-14 cut through air like a rapier, and like a huntsman who has his prey on the run, he gritted his teeth and yelled in grim determination. In the next point he sent Xala haring after a fictional gantxo while he tapped the txoko the other way, and with a sense of near panic, Xala clawed at a ball close to the frontis with too much haste, despairing at the tell tale thud of a txapa. At 17-14 though, things almost went terribly wrong for the ascendant pair; Begino, who had struggled with a niggling leg strain earlier in the tournament, now succumbed in far more dramatic fashion, and retired to the locker room for treatment. When he returned, he was strapped heavily, and clearly encumbered. However, the knowledge that his partner desperately needed a swift end to the game only spurred Aimar on to greater heights. He protected Begino from the ball, taking matters squarely upon himself, and racing towards the magic number 22 with whipped airez upon txoko. The straining defensive efforts of Xala and Beroiz were nowhere near enough. The last point was long, and for Begino, no doubt arduous. It is to their credit that he and Aimar managed the build up to the eventual winner so patiently, but when it came, there was no chance of an answer as the rampaging forward unleashed his left arm for one last time. Begino collapsed in a mixture of joy and agony, before being swamped by his ecstatic supporters.

While not especially close in the final analysis, this final will go down as one of the most passionately fought in recent times. Xala failed to hit the heights which made him the overall player of the tournament, and if he had, the battle would surely have been white hot, but nobody in the stands can have felt short changed by the over 700 strikes which comprised this drama. The game was made by the forwards, but a word must be spared for Mikel Beroiz, who came in at the eleventh hour, pressure heaped upon him, to play by far the most important match of his young career. Although he ended on the losing side, he played an excellent game, and has nothing to reproach himself for. He was, in fact, clearly superior to Begino, his opposite number, However, that barely mattered given the discrepancy at the front, where save from Xala’s brief revival, Aimar Olaizola ruled with exhilarating aplomb. There can no longer be any doubt about his post injury potency, for this was extraordinary stuff. As he beamed his way through the press conference, he dedicated his win to the medical staff who had got him back to the fronton. Begino, meanwhile, struggled to stand let alone run, but he too radiated joy unabashed. Worthy champions indeed.

Scoring sequence: 0-1, 4-1, 4-3, 7-3, 7-5, 12-5, 12-12, 13-12, 13-13, 14-13, 14-14, 22-14

Winners: Olaizola II 16, Begino 1, Xala 6, Beroiz 1

Errors: Olaizola II 3, Begino 4, Xala 4, Beroiz 1

Service winners: Olaizola II 0, Xala 0

Service errors: Olaizola II 0, Xala 0

Match time: 83 minutes

Balls hit: 720

Aimar Olaizola and Aritz Begino: champions

Image from ttipi.net

Share on Facebook

After over three months of competition, the Pairs Championship has come down to a final between the two pairs who were predicted to be there all along. The only fly in the ointment of the perfect final is the cruel absence of Barriola through injury. The best defender of the tournament by a long chalk, he has been exemplary throughout, but it is now down to Beroiz, who comes in to play the biggest match of his career, to help steer Xala to the title. In their way stand Olaizola and Begino, who started the tournament in the blaze of glory and assurance, only to suffer a dip mid way. They came good again in the semi finals, and as the more established pair must surely be the favourites. In the course of the tournament they have beaten Xala and Barriola twice, and this will only fuel their confidence. The new Bizkaia fronton in Bilbao will be a riot of colour and noise for one of the biggest days of the pelota year. Don’t miss it.

Friday 15th April, Soraluze

22:10 (CEST) ONGAY – ARRUTI v JAUNARENA – MERINO

Followed by LASKURAIN v IDOATE

Sunday 17th April, Bilbao

17:00 (CEST) RETEGI BI – PASCUAL v OLAETXEA  – PATXI RUIZ

Followed by OLAIZOLA II – BEGINO v XALA – BEROIZ* Pairs Final (*Beroiz replaces Barriola)

To watch, go to http://www.eitb.com/television/etb-sat/en-directo

Share on Facebook