Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

The final of the Torneo Lekeitio will be between Bengoetxea VI and Apraiz, and Martinez de Irujo and Barriola. Apologies for the lack of report on the second semi final; I was unable to watch it and have been very pushed for time this weekend! Suffice it to say that Irujo and Barriola totally outclassed Xala and Begino, winning 22-7 to set up today’s clash against the Asegarce pair. Bengoetxea plays in his fourth festival final of the summer, having already won at San Fermin, Zarautz and San Sebastian. He is supported here by the less experienced Apraiz who played a storming semi final, and appears to be gaining in confidence on the highest stage. Barriola is on a monumental roll, having one sixteen matches on the bounce since returning from injury. Manomanista king Irujo, who joins him here, has been in variable form this summer, but will surely come out all guns blazing here. Much will depend on the duel between Barriola and Apraiz; if Apraiz can replicate the cool he has shown in his past two matches, this is anybody’s game.

Sunday 5th September, Lekeitio

17:00 (CEST) OLAIZOLA I – IBAI ZABALA v GONZALEZ – EULATE

18:10 (CEST) MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BARRIOLA v BENGOETXEA VI - APRAIZ Torneo Lekeitio Final

http://www.eitb.com/etb-sat/en-directo

Irujo and Barriola are partners today

Photo from Gara, by Juanan Ruiz

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Friday 20^th August, Donostia-San Sebastian

BERASALUZE VIII – BEGINO beat MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – MENDIZABAL II 22-18

Torneo Ciudad de San Sebastian

Last night’s opening match at Atano III was all about experience versus experimentation. Pablo Berasaluze and Aritz Begino know each other inside out; each plays with various partners throughout the year but they more often than not converge at the major tournaments, and have joined forces in the past two Pairs Championships. Conversely, it was something of a novelty for Martinez de Irujo to find himself paired with Oier Mendizabal. Not only do they hail from different empresas, but Mendizabal is more used to partnering Irujo’s erstwhile greatest rival, Aimar Olaizola, with whom he won the Pairs title in 2008. The game which ensued was a close one, with frequent situations of deadlock, but in the end perhaps the greater empathy of the regular pair showed, and granted them the required edge.

Pablo and Aritz began the brighter of the couples. Mendizabal went high after a long, steady opening point, and Pablo confirmed the initial advantage with a txoko, wrong footing Irujo expertly. Irujo showed that he was not to be outcome by copying Pablo’s trick in the next point, but another Mendizabal error restored the two-point advantage. Irujo pulled out a ganxto, but then committed three errors in a row, going low, wide, and fluffing another gantxo entirely, to give the blue pair a decided spring in their step. An error born out of a moment of slight confusion by Begino and a stunning rebote from Irujo closed the reds’ deficit to two at 4-6, but the blues surged ahead again. Oier squandered a point in which his pair did everything right, going wide as he searched for space to clinch it, and in the next play he went low from the back of the court. The local boy looked classy at times under the high ball, and retrieved some stunning long shots excellently, but the errors began to blot his copybook. Pablo sealed a 9-4 lead with a stinging cross court airez, and it looked to all the world as if he and Begino were in absolute control.

However, Irujo and Mendizabal, gelling better than they had, slowly worked themselves back into the match, taking the next four points. Pablo followed his superb winner in the previous play with a miscued txoko in the next, and a service winner from Irujo followed by an error from Begino brought them to within a point. Pablo and Aritz pulled two back to steady the ship, but their opponents came again, Irujo now asserting his class to draw his pair level for the first time at 11-11. In the next passage of play, the couples could not be split, finding themselves tied at 12, 13 and 14 apiece, Irujo and Mendizabal taking the lead for the first and only time at 14-13.

Somebody needed to break the stalemate, and it was Pablo who took the helm. Both he and Irujo produced play from the top drawer at various points throughout the game, but it was Pablo’s greater potency, and perhaps his unbreakable will in this latter passage of play which proved the game breaker. His pair, finding themselves behind, reacted by taking seven of the next eight points, six of them winners for the irrepressible Berasaluze. Two virtuosic forward scraps went the way of the man from Berriz, before an unreturnable serve, a gantxo and two beautiful airez winners put him and Begino on the verge of victory at 20-15. Irujo found himself outmanoeuvred and out hit, attacking an empty chair in fury. There was a hint of a comeback from Irujo and Mendizabal, helped by two Begino errors and a flash of tactical brilliance from the Aspe forward, but Pablo fought tooth and nail to match point before sealing it with a serve.

The pairs were for the most part extremely evenly matched but in the final analysis the right side won. Begino and Mendizabal were much of a muchness in their defensive roles, at times classy but prone to error. The difference came in the forward battle, where Berasaluze got the better of the Manomanista champion, turning in twelve winners to Irujo’s nine. He also made half the number of mistakes of his illustrious rival. The winning pair was also, unsurprisingly, the better oiled partnership, more a single unit than a duo of talented individuals. They will now proceed to play Xala and Apraiz on Tuesday, for a place in the final.

Scoring sequence: 0-2, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-6, 4-6, 4-9, 8-9, 8-11, 11-11, 11-12, 12-12, 12-13, 13-13, 14-13, 14-14, 14-17, 15-17, 15-20, 18-20, 18-22.

Winners: Berasaluze VIII 12, Irujo 9, Begino 0, Mendizabal II 2

Errors: Berasaluze VIII 2, Irujo, 4, Begino 5, Mendizabal II 6

Balls played: 438

Total match time: 1:01.49

Playing time: 20.44

Begino (left) and Berasaluze are well acquainted

Image from: navarrasport.com

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The Torneo Ciudad de San Sebastian begins tonight in the famous Gipuzkoan city, with an interesting encounter, featuring Juan Martinez de Irujo of Aspe playing with Oier Mendizabal of Asegarce. Mendizabal, Pairs Champion in 2008, is more used to playing alongside Irujo’s great rival Aimar Olaizola, currently injured, and it will be fascinating to see him work with the Manomanista Champion, who pipped him and Aimar to the Pairs title in 2009. Their opponents, who are well used to each other, are regular partners Pablo Berasaluze and Aritz Begino. This is effectively a quarter final match, used to decide the semi final opponents of Xala and Apraiz on Tuesday. The other semi, which takes place on Monday, pits Zubieta and Titin against Bengoetxea VI and Barriola.

Friday 20^th August, Donostia-San Sebastian

22:25 (CEST) CABRERIZO II – LARRINAGA v RICO IV – OTEIZA

23:25 (CEST) MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – MENDIZABAL II v BERASALUZE VIII – BEGINO Torneo Ciudad de San Sebastian

Sunday 22^nd August, Oteiza

17:00 (CEST) RETEGI BI – L. GALARZA v IDOATE –MERINO II

18:10 (CEST) MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – EULATE v TITIN III – BARRIOLA

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

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It is all change at the Torneo de Villa de Zarautz, owing to a hand injury to Manomanista Champion Juan Martinez de Irujo, who will now not play. The pain, sited in the third finger and base of the fourth finger of his left hand, manifested itself on Sunday in Vitoria-Gasteiz. He is undergoing physiotherapy and massage, but a test on the fronton yesterday confirmed that he would be unable to play in Zarautz. He is expected to be out of action for five days.

This means that the Aspe line up for the Zarautz tournament will now look very different. Xala and Zubieta, the Pairs Champions, were to have played together but Xala now moves to partner Beroiz in place of Irujo. Aritz Lasa comes in to play with Zubieta.

The broadcast schedules for the weekend are as follows:

Friday 13^th August, Zarautz

22:20 (CEST) LEIZA – IBAI ZABALA v RETEGI BI – EULATE

23:30 (CEST) XALA – BEROIZ v ARITZ LASA – ZUBIETA

Sunday 15^th August, Zarautz

17:00 (CEST) OLAIZOLA I – MENDIZABAL II v ARITZ LASA – LASKURAIN

18:05 (CEST) BERASALUZE VIII – APRAIZ v BENGOETXEA VI – PATXI RUIZ

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

The beautiful coastline of Zarautz

Image from: kortazar.com

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Saturday 7th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

XALA – BARRIOLA beat MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BELOKI 22-16

Torneo Virgen Blanca

Yves Salaberry and Abel Barriola pulled a performance from the top drawer to make the final of the Torneo Virgen Blanca at Ogueta last night. They were subjected to a tough, 536 ball examination by Juan Martinez de Irujo and Ruben Beloki but after the first point were never headed, and came through by a margin of six. Their mastery lay in their greater consistency, especially in the defending stakes, where Beloki, usually an impenetrable wall, had a game to forget.

It was easy to assume that this match would be won in the forward battle. It pitted against each other the 2010 Manomanista finalists, with runner-up Xala likely out for revenge on the sport’s greatest player Irujo. The two matched each other stroke for stroke for much of the match, and dominated the early exchanges to the extent that one almost overlooked the role of the backs, who were both excellent in the opening salvo. Irujo took the first point of the game with a txoko which was almost nonchalant, only to be emulated by Xala who showed that two could play that particular game. Two more imperious winners from the Lekuine native, and an error from Irujo, and the blue pair had established a 4-1 lead. The two traded spectacular gantxos on 2-5 and 2-6, but as the score line suggested, it was Xala’s pair who were in the ascendant.

It soon became evident that although the tussle in attack was an enthralling one, this match may be decided by the relative fortunes of Beloki and Barriola. When Xala got himself in a twist to allow Irujo and Beloki to tie at 6-6, a golden opportunity presented itself for them to seize the upper hand, but perhaps in an effort to push Barriola back, Beloki hit carelessly high. It was the first of four such errors by the man from Burlada and his lapses were to prove decisive. He made six errors in the game to Barriola’s one, which in such a close fight made the difference. In addition to his bone fide errors which cost points directly, many of his shots within rallies were lacking, giving Xala an all too comfortable platform from which to attack. In contrast, Barriola, roaring back into form after his injury hiatus, was outstanding, giving away his first point only when the score stood at 14-11.

As the match wore on, there was a sense that Irujo’s play became somewhat dragged down by Beloki’s. Until the last third of the match his error count had been low, but lax shots crept in as he committed four errors in the final ten rallies. In contrast, Xala soldiered on. A falta on 15-12 blotted his copybook to a degree, and he twice made mistakes while going for the kill, but by that time the game was almost up. The game ended, rather fittingly, with a miscue from Beloki.

So, an enthralling final is in prospect, with Xala and Barriola taking on Titin and Zubieta on Monday. Both pairs have looked in fine form this week, and the battles between the both the forwards and backs promise to be closely matched. It is hard to call a winner, but if Xala can replicate last night’s standards, he and Barriola could be hard to stop.

Scoring sequence: 1-0, 1-1, 1-4, 2-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, 7-8, 7-10, 9-10, 9-11, 9-12, 10-12, 10-14, 12-14, 12-15, 13-15, 13-16, 14-16, 14-20, 15-20, 15-21, 16-21, 16-22.

Winners: Xala 9, Martinez de Irujo 10, Barriola 1, Beloki 1

Errors: Xala 4, Martinez de Irujo 6, Barriola 1, Beloki 6

Abel Barriola: consistency personified

Image from: Noticias de Alava

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Thursday 5th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BELOKI beat BERASALUZE VIII – APRAIZ 22-12

Torneo Virgen Blanca

Manomanista champion Juan Martinez de Irujo and Ruben Beloki last night qualified with ease for the semi finals of the Torneo Virgen Blanca at Ogueta. The pre-match favourites never looked troubled in a 22-12 romp against an Asegarce partnership that showed fight but lacked both firepower and coordination. They will now meet Xala and Barriola for a place in Monday’s final.

From the gun, the eventual winners asserted their dominance and it looked to all the world as if the margin of victory would err on the side of the embarrassing. Before their opponents had settled into the game, Irujo had masterminded a 5-0 lead by way of three commanding winners, aided by two nervous mistakes from Apraiz, who never truly hit his stride. There was a palpable sense of relief from the assembled masses when Pablo and Apraiz managed their first point, thanks to a ball from Beloki which fell short, but they could not halt the march of their rivals. Pablo showed typically sprightly endeavor, and some promising defence, in the exchanges which followed, but three more errors from Apraiz took the margin to 10-1. From that juncture, a miracle would have been needed for the Asegarce pair.

However, Pablo, pocket fighter that he is, refused to lie down and proceeded to take the score line into the realms of respectability. Irujo struck a beautiful crosscourt airez to stretch his lead to 11-2, as if reminding all present of his superiority, but Pablo, not bowed by the status of his opponent, struck back with a dominant txoko, to the delight of the crowd. He followed this up shortly afterwards with another, followed by a searing crosscourt in a point where he ran rings around Irujo. Apraiz too got in on the act, all too briefly, haring forward to push Beloki long and to a point of no return.

The signs looked better for the underdogs, but their resurgence was to be short lived. Apraiz miscued on 6-11, and raised his arms skywards in disgust, knowing that he had thrown all momentum away. From then on it was plain sailing for Irujo and Beloki, despite the dogged resistance of Pablo who picked up any scraps afforded to him, scoring several impressive winners to drag his pair’s total to 12. Irujo it was who stole the show however, piling up fourteen winners in the course of the match to Pablo’s six. His veneer slipped only momentarily, with a falta on 19-11, but by then the game was up and his indignation at the close call soon forgotten. He sealed the win with a gantxo and two service winners, leaving nobody with in any doubt as to who was boss on the night. Beloki was as solid as a rock, providing the magic carpet ride for Irujo’s brutal finishing. The defender from Burlada made only three errors, half the number of his young opponent’s. This was not Apraiz’s night, but his time will come. On this showing, Irujo and Beloki will present a formidable hurdle in the semi final, but the pair which awaits them is a classy one. An intriguing game is in prospect.

Scoring sequence: 5-0, 5-1, 10-1, 10-2, 11-2, 11-6, 14-6, 14-7, 16-7, 16-9, 17-9, 17-11, 19-11, 19-12, 20-12, 22-12.

Winners: Martinez de Irujo 14, Berasaluze VIII 6, Beloki 0, Apraiz 0

Errors: Martinez de Irujo 3, Berasaluze VIII 2, Beloki 3, Apriaz 6

Also last night, Stephane Lemouneau (Lemuno) defeated Jon Ander Albisu in the all-Asegarce mano a mano encounter. The 24 year old Colombian-born Lemuno took the first game of the Torneo Manomanista Promoción La Blanca 22-13, out-powering and out-witting the 20 year old Albisu, who cracked under the pressure of the victor.

No sweat for Ruben Beloki

Image from: El Correo, by M. Fraile

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Sunday 20th June, Vitoria-Gasteiz

MARTINEZ DE IRUJO beat XALA 22-13

The Manomanista Final is always an occasion and this edition proved no exception to the rule. A massive crowd turned out in the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz to witness two pelotaris at the pinnacle of their sport fight it out for the greatest prize of them all, and they lifted the roof. A deafening roar greeted the protagonists, which gave way to chanting, singing, the playing of instruments and the waving of banners, one of which, bearing a huge image of Martinez de Irujo, measured several metres across. The spectacle began with a special presentation by Irujo to Basque mountaineer Edurne Pasaban, and once the heroine had been honoured, it was time to crown a hero.

The match began with Xala, perhaps the marginal underdog, on top. Before reigning champion Irujo had had time to draw breath, the man from Lekuine was 4-0 up and on cruise control. Irujo’s first error, in the very first point, suggested tension, as he hit a highly speculative cross court winner attempt well low. Xala’s impressive serve, the backbone of so much of his success in 2010, unfurled itself as he won the next point with a gantxo, set up by his initial delivery. Irujo then hit high and wide from the next two Xala serves, the first long and the second cheekily short. However, Irujo marshaled his senses and fought back with a vengeance. He took his first point of the final in commanding fashion with a spiraling ball over the head of his rival, and backed this up with a txoko, to suggest his engine had begun to fire. On 3-4, the unease returned for a fleeting moment as he pushed his serve long, but as if wishing to banish this blemish with immediacy, he chose the next point to demonstrate his emerging dominance in open play. He retrieved a seemingly excellent gantxo from Xala, then survived a barrage of high balls, before returning a txoko with interest to force his opponent wide. With a service winner in the next play, the score stood at 5-5.

It was in the next passage of the game that Irujo asserted his mastery, and drew slowly but surely away from Xala. Three winners, a crosscourt and two txokos gave him daylight for the first time, with a score of 8-5. Xala miscued an overhead volley in the next point to make his lead four. Xala took a point back with a wonderfully worked sequence of shots ending in a killer txoko, but again the defending champion stepped on the gas, moving from 9-6 to 12-6 as he really let fly. Xala perhaps sensed that a move needed to be made to avoid reaching the point of no return, and gave his fans a glimmer of hope in the next three points, taking perfect advantage his own selected balls with two service winners. At only 9-12 behind, the left hander was still very much in the match.

However, Irujo changed gear and was never seen again. Two successive errors from Xala gave him the boost he needed to charge for home, and he wasted little time in doing so. Xala increasingly took risks in order to rein the champion elect back, but luck was not on his side, and he increasingly found the fronton too small for the angles he needed to get around the tiger-like Irujo. Part of the frustration of playing Irujo is his ability to defend from almost any position and any predicament. Time and again one assumes that balls will beat him, and somehow, time and again, he gets there, omnipresent in the manner of Rafael Nadal on the tennis court. For Xala he proved an insurmountable wall. Not content with chasing down and profiting from everything thrown at him, Irujo’s serve now started to ignite with two unreturnable missiles in quick succession. With the score at 19-10, the gulf could not be bridged. Xala, renowned for his calm head and his impassive control, seemed powerless, unusually lacklustre and on the edge of survival. Irujo gave him two gifts, allowing Xala to draw within seven points, but in reality this was meagre consolation. A wild, wide and desperate throw of the dice from Xala handed Irujo match point, and the winning blow was struck with the vanquished on his knees, both physically and in spirit.

In the end, the statistics told the story. Irujo struck an incredible 17 winners to only five errors, all but five of them coming in open play. Xala managed a mere eight winners, six of which came from serves. Xala has relied heavily on his serve throughout this tournament and until today, his strength in this department has proved more than enough to grant him dominance, but pelota becomes a whole new ball game when Irujo enters the equation. Xala will surely be disappointed tonight, but in time he will reflect on an excellent championship, in which he soared to the form of his life. He is still one of the two best players of the year, and his demise here was due only to a multiple champion with the bit firmly between his teeth. For Irujo, now a four time Manomanista champion, greatness beckons. At only 28 years of age, his playing colleagues must dread the grip he can exert on the sport for years to come. Irujo, jubilant, shared his triumph with his supporters, his girlfriend and their tiny baby daughter, to whom he dedicated the win; for the man from Ibero, new father and newly reinstated king of the fronton, it has been quite a year.

Scoring sequence: 0-4, 1-4, 3-4, 3-5, 9-5, 9-6, 10-6, 11-6, 12-6, 12-9, 15-9, 15-10, 20-10, 20-13, 22-13.

Winners: Irujo 17, Xala 8

Service winners: Irujo 5, Xala 6

Errors: Irujo 5, Xala 5

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The eyes of the pelota world will alight on Ogueta, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, tomorrow evening for the greatest, most important, and most prestigious match of the year, the Manomanista Final. The eight top Manistas have fought it out for the past two months, each determined to reach the apogee of the sport, but the final has space for only two. Martinez de Irujo or Xala? The multiple winner or the player of 2010? Tomorrow will decide.

There are some that say the early stages of this year’s tournament were a let down, and it is true that Group B ended up weaker than was hoped. The first match in that group saw the catastrophic knee injury to two time winner Aimar Olaizola, who is unlikely to return before 2011. This undoubtedly gave Patxi Ruiz a helpful leg up for the rest of the group stages. The second big name to fall was the Cuatro y Medio champion Sebastien Gonzalez, a wonderful winner over Martinez de Irujo last December. He still suffers from hand problems. This left the aforementioned Patxi Ruiz, two players brought in from the second tier competition, Retegi Bi, and Arretxe II, and Xala. Xala had signalled his intent in the first round of matches by thumping Gonzalez 22-5, and his remaining rivals in the group faced him on a wing and a prayer. Patxi Ruiz was put to the sword, 22-6, before he battled well to overcome a dogged Arretxe II 22-16 to reach the last four. Perhaps this was the test he needed to harden his steel. Ruiz joined him in the semi finals by way of a well orchestrated out-powering of Retegi Bi.

Group A was clearly the stronger of the two, not least due to the forbidding presence of the defending champion Martinez de Irujo. He was joined by Barriola, Olaizola I and Bengoetxea VI, the 2008 champion. Despite sailing unbeaten through the group stages, Irujo was not untested. His game against Olaizola I was an extraordinary one, as he was forced to overturn an inhuman deficit to win 22-18. Barriola also took 18 points off him, but in truth was a shadow of the player he was before his knee injury of last year, and lacked the killer punch of his great rival. Bengoetxea was the final victim, falling easily by 22 points to 10. There was much else to applaud in Group A, not least the never say die attitude of Olaizola I, who took a wonderful, pulsating victory over Bengoetxea in the first week, and backed this up with a typically gutsy display against Barriola to make the final four. Bengoetxea, although not at his best, marked himself out as the group’s number three with an easy win over Barriola.

The semi finals pitted Xala against Olaizola I, and Irujo against Patxi Ruiz. The former was a tight affair for the first twenty or so points, before Xala cut free, showing the extra gear which distinguishes the excellent from the merely very good. In the second, nobody gave Patxi Ruiz any hope at all, and matters went to form with Irujo winning 22-6, barely examined.

Although Irujo must be counted as favourite on his past form in this competition if nothing else, the final could well be a close one. The man from Ibero is a coiled spring, and human tiger who prowls the fronton and displays his heart firmly on his sleeve. His ruthless and dominating style has garnered him three Manomanista crowns to date, level with the Patxi Eugi (his botillero on Sunday) and Miguel Gallastegi. Only five pelotaris have more: Ruben Beloki and Atano III (4), Azkarate and Retegi I (6) and the incomparable Retegi II (11). At the age of only 28, he has many more years ahead to build himself a niche in the panoply of the greats. In addition, he is the owner of one Cuatro y Medio and three Pairs crowns, and along with Olaizola II, is the dominant pelotari of the 21^st century. He has been tested in this edition of the Manomanista, but only by Olaizola I, and his response to his near eclipse that day was so staggering as to strike fear into the hearts of all who would face the salvo in weeks to come. Even when he is down, Irujo has the ability to throw off the shackles, like a modern day Houdini. It would be a brave man to bet against the defending champion, but given his opponent at Ogueta, Sunday may prove a whole different ball game.

Yves Salaberry, or ‘Xala’, is in the form of his life, a true purple patch which shows no signs of abating. His manner on the field of play is like chalk to Irujo’s cheese, for the 30 year old from the French side of the Pyrenees rarely conveys his feelings, whether they be fearful or jubilant. He possesses an unshakable inner steeliness, a never wavering belief in his own ability to control and subdue. It is an attitude which has carried him to the heights in 2010. He and Zubieta, his also botillero throughout this Manomanista, matured like a quality wine in the course of the Pairs Championship, and took a deserved win in the final, all ease and grace. Xala was the unquestioned player of the tournament, incapable of playing a bad game. This was his second Pairs title, the first having come in 2002. He has also been a Manomanista and Cuatro y Medio runner up, in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Although he faces the toughest opponent of them all in the final showdown, there is a real sense that 2010 could be Xala’s year.

The evening’s matches commence at 17:00 (CEST) tomorrow, Sunday, with a classy doubles match to whet the appetite. The main event takes place upon the conclusion of this game, at around 18:00. If you watch only one pelota match this year, let this be it. Tune into ETB-Sat (http://www.eitb.com/television/etb-sat) to witness the drama.

The balls chosen for the final are as follows: Irujo opted for balls of 106.6g and 106.2g, while Xala has selected slightly lighter options, balls of 105.2g and 105g.

Irujo or Xala? Sunday will decide

Image from: Diario Vasco, by Eduardo Buxens

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Sunday 6^th June, Eibar

MARTINEZ DE IRUJO beat PATXI RUIZ 22-6

Manomanista Semi Final

There was little doubt in the mind of anyone that Juan Martinez de Irujo would take this semi final, and take it he did, with brutal authority. The odds were stacked so overwhelmingly in the favour of the defending champion that there were very few bets at all. Patxi Ruiz was afforded a leg up in this championship by Aimar Olaizola’s injury, but a solid victory against Retegi Bi was enough to give him his rightful place in the last four. That win must have given him confidence of a sort, but Irujo is an entirely different proposition, and the man from Ibero looked not only in a different league, but on an entirely different planet on Sunday. It took him all of 31 minutes, and 142 balls to complete his demolition job. In that time, he struck 14 winners and 4 service winners, to only 3 errors. He knew he could afford to cut loose, and that he had ample license to take risks, pushing the ball to the limits of the fronton. Ruiz was blocked out of almost every rally, blinded by pace and outdone by placement. As the spirit of the underdog waned, Irujo showed no mercy.

So, the holder of the txapela proceeds as expected to face Xala on 20^th June in Vitoria-Gastez for the 2010 prize. Irujo has three Manomanista crowns to his name thus far, level in the record books with Patxi Eugi and Miguel Gallastegi. Only five pelotaris have more: Ruben Beloki and Atano III (4), Azkarate and Retegi I (6) and the great Retegi II (11). At 28, Irujo has many more years ahead to make his rivals suffer. However, in his way stands Yves Salaberry, and on 2010 form, he will be a towering rival. ‘Xala’ has swept all before him this year, stunning in the Pairs, which he won with Zubieta, and barely challenged in the Manomanista thus far. If each man plays to his potential, this could be a final for the ages.

Scoring sequence: 3-0, 3-2, 8-2, 8-3, 13-3, 13-4, 17-4, 17-6, 22-6.

Source: Diario Vasco

Can Irujo add to his three Manomanista titles?

Image from: Kiroljokoa

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After a week’s reverie, the Manomanista returns this weekend. We are now at the semi final stage and there is nowhere to hide for the final four, for whom victory is now imperative. On paper, the games look fairly clear cut. In the first, Asier Olaizola plays Xala, and while Olaizola has battled royally to reach the last four, Xala is the form player of the year and has reached this stage with imperious ease. An upset is very much on if Olaizola can come out all guns blazing, but it is hard to bet against Xala breezing into the final.

In the second semi final, defending champion Juan Martinez de Irujo takes on Patxi Ruiz. Irujo is hard to stop under any circumstances, but like Xala, he has arrived in the last four undefeated and full of confidence. Patxi Ruiz, often an enigma, cannot be entirely written off, but he will have to play the game of his life. He was perhaps a little lucky to come through the group stages, benefitting as he did from Aimar Olaizola’s untimely injury, but he looked in fine fettle against Retegi Bi, whom he out powered impressively. Irujo, though, is an entirely different prospect.

As an aside, last week the second tier Manomanista competition saw its semi final stage and we now know that the final will be played between defending champion Mikel Beroiz (who beat Urrutikoetxea 22-20) and Aritz Lasa (who beat Leiza 22-16). The final will take place on Saturday 12^th June at Beotibar in Tolosa.

Friday 4^th June, Sodupe

22:25 (CEST) CABRERIZO II – LARRINAGA v IBAI PEREZ – GALARZA VI

23:30 (CEST) TITIN III – LASKURAIN v ARITZ LASA – BARRIOLA

Saturday 5^th June, Pamplona

17:35 (CEST) BERASALUZE VIII – IBAI ZABALA v SARALEGI – BEGINO

Followed by OLAIZOLA I v XALA Manomanista Semi Final

Sunday 6^th June, Eibar

16:55 (CEST) OLAZABAL – ZUBIETA v IDOATE – PASCUAL

Followed by MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – PATXI RUIZ Manomanista Semi Final

All these matches can be viewed online at http://www.eitb.com/television/etb-sat

Xala and Olaizola I lock horns on Saturday

Image from Gara (Juanan RUIZ/ARGAZKI PRESS)

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