“Favoritism must be shown on the court and I have shown it.” The words of Peio Etxeberria They are the best summary of the Manomanista Promotion, which concluded this Saturday with the victory of the Navarrese over Julen Egiguren by a 22-7 that reflects what happened at the Labrit in Pamplona.
The great value of the txapela lies in the fact that Peio Etxeberria he decided to play a promotion championship in which he had a lot to lose, due to his indisputable favoritism. I knew that anything other than being champion would be considered a failure, but the Zenotz man has managed to manage that pressure and has spoken on the court, until the last day. The victory guarantees him a place in the Big Manomanista next year, but Peio Etxeberria was already in the First Division.
He did not give Egiguren V options in the Pamplona fronton. The Azpeitiarra held on to the game in the first half, but always played dominated. He managed to defend himself with the volley at the beginning, but Etxeberria forced him to play far back and, in addition, he gave the ball a lot of speed. Not even the few times that he had to play the rest did he suffer, since he immediately went on to dominate both.
Egiguren V held on to the game in the first half with the volley defense, but played dominated
SUPERIORITY
“He has deservedly won me,” Egiguren recognized with sportsmanship. “In the second half, the game was completely broken, he played very well and I didn’t see where to try to counter him.” In that final phase of the match, the Azpeitiarra was surrendered to the evidence. Peio Etxeberria also made no concessions to the gallery despite its superiority and income on the scoreboard. He played very serious.
On the Labrit court, the distance that separates the two pelotaris right now was seen. The Navarrese, two years older, has a longer career and continuously plays higher-level matches, which ends up being reflected, and more heads-up on the entire pitch. The speed of the ball allowed him to dominate the game and show his back to Egiguren.
“He has deservedly won me, I didn’t see where to counteract him,” admitted the Azpeitiarra
SPORTSMANSHIP
The Azpeitiarra, however, had a performance that was nothing like that of the final of the Four and a Half Promotion that he lost to Elordi. Yesterday, he was involved in the game and made Peio Etxeberria work, although he could not hold him. He showed again that he still lacks a shot with the right to take a leap in his performance and be able to beat Pelotaris like his rival yesterday and those who will be on his way up. The difference that still separates Peio Etxeberria and Egiguren V was seen in the toughest goals. There were eight of ten balls or more and six were for Zenotz.
Despite the defeat, it should be noted that, at the age of 20, Julen Egiguren has reached the last two individual promotion finals, which is a good example of his quality and potential.
Zabaleta and Rezusta, for third place … and something else?
José Javier Zabaleta and Beñat Rezusta dispute today the clash for the third and fourth place of the Manomanista de Primera, in the second match of a festival that begins at 5:00 p.m. (ETB1) at the Uranzu fronton in Irun.
They face the two defenders who have changed the trend of heads-up in recent years, which seemed to have become a closed box for the forwards. Zabaleta and Rezusta have managed to reach the semifinals, although they lost to Jokin Altuna and Iñaki Artola, respectively.
It is not usually a very appealing match for the losers of the semifinals, but in this case –in addition to the fact that “it is better to be third than fourth”, as Zabaleta recalled– there may be an added prize. And not just any award.
Iñaki Artola tries to recover from a back injury in order to be in time to play the final on Sunday 20 in Bilbao, but if the Alegiarra is forced to resign his position, he will be awarded to third place. Neither Zabaleta nor Rezusta have wanted to know anything about this option and have insisted that “the final is for those who have deserved it”, but the fact is that given the circumstances this afternoon’s game acquires an unexpected significance.
There is no favorite. The bets are even. Zabaleta’s impressive performance in the Couples Championship caused expectations to skyrocket about Etxarren’s in hand. On the other side of the table, the Bergararra has also signed a good route, so there is no difference in the starting odds.
Jon Ander Albisu is now ready to return to the field. You have been discharged and will return to the schedules shortly. The ataundarra has not played since the final of the Couples Championship, on May 9, so he has spent four weeks in the dry dock because of his right hand.
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