Duration: 79 minutes
Scoring sequence: 2-0, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, 12-18, 13-18, 13-21, 16-21, 16-22, 18-22, 18-23, 19-23, 19-27, 20-27, 20-28, 21-28, 21-29, 22-29, 22-30, 23-30, 23-31, 24-31, 24-32, 26-32, 26-33, 27-33 y 27-35

Master Jai’s pair Olha and Elizegi could not match the hard working Jon Arriaga, who together with Foronda won the first semifinal with 27-35.

OLHA-ELIZEGI 27
FORONDA-J. ARRIAGA 35

The game was surrounded by a nice atmosphere, and was very even through the first dozen of points. Christophe Olha seemed very focused, threw his shots with great spead and was very well directed from the backcourt by Adolfo Elizegi. Both Iker and Jon in the blue team played well, but did not seem to be able to finish the points of in the same effective manner. After 12-12 the game changed a bit, and the Jai Alive teams more consistant play payed off with six straight points making the scores 12-18. Master Jai’s players made an effort to even up the scores but only reached to 18-22 before it started to be quite clear who would walk off the court as winners. Arriaga played very well and Forondo managed to close a couple of points in a spectacular way. The last points were more even but with a small advantage for the Jai Alive team, who could then close the game with a seven points lead.

Worth mentioning is that Christophe lost three points on his own serve.

The results in the other two games were:

BARONIO-GARITA 22
LEKUE-ALBERDI III 30

AIMAR-GARAI 25
TREKU-JOAKIN 18

Source: Translated from Master Jai

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Tonights second game will be the first semifinal on the Master Interempresas.

FRONTÓN EZKURDI DE DURANGO Thursday, March 19, 17:00 CET

First Game
Baronio/ Mugartegi – Lekue/ Alberdi

III SEMIFINAL MASTER INTEREMPRESAS
Olha/ Elizegi – Foronda/ J. Arriaga

Third Game
Aimar/ Garita – Treku/ Joakin

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The two basque empresas Master Jai and Jai Alive will take part in competitions together for the first time in over one and a half year. The players in this tournament, the first Master Interempresas, will be two pairs from each empresa. They will play two semifinals, followed by a big final. The first game will be played in Durango between Olha/ Elizegi and Foronda/ Arriaga. The other semifinal will take place in Markina, and the players will be Alberdi II/ Felix from Master Jai, against Egiguren II/ Hernandez from Jai Alive. The winners will play the big final in Hondarribia, where the basque television will be present to broadcast the game. (which should mean it will be possible to watch it voer the internet).

The game schedule looks like follows:

Semifinals:

DURANGO 19/3, 17:00 CET
OLHA/ ELIZEG – FORONDA/ J. ARRIAGA

MARKINA 20/3, 17:00 CET
ALBERDI II/ FÉLIX – EGIGUREN II/ HERNÁNDEZ

FINAL HONDARRIBIA 21/3 , 16.45 CET
Winners Semifinal I – Winners Semifinal II

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The first two games of the day were just dominated by Aitzol, who actually scored 16 dtraight points to start the day. He was using his left side rebote with great power and catching everything in sight. Guisasola also chipped in with some great picas in game two.

Aitzol started game three with two more ponts before getting defeated, then another eight team Cavier/Chaulderon finished the game in effortless fashion.

Game four was a long game filled with many game points, that ended up being won by the five Aragues/Airpirarte. I was on game point with the seven and one in that game, only to have my superfecta dreams dashed:( lol. Aizarna plays the game with a bulldog mentality but he gets hurt by dropped left sides. Conrado also got hit hard by the pelota in his back in that game, glad to see he is okay.

Game five was being controlled by Aritz who was eventually defeated by Aragues and then Aizarna ran six straight points and dropped a desperation rebote by Jon. A terrible drop. Jon ran the game out with some nifty right side catching and some well placed chic chacs. High cesta Jon, as I has the tri twice and that salvaged my day.

Games six and seven were also won by Aragues who had a great day. He does such a wonderful job controlling the pace of a point when he is on his game. I also seen he won the eighth game with Patrick so a very good day for the seasoned frontcourter.

Aizpitarte had his first feature game win of his career in game 10 with Goiko. High cesta!

Bereikua won game 12. He look very comfortable in singles but is struggling in doubles,I wonder why that is?

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ALBERDI II-MUGARTEGI 35
TREKU-FÉLIX 32

Duration: 78 minutes
Points on serve: 2 for Alberdi II and 2 points and one 1 fault for Treku

Scoring sequence: 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-3, 5-3, 5-7, 6-7, 6-11, 7-11, 7-12, 8-12, 8-13, 11-13, 11-14, 13-14, 13-15, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, 18-18, 18-20, 20-20, 21-21, 24-21, 24-23, 25-23, 25-24, 26-24, 26-25, 27-25, 27-27, 28-28, 30-28, 30-30, 32-30, 32-31, 33-31, 33-32 and 35-32

Exactly like in the previous tournaments where Alberdi II and Mugartegi have played together, they played brilliant today. They got the victory through hard work against todays opponents Treku and Felix, who last week won against Baronio and Mugartegi.

The blue team started out very well, and quickly worked their way to a 6-11 and later a 8 – 13 lead. After that followed a period of equal scoring, 15-15, 16-16,17-17, 18-18 and 20-20. At that point David Treku still played well and Felix guarded the court well, but the last fifteen points went better for the red team, which seemed to be a bit more inspired this last part of the game.

Luis Mari Alberdi played very well the whole evening, and threw some very spectacular rebotes. Aitor Mugartegi played at a good level, and tonight it simply was not enough that Felix worked hard throughout the game, and even threw a couple of dos paredes.

The results in the other two games were:

BARONIO-ELIZEGI 30
OLHA-ALBERDI III 17

AIMAR-KEVIN 24
LEKUE-ARRIOLA 25

Source: Translated from Master Jai

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Miguel Ángel Amorós went to the United States when he was still almost just a almost just a kid, and now lives in New Port with his wife and children. He admits that he still misses his home town in the basque country, and that he still goes there at least once a year to visit his basque family. During his career as a professional cesta punta player he has experienced a lot of things, some of which he will share with us in this interview.

What do you remember from the first times you held a cesta in your hands?
I started playing late. I went to a private school, and didn’t start to play seriously before I had finished there. When I was younger I used to play pelota mano, but later I came to choose cesta punta.

When did you make your debut?
I went to Reno (USA) in 1978, but one year earlier I had played some games in Soria and Logroño. The games were part of a championship which lasted a couple of days, and we were about six or seven players from Markina who participated.

How did you get the opportunity to go to Reno?
I got the oportunity through Izagirre from Berriatua. I signed up for two years, but the owner of West Palm Beach went to watch us play, and I managed to get a contract from him as well. I was in Reno for nine months, and then I competed in West Palm Beach during the winters and in New Port during the summers. I went on like that until 1986, when I went to West Palm Beach to play all year round, but then came the strike.

During that time it was necessary to get a normal job.
During the strike I worked with construction, and then after nine months I went to New Port with my wife. The Frontons belonged to the same company, so the strike went on there too. I starten working for Benchmark, and still today I worke there.

But then you went back to playing again.
The strike was over in 1991, and we from West Palm Beach had contracts for three years. So I left my job and went back to playing until November 1993. I could have kept on for four more months in Ft Pierce or Hartford, but I chose to go back to the north and they accepted me at my old job again.

What does your work consist of now?
I’m in charge of the generators, elevator and other aspects like security and maintainance of a couple of buildings. The compalny also has some buses and other vehicles that need to be maintained and kept in shape. In total we has 43 different buildings and 5000 employees throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachussets, New Hampshire and Vermont.

What went through your head when they told you you were going to America?
I couldn’t believe it. My first contracts, the ones in Reno and West Palm Beach, I signed in Markina. I had already earlier told my parents that my dream was to go to America, and that it was money spent in the wrong way to pay for studies. So I started to work instead.

What was your first impressoin of the United States?
The first thing we saw when we arrived in New York was a limousine with four doors. We started counting our steps to see how long it was.

Was it hard to travel that far to live in another place?
No, because the fronton was owned by Metro Goldwin Mayer, and they had more than 400 apartments in the same block. All the players and the other staff lived there, and it was like a small community and we spent a lot of time together.

Did you meet your wife in America?
She worked in the fronton in New Port, and we got to know each other in 1983. It was during the period that Felix payed there. I spent a lot of time together with hin and Goitia as well.

Which is your favourite city in the USA?
Reno, but the most beautiful place is Lake Tahoe, which is the deepest lake in the country and is situated on the boarder between Nevada and California. It was where they shot the serie Bonanza, and everything is constructed with great respect for the nature there. Apart from that I off course like New Port very much. It’s a beautiful city. Nicholas Cage has a house there, and the Kennedys used to spend the summers there.

Would you say your kids are americans?
Yes. The oldest one was born in West Palm Beach and the second and the third in New Port. They have been eight or nine times in the basque country, and they love it there. With the smallest one I use to play cesta punta against a wall, and when we got to Markina, the first thing he wanted to do was to play cesta there.

Have they inherited you passion for Athletic Bilbao?
My oldest son follows everything that happens around Athletic, and the youngest girl already play soccer tournaments. She is already 14 years old, and one time she went to New England to watch the Galaxys, and took a photo of her and David Beckham.

Why did you decide to stay in New Port? Because of the family. I miss the basque country much, and my brothers and my mother as well. But when I come to Markina I also miss my family en New Port much.

Which period was your best in the world of cesta punta?
The one in West Palm Beach. There were days when well over a million dollars were spent on betting on the players, and the NJAF also had much success. The fronton was full, and now it makes me very sad to see the state of the game.

During those days you guys were famous.
I remember that you had to be 21 to enter the discoteques. But if you were a Jai Alai player, you didn’t even have to stand in line.

What was the reason for the change that occured in the popularity?
The scratch lottery gave jai alai tough competition because it is much faster; and the strike came at a bad time. You also have to keep in mind that the slot machines don’t demand salary, and don’t get ill or injured, and they also don’t want ay vacation or anything. If they break, you just take it away and replace it with another one.

Is there any way to bring the game back?
If there would have been one, more frontons would already have opened. I imagine that the first thing would be, like in any other business, to invest a lot of money and then start getting some propaganda out to the public.

Source: Translated from Master Jai

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Laurent Alliez and Eric Irastorza watched yesterdays game in Gernika. Alliez because of his injury, that has now been operated and is healing fine. Irastorza has spent the last days in the Basque country to be together with his family after his mother passed away after a time of illness.

Our thoughts are with Eric and his family!

Source: Master Jai

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TREKU-FÉLIX                       35
BARONIO-MUGARTEGI      24

Duration: 74 minutos
Points on serve: 2 for Treku and 1 for Baronio
Scoring sequence: 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 7-3, 7-4, 8-4, 8-6, 12-6, 12-7, 14-7, 14-8, 15-8, 15-9, 17-9, 17-10, 19-10, 19-13, 22-13, 22-14, 23-14, 23-16, 24-16, 24-21, 26-21, 26-22, 28-22, 28-23, 30-23, 30-24 and 35-24

Treku has ceased the opportunity he was given to compete in Gernika. Together with his backcourter Félix he managed to beat the pair made up by Baronio and Mugartegi with 35 -24. The winners showed already from the beginning how they wanted this game to turn out, and David showed great strenght in finishing the points. The first big leads were registered quite early in the game (12-6 and 19-10). But the blue team had not given up, and a series of good points evened up the score a bit, and gave them back the hope for victory. They managed to climb back to 24-21 and 26-22. But at that point Barronio started to play more irregular, and David Treku saw to it that the score quickly climbed to the finishing score 35-24 after an hour an fifteen minutes of play.

The results in the other two games were:

AIMAR-GARAI             25
LEKUE-ARRIOLA         18

and

ALBERDI II-ALBERDI III     24
OLHA-ELIZEGI                       30

Source: Translated from Master Jai

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Aldazabal, we all know his stats are not up to par and from a gambling perspective, not really a guy that you want on top of your tickets. But the guy is a joy to watch. He gives all out effort on every point and when in position, he catches everything. He is fearless, he will go up against the wall against the hardest shots from the world’s best. High cesta Aldazabal for your wonderful day in and day out effort.

Goikoetxea is just an amazing player and clearly the best of this era and maybe ever. In game 10 at Miami on Friday Goiko was in the six hole paired with Garro and in the five hole has Citrus champs Rekalde and Lopez. Goiko played possed and really look determined to show the champs who the true king was. He had several cortada’s that were picture perfect that game. The combination of placement and raw power that he has is remarkable.

Manuel is off to a very slow start at Miami and that is not a suprise, as he somewhat struggled at Fort Pierce as well. I think it is a matter of adjustment to the skill level at Miami. We all know this Mexican pelotari will play the game hard and make some very hard catches. Santiso’s .095 says it all. I have watched this guy for years upon years now and it’s still the same player. No effort, no placement, no rebote, no right side to speak of, I ‘m guessing no passion (or he would work to improve) and its lame to watch him.

I see that Girard is getting a look in the late games and that is good to see. He is a very nice young backcourter. He has sort of a stiff style, but he uses it well and catches nearly everything. He will have to improve his positioning and his ability to catch off the short bounce to be a factor in the lates, or these guys will just hammer him with the forehand.

Gallardo is a hard player to figure out. God knows that the shots and the ability are there. He catches great from the left and has various remate’s from the left. I have a hard time figuring out what he deal is with him, I have a hard time not betting him because in my mind, with his skill level, he can take it perfect at any time. He is 40, so age clearly might be the problem. Even in the early games he is playing against good players.

Chauderon was the wins leader last season and is playing very competitive again. He is a good player and has very stylish form.

Two more notes:

* Lopez is a beast. His defense is simply amazing.

* I may be in the minority but I think Aizpitarte is going to be a decent player. The schooling he is getting from that roster right now will turn him into a pretty good player. He has good power and a decent forehand. Once he finds the proper positioning and control he will be fine.

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FRONTON GERNIKA JAI ALAI

MONDAY; 9/3, 17.00 CET

FIRST GAME

AIMAR/ GARAI – LEKUE/ ARRIOLA

-

SECOND GAME

TREKU/ FÉLIX – BARONIO/ MUGARTEGI

-

THIRD GAME

ALBERDI II/ ALBERDI III – OLHA/ ELIZEGI

Master Jai

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