Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 12:05 p.m.
Jon Mariezkurrena has shown some surprise at the preferences of his opponents, Elordi and Zabaleta, in the choice of material for the match that will open the semifinal group of the Couples Championship on Saturday at the Labrit in Pamplona. “We thought that they were going to choose the deadest of the lot, but the lowest and driest have remained in the basket”, assured the defender of Berriozar, who, having solved his problem in the right hand and after “hitting the placement of the studs in the last four games”, he believes that he reaches the final stretch “in my best moment of the tournament”. «I arrived at the beginning of this competition after playing many tournaments and championships throughout the summer. Now I see myself better as a spark than at the beginning ». Jon Ander Peña will once again be the striker for Mariezkurrena II. Both come from a satisfactory playoff in which they have added two victories in 72 hours.
José Javier Zabaleta has distinguished that «the three balls separated by us are lower and theirs, with a large bounce and output from frontis. We are aware of the difficulty of this match because they are seen with confidence.
The difference is also noticeable in weight. The three balls separated by Peña II and Mariezkurrena II, two of 104 (numbers 4 and 5) and one of 104.8 (6), are noticeably lighter than those of Elordi and Zabaleta, of 105.4 (1), 105.6 (2) and 105.7(3).
Curiously, Saturday’s will be the first direct confrontation between Zabaleta and Mariezkurrena II in this Championship, since Berriozar’s player was absent due to injury in the two matches of the first phase between these two couples.
Manomanist
Erik Jaka and Iñaki Artola, who do not have a match in pairs this weekend, completed their first specific fronton training session this Wednesday at the Labrit in Pamplona for the next edition of the Manomanista, their next goal.