Singles Jai-Alai Championship

This Friday begins the 2009 Singles Jai-Alai Championship here in the Basque Country, organized by the Pelota´s World Council. Unlike last year pelotaris of both companies, Master Jai and Jai Alive, will face each other, eight top players, four frontcourt and four backcourt competing for one destiny: the "basque beret", the crown.
Nowadays best player in the world Goikoetxea will play against Hernandez this Friday on the opening night, in Berriatua (Bizkaia). By the way, I hate to see this kind of official matches been played in courts like the one in Berriatua, a 47 meter long cancha. It is like watching a World Series baseball game in a High School playground. No comment. Goiko should not have any trouble sending home the former Dania player. Usually frontcourters have an advantage comparing with backcourters. Serving and the rebote are the basics if you want to play singles decently. Goiko knows how to serve, and rebote... I haven´t seen anybody with such a right hand rebote like Goiko´s (and I doubt Tiger has either). Guess what, friday´s should be a training session for Robocop Goiko against a qualified sparring: Hernandez.

On July 19th Lopez faces Lander in Markina. David against Goliath. This time though I doubt that David will be able to beat Lopez. Lander has just escaped from injury recently, he has not play singles in months and, most likely, he wont play singles again for months. Lopez is the number one backcourt player in the world, or so the y say. This season he is got the opportunity to show it, we will be watching.

Irastorza, whom may not liked what I just wrote about Lopez, plays against Foronda in Gernika, on July the 20th. Irastorza is my favorite in this match. Althoug I did not like how the Miami player played last year in Durango against Enbil, he lost; that day he seemed a woodcutter from Alaska working from nine to five in a Manhattan office. Irastorza went crazy. Unable to score a point on short cancha like the one of Durango, 52 meters long. Anyways, Gernika is not Durango and Foronda is not Enbil. Foronda is a kind of player that you see him playing and you get inpressed, he does everything right but still there are more than 15 players like him all over.

July the 23th, in the fishing village of Hondarribia (Gipuzkoa) a serious candidate for the crown, Egiguren, faces Enbil, a gladiator on the jai-alai arenas. Egi, the former Dania star shoul be able to beat tough Enbil. Egi is 31 years old, a lot of experience on his back after more than a decade in Florida, he is got the konowledge to play singles. He is done a lot of phisical training all winter long, and more important, he is got the will to do something big this summer, maybe this year´s doubles championship? (with Goiko´s permission). On the other side, I don´t see Enbil like an outstanding singles player. He is powerful, he is a fighter, he is a serious opponent, but beating Egi takes more than that. It takes what Goiko and Lopez have and know: how to play singles.