The eight finalists, on the court of Aritzbatalde de Zarautz: Antton Apezetxea, Elola, Arroita, Beñat Apezetxea, Arrillaga, Aldai, Amiano, Loza, Igoa and Ugartemendia. /
Finals Torneo Bankoa Abanca – DV
Without the restrictions of the last edition, the Bankoa ABANCA-DV Tournament offers three finals this Saturday in Zarautz to delight the pelotazale
Our memory is selective. Without a review of the photographs of the Bankoa ABANCA-DV Tournament last year, played on December 26, it would be difficult to remember that the public still wore a mask on the pediments. The pelotaris themselves collected the txapelas and the trophies with their face masks on. Although its mandatory use remains in certain places, the ball has been stripped of that requirement.
From this point of view, the finals this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the Aritzbatalde de Zarautz (ETB4) also mean a return to a not-so-common normality for a while. The Covid-19 prevented in 2020 from completing an edition that started and had to stop after completing some qualifiers. That is why there are no champions of that year in the list of winners. It was resumed in 2021 under the sanitary regulations required at the time.
The 2022 finals start with a significant absence. A right knee ailment prevents Laia Salsamendi, a 16-year-old manista from Navarra, from defending an option won thanks to two convincing victories. Her hopeful return to the courts after eleven months of absence after a ruptured cruciate ligament in her left knee has been cut short by an injury whose definitive diagnosis she is unaware of at the moment. She is awaiting the MRI that she will undergo next week. The forecasts are pessimistic.
59 winners of the Bankoa ABANCA-DV Tournament have made the leap to professional with Asegarce-Baiko or Aspe.
As it could not be otherwise, Salsamendi has received the invitation from the organizers to attend the Aritzbatalde this Saturday, where he will surely receive expressions of affection and encouragement from the pelotazales.
Miriam Arrillaga, the losing semifinalist with the best score, covers the loss of the Isaba manista based in Etxauri to face Amaia Aldai in the first of the three finals of a festival that begins at 11:00 am. Four and a half was waiting for both of them. Aginaga’s defender faces a demanding commitment against Dima’s striker, finalist for the third time in a row, winner in 2019 and runner-up in 2021.
Half past four
Miriam Arrillaga.
22 years old (21-9-2000), Aginaga. 1.68 meters and 60 kilos. The defenderAamaia Aldai
22 years old (2/25/2000), Dima. 1.65 meters and 60 kilos. The striker
Aldai intends to register his name for the second time in a list of awards that Miren Larrarte inaugurated in 2018. Participation, as in the boys, is reserved for those under 24 years of age, which is why Olatz Arrizabalaga has not been able to defend his success last year. Gernika’s is over that age.
A review of the list of winners since this tournament began in 1992 reveals that at least one of the winners of each edition has reached professionalism. Even two of the five champions of the last one are currently in the top flight, Aimar Morgaetxebarria in Baiko and Hodei Exposito in Aspe.
Mobilized hobbies
That is where the repercussion achieved by a competition appreciated both by the young participants and by the pelotazales that closely follow the amateur field begins to be understood. The finals mobilize the youngest fans and the banners of encouragement will remain hanging in some points of the Aritzbatalde. From Goizueta, a town closely linked to this sport, people over 80 will arrive along with crews of 18 and 20 to support their last two jewels, Antton and Beñat Apezetxea. They live the ball and they will not leave them alone.
promises
Beñat Reverend
17 years old (2005-1-1), Goizueta. 1.74 meters and 75 kilos. The strikerAnder Arroita
18 years old (2004-9-3), Arrigorriaga. 1.87 meters and 82 kilos. The defenderUnai Amiano
18 years old (21-10-2004), Irun. 1.80 meters and 79 kilos. The strikerCarmelo Loza.
18 urte (2004-4-5), Baños de Río Tobía. 1.83 meters and 80 kilos. Atzelaria.
Beñat Apezetxea-Ander Arroita, solid like few others, and Unai Amiano-Carmelo Loza, superior in hitting on paper, will look for the txapelas of promises. The left-hander from Irunda, Amiano, has displayed freshness, punching power and finishing ability. He bounces the ball away and always has his left foot ready to finish. Loza is behind more than Arroita, but courage and fighting ability are part of the guarantee of an Apezetxea that also plays for history. Thirty years after his father, Juantxo, won the tournament, Beñat does not want to be less.
Gorka Ugartemendia reaches the senior final reinforced by the punching display offered in the Beotibar semifinal. His right hand shone with its own light and is one victory away from repeating an achievement recently signed by Iosu Eskiroz and Aimar Morgaetxebarria: winning two consecutive years in a different category.
Senior
Iñaki Elola
24 years old (10-31-1998), Bidania. 1.86 meters and 90 kilos. The strikerAntton Parish
21 years old (1-25-2001), Goizueta. 1.81 meters and 76 kilos. the defenderJoshua Name.
20 years old (23-1-2002), Etxarri Aranatz. 1.85 meters and 78 kilos. The strikerGorka Ugartemendia
19 years old (2/9/2003), Alkiza. 1.91 meters and 90 kilos. The defender
He has the accompaniment of a striker of the stature of Josu Igoa. But be careful because they are up against Iñaki Elola, a bomber capable of wreaking havoc with the serve, and life insurance like Antton Apezetxea. The fish is not sold. Not much less.
La Rioja once again has a finalist five years later: Loza
Carmelo Loza, defender from Baños de Río Tobía present in the combination of promises, recovers the Rioja presence in the finals. He takes over from Óscar Lerena, a striker from Nájera who played in that same category in 2017, five years ago. Since then no representative of that community had obtained the classification.
The first finalist from La Rioja was David San Martín ‘Barberito VI’, defeated in 1996 alongside Auxkin against Pablo Berasaluze and Zearra in Bergara. He inaugurated a list that was later joined and in this order by Zurdo de Baños (1997), Gabarri (1997), Del Rey (1999), Merino II (2006), Gorka (2008), Cecilio (2008), Víctor ( 2010), Darío (2012), Jorge Sánchez (2013) and the aforementioned Lerena (2017). Only two, Barberito VI and Cecilio, have intervened in the senior category.
There is another curious detail in La Rioja’s participation in the finals. They lost the first four from 1996 to 1999, won the next five from 2006 to 2012, and dropped the last two. Loza, a defender with two good hands and pre-contracted by Aspe, has the opportunity to take over from Darío, the last La Rioja champion, twelve years after the pelaire’s triumph in the 2012 promise final.
