Altuna III and Zabaleta, during a match at the Bizkaia fronton. /
Vitoria, San Sebastián and Bilbao will have championships in a format of three or four days during the month of August
Professional handball will return to pre-pandemic normality this summer. After two years in which the promoters had to improvise to have a program and that their budgets suffer as little as possible due to the existing restrictions, the return of the patron saint festivities and the elimination of the measures to combat the virus have encouraged them to recover the calendar of summer championships. In this way, the summer tournaments will return to the three Basque capitals.
Vitoria, San Sebastián and Bilbao will have theirs during the month of August. Currently, the operators are working on shaping them, but they will be competitions lasting three or four days. The fair of La Blanca and that of the capital of Gipuzkoa are yet to be finalized, but the one in Biscay will be on the 24th, 25th and 27th. The first two days will be played in the semifinals and the last will be the summit clash.
One day before its start, the final of the Bizkaia Tournament for teams will take place, which, in the three modalities, begins to be played tomorrow. The Txikito Gallarta fronton in the mining town (5:15 p.m.) hosts the duels between Peña-Artola, within the Cuatro y Medio, Urrutikoetxea-Mariezkurrena against Jaka-Albisu, in pairs, and Alberdi against Zubizarreta in heads-up.
On Sunday, the Matiena neighborhood of Abadiño will host the second day (5:00 p.m.) with the duels between Peio Etxeberria and Elezkano II, in the cage, Ezkurdia-Rezusta against Irribarria-Zabaleta, in pairs, and Elordi against Zabala in the entire fronton. Zierbena and Arrigorriaga will host the last two heats next weekend.
Lekeitio and Bermeo
In addition to the tournaments in the Basque capitals, the companies are also working on finalizing the details of the Caixabank Masters that will cover another part of the summer. Other of the traditional appointments of the summer calendar such as Lekeitio on this occasion will host matches of this competition. It will be mixed pairs again, but unlike other editions it will be a single lap. It is possible that the presence of the number of pelotaris will be reduced and it will have the most important ones from the cadres of both companies.
The Bizkaia team tournament will start tomorrow at the Txikito fronton in Gallarta
It will not be the only town in the province that hosts it because from the companies they are perceiving “an increase in interest on the part of the municipalities when it comes to having ball games.”
In fact, Bermeo has also decided to organize a small format tournament of which one day has already been played. The second will be in mid-July and the final will take place in September.
The eight days that the San Fermín fair will have, which is also returning to its usual format, are another clear example of how well the summer is going in terms of programming. And the public response in the Navarran capital is exceeding expectations. Before the championship is presented, probably next week, ticket sales are going at a great pace and for several days they have already sold out.
