2023-11-06 23:59:21
The trend is confirmed. The third edition of the Winter Series top basket tournament is on track to break attendance records. Yesterday another 1,800 spectators gathered at the Jai Alai in Gernika and were satisfied with the spectacle they were able to witness. There was surprise. Erkiaga and Ibarluzea took their first victory against Johan and López in an exciting duel. The first tiebreaker of the competition fell on the side of the Biscayans and the fronton saw them off standing.
The sale of nearly 1,200 season tickets before the start of the competition was a good omen that the product offered by the Eraman operator had caught on. Two functions were enough to corroborate it. The basket tip hooks. In the stands you can see many former players who already know what this sport is about, but also a new audience that is discovering it and that feeds a very hopeful future. Families with children who choose to spend a different Monday afternoon, and many young people who have ended up being conquered by the attraction of this sport.
Television audiences are also favorable in a time slot in which they have to compete with the most select of the day from other networks. «The fans live it intensely and come from all over Euskadi. Few sports manage to bring together so many people in a town on a Monday,” highlights Gaizka Muniategi, one of the promoters’ managers.
A lot of attention is paid to the details so that the connection between the attendees and what happens on the field is good. Appropriate music for each moment of the match, a speaker that manages to get the public on their feet during different phases of the match… You can even hear the instructions that the pelota players give each other during the match through the microphones they have built-in.
Erkiaga se sale
The rest is left in the hands of the protagonists. And this Monday night they put on a good show. Especially Erkiaga. The Ispaster striker, who knows a lot about how to dazzle the audience and has the weapons to do so, left. Especially in the first game. He signed up to ten goals. Each one different. He started with a two-wall right, followed by a cut to the wall, he took out a side that died on top of the plate from frame seven…
He was well accompanied by Ibarluzea, who was making his debut in the tournament, and did not show any pressure in the initial game. Faced with a situation like this, Johan and López ended up overwhelmed. They charged back, but Markina’s defender responded and they had nothing to do (15-6).
But this format offers second options, and those who wore yellow – because in this edition each couple wears a different color t-shirt so that the public can identify with them – took advantage of it. Given the authority with which they had won the first game, Erkiaga and Ibarluzea were careless and paid the consequences. If at the start they had signed two errors, they went up to ten. The Basque-French and the man from Zumaia were more aggressive, delayed the ball better and narrowly won a set full of emotion that recorded up to nine ties. The public vibrated, because many highly plastic scores were also recorded (14-15).
In the tiebreaker game the tension remained. He was close until the halfway point. Johan contributed by adding more spice because his defender opened holes for him. But after 2-3 Erkiaga appeared to restore order and close the match brilliantly. He uncovered the jar of essences again, securing the victory and the spectators (5-3).
#spectators #Jai #Alai #Gernika