Gaubeka and Del Río shine in the Miribilla final of the International Pala Open

Gaubeka and Del Río shone in the final of the Bizkaia Open International shovel tournament and prevailed with great authority over Ibarguren and Ibai Pérez on the Miribilla pediment. Armintza’s ‘rooster’ and Lezama’s defender blended in perfectly and were far superior (3-0) to some rivals who did not have their afternoon. In this way, the striker got his second txapela in the sixth consecutive summit clash that he played, and surpasses Pablo Fusto in wounds in this competition. For his young bodyguard it is the first of his career, but yesterday he won it by far.

His security in the long frames and the criteria with which he moved the ball allowed his teammate to set the pace and bring out his magic when finishing the goal. The partial victory harvested in the first game (10-7) gave them the necessary security to maintain their performance against rivals who went from more to less.

The start of the game was tight. The four protagonists gave rhythm to the game, which caused more mistakes to be made than hits. The Colorados put the ball closer to the wall, but their rivals managed to stay in the set until the tie at six. It was from then on that a good serve from Lezama’s defender and another good shot from the right hand allowed them to pass all the pressure on to their opponents, who took risks and things did not work out for them.

Grown up, Gaubeka and Del Río kept Ibarguren and Ibai Pérez at bay in the second game. The man from Gipuzkoa and the man from Sestao did not find the sensations they were looking for and they made things easier for them. In the blink of an eye they were planted with a 7-3 in favor that had practically no answer. The defeated tried, but Armintza closed the game with two walls (10-5).

The winners faced the last game with the wind in their heads and morale through the roof. However, they did not lower their guard. The Blues held on until 5-4, but had to give in to the evidence after the authority shown by their rivals (10-6). Despite the defeat, Ibai Pérez was named the best pelota player in the championship.