The San Fermín Tournament returns in style

Pamplona already smells like a party. Strolling through its streets during these dates is synonymous with joy, the same joy that all balls have when they make sure that one of the most important festivals of the summer, the San Fermín Tournament, is back. In a big way, too.

Aspe and Baiko have prepared nine festivals from Thursday July 7 to 14 and will be held, two years later, without restrictions, with full houses every day and with six top-level couples who will fight to win a tournament that will make the chair, which has already responded in ticket sales when there are still two weeks left for the first matches. The promoters presented the fair in the church of San Ignacio and there cannot be a simile that better summarizes this week of July in Iruñea. San Fermín and pelota are religion in Pamplona.

The two groups of three couples, as in previous editions, are powerful. Whoever wins will not repeat their victory at San Fermín since the two promoters have tried to move their chips looking for the best possible matches without wanting to be “repetitive”, declared Inaxio Errandonea, commercial director of Aspe. Group A is made up of Altuna III-Rezusta, Irribarria-Zabaleta and Urrutikoetxea-Imaz, while in group B Laso-Mariezkurrena II, Ezkurdia-Martija and Jaka-Albisu promise to wage war. Lizartza’s debuts in the tournament. Both Aspe and Baiko have preferred to be cautious and not give too many details, since it is not yet known what the days will be or on what days each of them will be played.

What is clear is that “the final of the Four and a Half will be on Thursday the 7th in the morning, while the semifinal group matches will be played from July 7 to 12,” Errandonea added. The schedule of the festivals, meanwhile, is defined.

On Thursday the 7th there will be a double session, at 11.00 and 22.15 -the first on ETB1-, while the night sessions will be on the 8th, 11th, 12th and 13th. ETB1, for its part, will broadcast the final of the Four and a Half and the festivals on the 8th, 10th and 11th as well as the final in pairs. As the pelota players from Cuatro y Medio are eliminated, the companies will define the rest of the calendar. There are no tickets left for the final of Cuatro y Medio and for days 8, 9 and 11, while there are -few- free seats for the rest of the days. Also for the Urzante oil challenge, scheduled for Wednesday the 13th. Peña II-Etxeberria will play inside the cage and Artola-Darío will play hand-in-hand on the whole field. The festival will be completed by another match in pairs, yet to be defined.

Altuna III, arrives; lasso, favorite

The pairs tournament has several attractions, but the main one is that Altuna III and Laso could face each other again a year after a wonderful final that catapulted Bizkarreta. That yes, the amezketarra hurries his deadlines to be able to dispute his tie against Peio Etxeberria. “I don’t know if I’ll be there for the 29th. I haven’t hardly trained on the fronton yet, I’ll do it this Friday because I want to go out with several serious training sessions. For couples, I do believe that I will arrive in conditions », he declared this Tuesday.

Laso, meanwhile, returns to play “at home and they make me the favourite, I’m really looking forward to it”. He will shortly celebrate his renewal with Baiko. “We have approached positions and it will be done this week.”