ten strong images of this extraordinary week in the Basque Country

The day after the closing of the Mondial de pelota in Biarritz
France Bleu Pays Basque has selected for you this Sunday a series of strong images of these world championships which were held from October 22 to 29 in the Basque Country in Biarritz but also in Bayonne, Bidart and Hasparren.

Sanchez falls, Ducassou keeps his throne

It was in tears that the Navarrese Luis Sanchez withdrew in the final of bare hand head to head at the Berria trinquet in Hasparren against Battitta Ducassou on Friday. After a very tight first set, the game was interrupted after an injury to Sanchez who was leading 2-1.

In the end, the Itsasuar Ducassou stalled gold in bare hands head to head and by team
(with Hazpandar Peio Larralde). In this specialty, the French won five gold medals.

Well-ordered parity

For the first time, women’s cesta punta games were played at the World Cup. From the opening of the World Cup, part of cesta punta was contested by women. After the competition
the French women climbed on the third step of the podium while the Spaniards won gold and silver.

Not here

We are not going to hide it, the results of the French delegation were mixed
and for some, this World Cup was a real slap in the face. Barely set foot on the cancha, in pala corta, the outgoing French world champions lost their first game in the group stage. They were then knocked out in the semi-finals (by Spain) and came away with a disappointing bronze medal.

Voluntary absentees

Basques, they refuse to play under the colors of France or Spain. Just before the opening of the World Cup, Euskal Selekzioa organized a demonstration with about twenty players
. A claim that reached a milestone this week with the passing of a law in the Spanish Parliament. The text authorizes the Basque surfing and pelota federations to compete under their own color at the international level. The reception conditions of the Basque Pelota Federation
separate from the Spanish federation, have yet to be debated.

The newcomers

With frontball
, the Mondial de pelota hosted a brand new specialty at the Kirolak pediment in Bidart. The discipline which is played with a foam ball has brought together around thirty nations including Palestine, China, Nigeria, Bosnia, Cambodia, etc.

Munduko txapelketa

Thierry Malandain’s dancers surrounded by the flag bearers of the 36 nations represented at the Mondial de Biarritz. It was during the opening ceremony
on the cancha of Jai alai Aguiléra and we had never seen so many countries represented at the Mondial de pelota so far.

“Parapelota”

A first part of “adapted pelota”, wheelchair pelota for disabled people. Yann Meunier and Maxime Cabanne, both licensed at Aviron Bayonnais, are the first handi-pelota players in cesta punta. They were silver medalists on the Jai Alai of Biarritz after a first exhibition game against Spain.

The slap box

South American audiences have a reputation for being very demonstrative when supporting their pilotari. Friday, during the paleta gum final between Mexico and Spain at the Fal pediment in Biarritz, a dispute over the arbitration led some spectators to leave the stands to settle accounts by opening the slap box.

Mukurru betea

From the Jai alai in Biarritz (1,500 seats) to the Berria trinquet in Hasparren (800 seats) via the Modern trinquet in Bayonne (1,400 seats), we saw the public flock in droves for the finals and semi-finals of this World Cup . Before the competition even begins, 16,000 entries had already been sold.

bye Bye

He has hung up the glove
in the semi-final by forfeit but Eric Irastorza remains one of the best puntists of his generation, with a spectacular career. He who started pelota in Bidart and who spent twenty years in Miami to play cesta punta.