Basque pelota blog in english – Dos paredes

Vitoria-Gasteiz’s most important festival commenced yesterday, as the ‘bajada del Celedón’, a life-size doll dressed in the traditional costume of Alava, descended from the bell tower of the Church of San Miguel to the balcony of a house in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca. This traditional opening heralds five days of festivities, including processions, music, dance and shows, and some of the Basque Country’s top pelotaris will be in town to play their part.

The Virgen Blanca pairs tournament kicks off tonight when Manomanista Champion Juan Martinez de Irujo teams up with Ruben Beloki to play Pablo Berasaluze and Alexis Apraiz for a place in the semi finals. The other three semi final pairs are already in place, and the winners of tonight’s game know they will face the attractive partnership of Xala and Barriola to fight for a place in the final, which will be held on Monday. There are some attractive matches among the curtain raisers too, notably tonight’s mano a mano encounter between two young players in their first professional seasons.

The fixtures, all of which can be seen on ETB-Sat, are listed below. I will bring you the schedules for Monday when they are available.

Thursday 5^th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

22:35 (CEST) LEMUNO v ALBISU

23:35 (CEST) MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BELOKI v BERASALUZE VIII – APRAIZ

Friday 6^th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

22:35 (CEST) MERINO II v LADIS GALARZA

23:35 (CEST) TITIN III – ZUBIETA v BENGOETXEA VI – BEGINO Semi Final

Saturday 7^th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

22:20 (CEST) MENDIZABAL – OTEIZA v CABRERIZO II – MERINO I

23:25 (CEST) XALA – BARRIOLA v Winners of the game on 5^th August Semi Final

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

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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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I am back from Belgium and normal service on the blog can now resume! As I was watching the Tour of Flanders on the Muur in Geraardsbergen while the Pairs Final was in progress, I did not see any of it and cannot offer much of a report. Suffice to say that Yves Salaberry and Aitor Zubieta wrapped up their fine competition by clinching the prize over Sebastien Gonzalez and Aritz Laskurain. The winners came to the boil gradually over the weeks of the tournament and were the form pair going into the final; their victory, though unheralded in January, came as no shock in the final analysis. The score, 22-14, belies the fact that Gonzalez and Laskurain fought every inch of the way. The win was, by all accounts, not a walk in the park for Xala and Zubieta. Early in the game, the pairs matched each other blow for blow and were level at 5-5. The most crucial spell of the game followed however, as Xala and Zubieta opened up a six point lead. From there on, the top dogs were never headed, but Gonzalez and Laskurain kept the deficit minor until their rivals opened the floodgates to advance to 20-13. Xala, it seems, made the game, with sterling support from Zubieta, while the pressure told on their opponents.

The statistics were as follows:

Gonzalez – Laskurain: 14
Xala – Zubieta: 22

Duration: 91´
Playing time:30´
Strikes of the ball: 604
Scoring sequence: 0-1/ 1/ 3-1/ 3-2/ 5-2/ 5/ 5-11/ 8-11/ 8-13/ 10-13/ 11-13/ 11-15/ 12-15/ 12-16/ 13-16/ 13-20/ 14-20/ 14-22
Gonzalez: 1 dejada, 6 de aire; 1 perdida en ataque, a perdida
Laskurain: 2 atrás, 5 perdidas
Xala: 1 saque, 4 dejadas, 4 de aire, 1 cortada, 1 al ancho, 1 atrás; 1 perdida en ataque
Zubieta: 3 atrás, 3 perdidas

Triumph for Xala and Zubieta

Image from: Noticias de Navarra, Source: Aspe

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Saturday 8th August
Ogueta, Vitoria-Gasteiz
OLAIZOLA II beat MARTINEZ DE IRUJO 22-9

In a repeat of the Manomanista final, Aimar Olaizola played Juan Martinez de Irujo in a mano a mano match at Ogueta on Saturday, as part of the Virgen Blanco festival. Although an inconsequential game in terms of championships or the history books, this encounter had been talked up in the Basque press as something of a grudge match, with Aimar determined to avenge his 22-12 defeat to his great rival and prove his doubters wrong. There was no webcast so I cannot bring you a proper match report, but it is clear that Aimar reminded everyone of his status as a great champion in fairly emphatic style, racing to a 7-0 on his way to a 22-9 win. It is the second consecutive win over Irujo for the forward from Goizueta, following on the heals of his triumph in the final of the Navarrese Cuatro y Medio Championship last month.

Scoring sequence: 0-7, 4-7, 4-13, 5-13, 5-14, 7-14, 7-17, 9-17 and 9-22.
Match time: 40 minutes and 28 seconds
Stirkes of the ball: 195

Winners on serve: Olaizola 7, Irujo 1
Faults on serve: Olaizola 0, Irujo 0
Winners in play: Olaizola 10, Irujo 5
Errors: Olaizola 3, Irujo 5

Statistics from Diario Vasco: http://www.diariovasco.com/20090809/deportes/pelota/donde-toman-200…

Rivals: this time, as here, Aimar was on top

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Sunday 9th August
Ogueta, Vitoria-Gasteiz
XALA – GOÑI III beat BERASALUZE VIII – MENDIZABAL II 22-17

Battles locked in attritional stalemate are wont to turn with sudden and brutal force. On 21st June 1813, Joseph Bonaparte found this to his cost as his French defences crumbled at the hands of Arthur Wellesley at the Battle of Vitoria, signalling a virtual British victory in the Peninsula War. Today another battle was fought in Vitoria, which though less deadly in a literal sense, followed a similar pattern. For an hour or more, four of the best pelotaris the Basque Country has to offer flew at each other hammer and tongs until one side cracked. For Bonaparte read Mendizabal and for Wellesley read Xala, who in an ironic twist, if our metaphor is to be played out, hails from the French side of the Pyrenees. In a match of searing quality, it was the forward from Lekuine who turned the tide.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1813

Both partnerships had won their respective semi finals with consummate ease and happily for the enthusiastic but not overly large crowd at Ogueta, all four players carried their excellent form forward to the showpiece match. Matters began in whirlwind fashion with Pablo Berasaluze unleashing a txoko and two hooks to stamp his authority. Xala could only stand by and admire. However, if this early dominance by the pocket dynamo from Berriz appeared total, his rivals had other ideas as from 0-3 down, Xala produced two hooks and a devastating smash on his way to a 4-3 lead. And so the battle proceeded, neither side ceding a significant advantage for point after point. Berasaluze and Mendizabal perhaps held the marginal upper hand for the majority of the game, but only by a proverbial hair’s breadth. Berasaluze in particular displayed white hot form. The Asegarce forward is nothing if not a fighter and time and again he rescued points when all seemed lost. On several occasions, he dug out what should rightfully have been txoko winners from Xala and turned defeat into victory. Focussed and indefatigable, he threw himself in all directions, even finding the energy to encourage his partner mid point, all taut muscles and pumped fists. Particularly extraordinary was his return of Xala’s hook in the point which took his pair’s lead to 10-6 and his stinging airez following a brief but vicious forward battle at 13-11. Oier Mendizabal too played his part, managing some towering returns from Xala’s considerable serve and showing tremendous willingness and skill in coming forward to cover for Berasaluze when it was required.

The scores drifted upwards in the favour of the pair in red but Xala and Goni were always in comfortable touching distance with the gap never growing beyond four points as the tally moved from 4-4 to 16-15. In style, Xala and Berasaluze are chalk and cheese. Berasaluze appears to play on pure adrenaline and desire, but Xala’s more measured, almost brooding approach is no less effective. Despite a pair of faltas, he served clinically, inducing two consecutive errors from Mendizabal, which brought the score to 7-6. His tactical intelligence led to perfect placement in the three points which brought his pair to parity at 11-11, two txoko winners and a whipped crosscourt volley leaving an out of position Berasaluze with no chance. Goni, as he was in the semi final and as he has been almost all year, was extremely solid. He was also marginally less error prone than Mendizabal, and proved once again the perfect partner in a battle where no inch can be lost.

Despite this near stalemate, the feeling persisted that the Asegarce partnership would come through, such was the firepower of Berasaluze. However, as with military warfare, one seminal moment is often all it takes for well founded conviction to be blown out of the water, and so it was when Xala stepped forward to serve with the score at 17-17. He had hinted at his growing confidence with a devastating dosparedes winner in the previous point and he now produced two long dipping serves just as required. Mendizabal swung and struck but could not make good contact. Twice he tried and twice he failed. All of a sudden, the ASPE pair was ahead for the first time since the score stood at 4-3. Mendizabal’s double failure triggered meltdown for the duo in red; Berasaluze hit wide and Mendizabal mishit completely before Xala caught him napping with an innocuous looking txoko while he loitered far too far back. When Beraslauze hit low the game was up. As the curtain fell on this modern Battle of Vitoria, blue was the colour of victory.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, 2009

Scoring sequence: 1-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-4, 4-4, 7-4, 7-5, 7-6, 8-6, 10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 11-8, 11-11, 13-11, 13-12, 14-12, 14-13, 15-13, 15-14, 16-14, 16-15, 17-15, 17-16 and 17-22.

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Friday 7th August
Ogueta, Vitoria-Gasteiz
BERASALUZE VIII – MENDIZABAL II beat TITIN III – PASCUAL 22-10

The second semi final of the Torneo Virgen Blanco was significantly better attended than the first, in which only about 500 of 2155 seats were filled. Friday, in contrast, brought a near full house of enthusiastic fans who appeared torn in terms of allegiance between the master Titin and ‘Pablito’ Berasaluze, the terrier from Berriz. In the final analysis, it was the fans of the latter who left satisfied; Berasaluze produced a trademark performance of tenacity and drive, belying once again his small stature. Titin looked a shadow of the man we know he can be and it was only when the victory was as good as in the bag for the Asegarce pair that he showed any kind of convincing fight. Berasaluze in contrast chanced his arm and succeeded, bringing off some stunning hooks and returning everything his opponents could throw at him. In defence, Inigo Pascual seemed oddly off colour and never truly found his range. Oier Mendizabal, conversely, was at his metronomic best, the perfect bedrock for the attacking instinct of his partner.

The Asegarce victory here means that the final will be an inter-empresa affair; Berasaluze and Mendizabal will play Xala and Goni III of ASPE for the Virgen Blanco crown on Sunday. Catch it on ETB-Sat at 17:55 (CEST).

Mendizabal II: eye on the ball

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Wednesday 6th August
Ogueta, Vitoria-Gasteiz
XALA – GONI III beat BENGOETXEA VI – BEGINO 22-9

Ogueta was strangely under-populated for the first Virgen Blanco semi final on Wednesday. Whether this was due to the lack of star attraction on the fronton or to more attractive happenings elsewhere at Vitoria-Gasteiz’s fiesta is anybody’s guess, but these pelotaris deserved better. However, despite the absent sense of occasion, Xala and Goni III put on a display worthy of the largest possible stage.

For nine points, the match was a tight affair, characterised by some superior play by Aritz Begino, who initially had the better of his opposite number, Fernando Goni. However, with the score at 5-4 to the eventual losers, the game blew apart with eight unanswered points from Xala and Goni. Begino suffered an all too obvious errosion of confidence and went on to commit eight errors. In contrast, Goni was unflappable and as solid as the proverbial brick wall, maintaining the form he showed in partnering Martinez de Irujo to pairs championship glory earlier in the year. Xala took some time to hit his stride but when an astonishing hook from the ASPE forward took the score to parity at 5-5, the die was cast for the remainder of the match.

At the front of the court, Xala moved the ball at will, toying with both the walls and his forward opponent Oinatz Bengoetxea. The former Manomanista champion has been absent through injury for the past two months and sadly for him, it showed. He fared well in the flow of play but lacked any kind of closing power when it came to striking winners, something which came naturally to his opposite number. There was also an apparent lack of teamwork in the play of the Asegarce pair, who have not played together at all in recent months. On several occasions, Bengoetxea left balls for Begino which he should rightfully have taken himself, resulting in confusion and mishits. All in all then, this was a night to forget for Bengoetxea and Begino, but one which will provide Xala and Goni with a massive boost ahead of Sunday’s final.

Scoring sequence: 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 4-5, 12-5, 12-6, 14-6, 14-7, 17-7, 17-8, 20-8, 20-9 and 22-9.

Xala on song in Vitoria-Gasteiz

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This week sees the Torneo Virgen Blanco at Ogueta in Vitoria-Gasteiz and many of the matches are freely available on ETB-Sat. Competetion started yesterday with the mano a mano semi-finals, which saw Beroiz and Arretxe II proceed to the final, defeating Retegi Bi and Urrutikoetxea respectively. The first of the doubles semi finals takes place tonight (television schedule below).

On Saturday there is a special match unattached to the tournament proper, between Martinez de Irujo and Olaizola II, which should set the pulses of Vitoria-Gasteiz racing. Olaizola was of course heavily beaten by Irujo in the Manomanista final but has since gained some sort of revenge with a comprehensive defeat of his major rival in the Navarrese 4 1/2 Final. Unfortunately though, this will not be available on the web.

Matches on ETB-Sat (http://www.eitb.com/television/etb-sat)

Thursday 6th August
22:00 (CEST) BELLOSO – APRAIZ v CABRERIZO – URBERUAGA
Semi-final, Torneo Virgen Blanco
23:20 (CEST) XALA – GONI III v BENGOETXEA VI – BEGINO

Friday 7th August
22:00 (CEST) DEL REY – MERINO I v SARALEGI – ESKUDERO
Semi-final, Torneo Virgen Blanco
23:15 (CEST) TITIN III – PASCUAL v BERASALUZE VIII – MENDIZABAL II

The final will take place on Sunday and I will post any broadcast information when it becomes available.

Iker Arretxe is into the final

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