The Miami team of Arriaga and Pedrouzo absolutely dominated play in the
first round of the NAJF Qualifier played at Fort Pierce Jai-alai this past
Saturday night. It was probably the best display of doubles play I've seen
since Michelena and Daniel swept 10 straight points in last year's Citrus
Invitational. The duo played four games and scored 24 of a possible 28
points which included a win, two six point place and a five point place
efforts. They were nearly untouchable as they lost only four points for
the entire evening.
Arriaga's experience prevailed throughout as he
changed up from his normal style of play. Normally, the talented front
courter is agressive in taking the serve and throwing two wall costado for
the easy winner. However, the extremely wide wood to the right of the
court diminishes the effectiveness of this technique and he adjusted well
throwing numerous cortadas to the inside for winners. He mishandled only
one catch all night, and that was an extemely difficult chance over his
head on the reverse.
Pedrouzo was flawless. The smoothest back courter in
the game was a picture of graceful athleticism as he controlled his
opponents with pin point accuracy to the back corner all night long. Each
time he handled the pelota, he moved forward and his opponent moved back
until Arriaga got involved for the kill. It was doubles jai-alai exactly
how it should be played. Excepting Michelena and Daniel, I have never seen
two players compliment each other so well.
Not surprisingly, the race for second place is close between four veteran
teams. Dania's Beheretche - Cuvet and Alberdi - Felix find themselves in
second and third place with 14 and 13 points respectively. Beheretche and
Cuvet struggled in their first two games scoring only one point in each
before finishing their evening in great fashion with a win and a six point
place effort. Alberi and Felix did not win a game, but were pretty
consistent throughout the evening. If there was one team that played
better than their point total showed, this was the team.
Right behind the
Dania teams are Tampa's Areition and Iruta with 11 points. Areitio played
very well and was probably the most spectacular player of the evening. He
had more than a couple of great grabs of outside caroms that he was able to
put away for winners. Iruta was very steady in the back court. They had a
very early one point lead on Arriaga-Pedrouzo when they surprised the crowd
by winning the first game. Orlando's veteran team of Zugasa and Erkiaga
racked up a win in Game 12 in their second round to get them seven of the
nine points they would score, good enough for fifth place.
The two players who would probably tell you they did not play well were
Miami's Elorrio and Tampa's Lejardi. Elorrio had some very uncharcteristic
drops which took he and Echave out of most points. Echave played fairly
well and looked very strong. Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to
watch Elorrio play because win or lose, he seems to always have something
to say, find time for a smile, and really enjoy just playing the game.
This is a very talented team, and I would not count them out yet. Lejardi
simply was not moving very well. He is suffering from some bruised ribs
and under normal circumstances, probably would have been scratched.
Here is a quick game by game synopsis:
Keep in mind there are 10 teams competing. There were five tournament
games and each team played in four games. The same 10 teams will compete
next week in Dania. From there, the eight teams with the most points will
move on to Orlando on the 28th of February for the final qualifying round.
Five of those teams will go on to the NAJF Tournament of Champions.
Game 9
Lejardi and Iriondo started the match off with the only three points they
would score all night. Arriaga took Lejardi's serve for a soft inside
dejada for the winner. In the first exciting exchange of the night Arriaga
threw a two wall carom to the outside on which Aretio made a spectacular
catch and return for the winner. Beheretche took Areitio's serve to the
inside for a quick point.
Elicegui kept the next point alive with several
superb catches along the inside wall until Arteche could throw cortada for
the winner. In another long exchange, Alberdi and Felix outdueled the
Orlando duo with Felix showing exceptional forehand power. The Dania team
score again before being sent to the bench by a nice inside cortada from
Zelenka. Arriaga and Pedrouzo won the next four points and were serving
for game and were once again beaten by Tampa's Areitio and Iruta when
Arriaga was unable to handle a very difficult overhead catch on the
reverse. With consistent play from Iruta and a couple of nice kills by
Areitio, the Tampa team ran out the game for the win.
Game 10
Game 11
Game 13
Zelenka and Tim had something to
say about that though when they played an excellent point to beat the Miami
veterans when Elorrio was unable to handle Zelenka's cortada to the inside.
Alberdi and Felix beat the Fort Pierce upstarts and were then quickly
beaten by Arriaga and Pedrouzo and then beat Tampa's Lejardi and Iriondo
when Lejardi was unable to handle the serve. Zulueta then made a great
catch and throw from the outside to steal game point from the Miami team
and were then taken out by Dania's Alberdi and Felix. Then the point of
the night. I'll be honest by saying I don't know how many exchanges there
were but, every shot in the jai-alai book was used and every one was
handled. The point went inside and outside, front and back and both teams
were throwing rockets all over the place.
Then one of the most phenomonal
series of exchanges I have ever seen occurred between Alberdi and Areitio.
First, Alberdi threw a sure winner two wall to the outside which Areitio
some how managed to snag and throw back to the inside. Alberdi was there
and threw soft inside dejada. Miraculously, Areitio recovered from the
outside and made the save throwing a low reverse to the middle of the court
which Alberdi snagged and rifled a cortada right back Areitio. Have no
idea how he reacted and made the catch, but he did and went back outside,
but Alberdi was there again and this time threw a two wall which Areitio
unbelievably got to, caught and threw a two wall of his own which went
about an inch on to the wood. Point and game to the Dania team but the
crowd was on its feet with a standing ovation for both teams on their
superb effort.
Standings After Round 1
For more information and comments from the players, see Shane Best's column
at the Tampa web site at http://www.fla-gaming.com/tampa or to the NAJF
Update at the Miami site at http://www.fla-gaming.com/miami
Thanks to Tampa's Shane Best, Miami's Jim Verella, Dan Licciardi and big
Aldrino, and Fort Pierce's Stu Nieman for the jai-alai night of my life.
What Else is Going On at Miami Jai-alai?
The Winter Season started on January 1st and with the new season came a lot
of roster changes. In a ceremony recently held at Miami Jai-alai, veterans
Gach, J.J. and Oregui were recognized upon their retirements from Jai-alai.
The hard throwing and charasmatic Gach had hip surgery last year. He
practiced but was unable to make the comeback. He played about 12 years in
Miami and was always one of the more exciting players to watch. Nobody
could ever accuse him of not giving 110 percent. Although not the official
reason, I suspect injuries also got the best of J.J. who was frequently
scratched from the program. The front courter, most noted for the deadly
two wall carom he could throw from anywhere on the court, played for over
10 years at Miami.
A veteran of 23 years at Miami, Oregui was a cagy
competitor whose experience and court savvy made him a force on the court
right up until his last day. Not recognized, because his retirement was
unexpected, was the talented young front courter Santi. My understanding
is that is retirement is unrelated to Jai-alai and that he and his family
simply made the decision to return to the homeland. He is an excellent
player whose decision to cut his career short denied him of the opportunity
to play to his potential. Ray is another who has elected to leave the game
to pursue his contracting business in south Florida. His name still
appears on the roster, but word is that he will not play again. In the
Navy, we have a wish for people who leave the service, who have done a good
job and deserve the very best in the future. To all five of these gents, I
bid them "Fair Winds and Following Seas". Those are the smoothest sailing
conditions that make Sailors very happy. I have enjoyed watching them all.
Daniel is currently out with a knee injury and his return date is unknown.
I have heard that he expects to be ready for the NAJF Tournament of
Champions. Castanos II fell on a ball and has been scratched recently.
Zulueta, Zumaya, Tim, Zelenka and Yoan have moved on to Fort Pierce for the
winter season. Lief has been dropped from the roster.
A new player on the roster this season is Mouhica who played this past
summer at Ocala. He is smooth and reminds me a lot of Pedrouzo. He was
the premier back courter at Ocala and represented that fronton well in a
couple of tournaments.
Here are your Top 10's updated through Monday, February 16, 1997
Fort Pierce Jai-alai
Visited Fort Pierce for the first time and had a great time. It is a very
nice facility with a beautiful cancha, good food, and outstanding ITW
betting facilities. I was also impressed with the roster. It's not Miami,
but there are some excellent players there and many familiar names. I have
seen and had some inquiries about the roster so I thought I would share it
with you. So, here it is:
Miami's Arriaga and Pedrouzo
Dominate NAJF First Round Qualifier
at Fort Pierce
Post Team Fronton
1 Arteche-Elicegui Orlando
2 Lejardi-Iriondo Tampa
3 Alberdi-Felix Dania
4 Zelenka-Tim Fort Pierce
5 Arriaga-Pedrouzo Miami
6 Zugaza-Erkiaga Orlando
7 Areitio-Iruta Tampa
8 Beheretche-Cuvet Dania
Post Team Fronton
1 Zulueta-Dennis Fort Pierce
2 Elorrio-Echave Miami
3 Arteche-Elicegui Orlando
4 Beheretche-Cuvet Dania
5 Areitio-Iruta Tampa
6 Zelenka-Tim Fort Pierce
7 Arriaga-Pedrouzo Miami
8 Lejardi-Iriondo Tampa
Zulueta-Dennis won the first point when Elorrio was unable to handle a
fairly difficult catch on the reverse along the wall. Elicegui threw a
pica which the leaping Dennis was unable to grab. Areitio and Iruta
grabbed the next two points and the rest of the game was no contest.
Arriaga and Pedruozo in a maginficent display of positioning, catching and
shot selection threw the perfect game. Surprisingly, most points were won
with Arriaga's cortada which was strong, low and effective. He made
several nice catches on opponents' cortada attempts to keep points alive
and was backed by superb back court support from Pedrouzo.
Post Team Fronton
1 Arriaga-Pedrouzo Miami
2 Beheretche-Cuvet Dania
3 Zulueta-Dennis Fort Pierce
4 Lejardi-Iriondo Tampa
5 Artche-Elicegui Orlando
6 Elorrio-Echave Miami
7 Alberdi-Felix Dania
8 Zugaza-Erkiaga Orlando
The Miami machine continued its run with five straight points to open the
match and looked unstoppable until Alberdi took an Arriaga carom on the
outside with a good catch and threw inside for the winner. The Dania team
took the next point and came up against mates Beheretche and Cuvet who
simply overpowered the opposition run the game out their second time up.
Beheretche is exceptionally strong with an outstanding forehand rebote
which he threw with great power and accuaracy. Cuvet, like Pedrouzo, is
very smooth and provided excellent support from the back court for
Beheretche.
Game 12
Post Team Fronton
1 Alberdi-Felix Dania
2 Zugaza-Erkiaga Orlando
3 Areitio-Iruta Tampa
4 Elorrio-Echave Miami
5 Zulueta-Dennis Fort Pierce
6 Beheretche-Cuvet Dania
7 Arteche-Elicegui Orlando
8 Zelenka-Tim Fort Pierce
Zugaza and Erkiaga started off the match with three straight points.
Erkiaga seemed to be getting the range of the much larger Fort Pierce
cancha and made several excellent catches keeping points alive to enable
Zugaza to throw a couple of strong cortadas for winners. Zulueta and
Dennis sat them down and quickly took a seat themselves when the red hot
Dania tandem of Beheretche and Cuvet took over and scored the next five
points. Serving for game, they were unable to get by Tampa's Areitio and
Iruta when Areitio made one of several spectacular catches on the night to
steal the point. Elorrio and Echave finally got on the board with their
first points of the night but quickly sat down when Zugaza threw another
tough inside shot for a winner. The Orlando team finished out the game
with a quick point over Zulueta and Dennis.
Post Team Fronton
1 Areitio-Iruta Tampa
2 Zelenka-Tim Fort Pierce
3 Arriaga-Pedrouzo Miami
4 Zugaza-Erkiaga Orlando
5 Alberdi-Felix Dania
6 Lejardi-Iriondo Tampa
7 Zulueta-Dennis Fort Pierce
8 Elorrio-Echave Miami
Most people who were at Fort Pierce this night will remember the night for
the final point of the evening and the outstanding effort on a couple of
points by Tampa's Areitio. He and Iruta started off the match winning the
first point and then faced Miami's Arriaga-Pedrouzo. After a long exchange
Areitio threw cortada to the inside on which Arriaga made a great catch and
return. A few more exchanges occurred and Arriaga threw that two wall
carom which Areitio snagged and threw back to the inside but Arriaga was
there again. Finally, Arriaga threw the cortada for the winner to end the
point. The Miami team beat Zugaza and Erkiaga before Alberdi and Felix sat
them down after a long exchange. Elorrio and Echave finally looked like
they would make a move when the beat the Dania team and quickly disposed of
Areitio and Iruta to get to three points.
Team Fronton Points
Arriaga-Pedrouzo Miami 24
Beheretche-Cuvet Dania 14
Alberdi-Felix Dania 13
Areitio-Iruta Tampa 11
Zugaza-Erkiaga Orlando 9
Elorrio-Echave Miami 5
Zelenka-Tim Fort Pierce 5
Zulueta-Dennis Fort Pierce 4
Arteche-Elicegui Orlando 3
Lejardi-Iriondo Tampa 3
Round 2 next week at Dania with the final qualifying round on February 28th
at Orlando.
Player Updates
Wins Winning Pct. In the Money Pct.
Reveles 48 Michelena .226 Reveles .456
Danny 44 Daniel .178 Soroa .453
Michelena 43 Montilla .175 Montilla .453
Mark 43 Reveles .170 Daniel .449
Mouhica 43 Castanos II .160 Michelena .437
Ricky 37 Ricky .160 Fernandez .432
Murelaga 37 Danny .155 Arriza .428
Lopetegui 37 Elorza .154 Danny .408
Txomin 36 Fernandez .149 Arriaga .406
Arriza 36 Dezec .147 Mark .403
All Players' Statistics through Monday, Feb 16, 1998
No. Player Games 1st 2nd 3rd Win% Money%
10 Magu 203 22 22 20 .108 .315
11 Ricky 231 37 22 24 .160 .359
12 Michelena 190 43 17 23 .226 .437
13 Kurt 267 23 38 38 .086 .371
14 Thomas 249 30 25 30 .120 .341
16 Irazabal II 112 13 15 14 .116 .375
17 Adam 277 29 34 43 .105 .383
18 Pedrouzo 233 31 27 28 .133 .369
20 Daniel 107 19 10 19 .178 .449
22 Benny 180 26 23 19 .144 .378
23 Danny 284 44 34 38 .155 .408
24 Mark 300 43 39 39 .143 .403
25 Scott 246 32 31 21 .130 .341
27 Insausti 215 25 23 28 .116 .353
30 Mouhica 294 43 44 25 .146 .381
32 Castanos II 163 26 22 16 .160 .393
33 Uriona 219 20 27 29 .091 .347
34 Manny 222 18 25 32 .081 .338
36 Harretche 264 28 36 27 .106 .345
37 Orbea 264 24 31 40 .091 .360
39 Ecenarro 242 24 30 26 .099 .331
41 Elorrio 202 26 21 19 .129 .327
42 Benjamin 222 21 31 32 .095 .378
43 Txomin 267 36 30 32 .135 .367
44 Art 267 30 35 37 .112 .382
45 Juanito 272 31 33 30 .114 .346
47 Arriaga 197 28 31 21 .142 .406
48 Lasa III 230 29 42 18 .126 .387
51 Soroa 256 34 35 47 .133 .453
52 Jackie 25 3 3 3 .120 .360
53 Irasu 228 26 35 27 .114 .386
55 Elorza 162 25 12 22 .154 .364
56 Murelaga 274 37 32 36 .135 .383
57 Sarria 205 21 21 23 .102 .317
58 Christophe 165 18 26 19 .109 .382
59 Castanos 266 30 28 36 .113 .353
60 Montilla 137 24 18 20 .175 .453
62 Plaza II 251 22 33 37 .088 .367
63 Arriza 276 36 43 39 .130 .428
64 Reveles 283 48 40 41 .170 .456
65 Fernandez 148 22 20 22 .149 .432
66 Lopetegui 272 37 32 32 .136 .371
67 Forestier 254 28 34 29 .110 .358
68 Dezec 231 34 28 25 .147 .377
69 Echave 228 26 25 31 .114 .360
70 Barrena 273 30 27 32 .110 .326
76 Corta II 231 21 33 34 .091 .381
No. Name Position Birthdate Birthplace
11 Jeraga Front 5-9-68 USA
12 Rosendo Front 9-8-71 Cuba
13 Baluja Front 7-23-75 USA
14 Alex Front 12-29-62 USA
15 Barinaga Front 6-16-64 Spain
16 Cameron Front 6-1-56 USA
17 Zelenka Front 12-29-76 USA
18 Gorka Front 6-17-74 France
19 Cancio Front 6-25-77 USA
20 Anastasia Front 1-27-64 USA
21 Felipe Front 8-8-63 Mexico
22 Chiappetta Front 1-3-71 USA
23 Zulueta Front 2-9-65 Spain
25 Gonzalez Front 3-1-72 France
26 Laucirica Front 12-3-70 Spain
27 Arche Front 1-6-65 Spain
38 Beto Front 3-25-63 Mexico
30 Olin Back 1-28-54 Spain
31 Yoan Back 5-29-76 Cuba
33 Gandar Back 6-7-61 Spain
34 Asis IV Back 10-25-76 USA
35 Stock Back 4-3-59 USA
36 Cisneros Back 1-26-79 Mexico
37 Kosches Back 4-22-65 USA
38 Tirillo Back 9-27-74 USA
39 Carea II Back 2-23-64 Spain
41 Ugarte Back 3-28-73 Spain
42 Moore Back 5-23-60 USA
43 Bereicua Back 11-14-56 Spain
44 Dennis Back 12-5-68 USA
45 Echaburu Back 4-11-79 USA
47 Irusta Back 9-20-65 Spain
49 Marshall Back 3-12-61 USA
51 Zumaya Back 7-3-63 Spain
55 Tim Back 11-7-59 USA
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