Fernando Goñi has signed a contract with Aspe to play for another year. The defender from Zubiri is, along with Juan Martinez de Irujo, the defending doubles champion. Aspe have also announced the contract renewals of Pedro Martínez de Eulate (for one year) and Íñigo Pascual (until 2014).
Source: Diario de Noticias, image from: La Rioja
Filed under: Pelota Mano | Tags: Aritz Lasa, Eulate, Ibai Perez, Pascual, Sestao
Friday 12th June, Las Llamas, Sestao
IBAI PEREZ – PASCUAL beat ARITZ LASA – EULATE 22-19
ASPE have been shopping for new young blood and on Friday in Sestao, their second recent acquisition made his eagerly awaited professional debut. He had a hard act to follow after the convincing win pulled off by the first new pro, Cecilio, two weeks ago, but Ibai Perez delivered with cream on top. In front of a large and enthusiastic crowd in his home town, the young forward played with incredible tenacity and verve to humble a quality pair in Aritz Lasa and Eulate. They say the young have no nerves and of this Ibai is living proof.
In a match which lasted nearly an hour and a half, almost every point was a game in miniature. The first play continued for a lifetime and Ibai Perez was kept waiting for his first contact with the pelota by his partner, Inigo Pascual, who took on the point almost singlehandedly. However, when he did enter the breach, he made his presence felt, immediately overcoming Aritz Lasa in the forward tussle when his pressure caused his opponent to misfire with a hook. However, despite this excellent opening salvo from the pair in blue, the first half of the match was all about Aritz and Eulate, who despite never appearing streets ahead, possessed the edge in finishing power. From 0-1, they took the score to 4-1 and then 7-2 thanks to some solid serving from Aritz and an unfortunate error from the debutante who had a gargantuan point at his mercy before hitting inexplicably low. However, from this juncture, Pascual and Ibai Perez began to claw their way back. Two errors from Aritz reduced the deficit to three before another monstrous point gave Ibai Perez in particular a huge fillip. It was an excellent example of doubles play from all concerned; Pascual was peppered with one long ball after another but returned with interest and his young partner flung himself in all directions for the cause before flooring Eulate with a masterful drop. The apprentice had suddenly turned boss.
The lead of Aritz Lasa and Eulate grew once more to five points at 13-8, due in large part to three errors from Pascual, who hit wide and low in succession, before missing the ball altogether, and a slip and a winner from Ibai and Aritz respectively. In this early portion of the game, it was Eulate who held the key to red control, providing a solid and dependable platform from which Aritz Lasa could attack. Nobody could have imagined that the wheels would fall off in such dramatic fashion. Eulate, extraordinarily, committed five errors in a row, hitting both high, low and short. Ibai Perez’s pressure and strong service are an explanation of sorts, but Eulate seemed to have lost the metaphorical plot. When Ibai struck a stinging txoko winner to take the lead for the first time, the crowd raised the roof. The local boy was on fire and would never be headed again. The ‘home’ team’s lead never grew to more than three, but so assured did they look that the result seemed sealed. Eulate, although he improved, made a further six errors in the match and this was extremely telling, but nothing must be taken away from the triumph of Ibai and Pascual, who fought like warriors for every scrap which came their way. The point which closed the lead of the eventual winners to a single point at 18-19 was emblematic of a match where every rally was a tussle to the death. It lasted 4.40 minutes and 91 strikes of the ball before Aritz Lasa finally out-manoeuvred Ibai Perez to take the spoils. But this was transient triumph for Aritz and Eulate; they won the battle but Pascual and his rookie partner won the war.
Ibai Perez, on the strength of his performance here, is a tantalising prospect. He is fast and bustling, somewhat in the manner of Oinatz Bengoetxea, and hits with abandon and a noted lack of fear. This was a tense, close match, where almost every point hung on a knife edge, yet the young forward never lost focus, displaying a maturity far in advance of his tender years. ASPE must nurture him with care.
Scoring sequence: 0-1, 1-1, 4-1, 4-2, 7-2, 7-3, 7-5, 8-5, 10-5, 10-7, 11-7, 11-8, 12-8, 13-8, 13-9, 13-16, 14-16, 15-16, 15-17, 15-18, 16-18, 16-19, 17-19, 18-19, 19-19, 19-20, 19-22.
Filed under: Pelota Mano | Tags: Berasaluze IX, Eulate, manomanista championship, Pelota Mano, Zeanuri
Friday 3rd April
Zeanuri
BERASALUZE IX beat EULATE 22-11
The television cameras at Zeanuri last night seemed far more interested in the fact that Pello Martinez de Eulate’s botillero was none other than Juan Martinez de Irujo, than in the fact that this was a championship match of huge importance to the protagonists. The big players do not enter the draw until the third round but for Asier Berasaluze and Eulate, both from ASPE, this was their chance to prove themselves and to keep alive their hopes of being there to face the likes of Irujo himself in two weeks time. Berasaluze is on something of a high, having recently won the second division pairs title with Xabier Urberuaga, and his surge of confidence was to serve him well.
The match began with Eulate strutting his stuff. Twice pairs champion, the man from Lizarra-Estella signalled his intent by rendering Berasaluze flat on his stomach as the latter struggled to recover from a masterly long serve. Two miscues from the native of Berriz took Eulate’s lead to 3-0 as Berasaluze yelled in self reproach. However, this was not to be the pattern of the remainder of the game. In the very next point Eulate committed the same error as his opponent had in the point before, mistiming a driving volley, and ceded the service. And service was to be to key. Berasluze’s first serve was a pasa, not the confidence boost for which he might have wished, but from there on there was no stopping his stinging right arm. The 25 year old served fast and hard. In taking the score to parity at 3-3, he unleashed a 122kmph monster against which Eulate had no hope. This was to be the fastest of the evening but he lost no potency, regularly hitting the 116kmph mark.
It took Berasaluze some time to impose himself, despite his gargantuan serve, as Eulate’s tactical nouse held him at bay. In this sense, the point which took the score to 8-6, reducing Berasaluze’s deficit to two points, must be seen as a turning point. Eulate repeatedly pushed his opponent back, controlling him like a puppet on a string as he ran back and forth for over 20 shots. But he would not succumb and broke Eulate’s control with a combination of a drop into the corner and a crosscourt flick which appeared to break his spirit. Berasaluze never looked back. His aforementioned serve took him to a 12-8 lead in quicktime. Eulate hung onto his coat tails and was only two points adrift at 13-11, but then the elastic snapped in catastrophic fashion. Four errors did not help matters for the afflicted pelotari but it was the pressure exerted by Berasaluze which told, as 13-11 became 22-11. In the dying points, Eulate appeared to have given up, and there was nothing Irujo, sitting stony faced in his chair, could do to raise him.
An so, a dejected Eulate leaves the championship while the ever smiling Berasaluze IX marches on. His next opponent is Inigo Leiza, who will no doubt be practising his return of serve.
Scoring sequence (Eulate first): 1-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, 4-5, 5-5, 8-5, 8-6, 8-12, 9-12, 9-13, 11-13 and 11-22.