Monday, November 4, 2024, 10:23 p.m.
Urrutia and Basque left a good letter of introduction this Monday in the Gernika Punta Cana Winter Series. They chose their most compact version in their first match of the tournament to overcome Olharan and Zabala and place themselves tied with Erkiaga and Ibarluzea at the head of the second group. The 2-0 they added, in addition to giving them the necessary peace of mind to undertake the rest of the matches, forces the other two defeated combinations to get their act together in the rest of the matches because losing a set can be decisive.
The Basque-French players had a very serious duel. The forward played one of his best games in the town. Very attentive in defense, he took up to four cuts from his rival, in addition to several drops and two walls that he knew how to finish perfectly. He took the right risks although both games were quite close almost until the end, and he had the nerves well tempered not to lose his head. Basque exerted authority at the back and his greatest impact ended up prevailing. He conveyed security because he covered most of the gaps and even made a couple of cuts that found their target and drew applause from a stand that once again had a capacity of close to 1,800 spectators.
Olharan and Zabala lacked consistency. The man from Pau scored beautifully crafted goals, but his desire to finish ahead played some tricks on him. He had the ball to finish decisively on several occasions, but he chose the worst option and paid the consequences. Markina’s defender started quite well and was familiar with his rival behind, but he was not able to keep up and some balls escaped him, which affected him psychologically.
Video arbitration
The duel began with both pairs well placed on the court, aware of what was at stake and that they had to mature the goal. It took a little longer for the winners to shake off the tension and, after the first draws, they had to overcome a couple of points difference (8-6) after the third judge in charge of video refereeing whistled for a Basque bounce. It was the first of the three interventions he had throughout the fight.
But they settled progressively, they charged back to remove Olharan’s prominence and Zabala’s errors allowed them to turn the situation around. They reached a 9-12 lead, but they were still forced to fight because Basque was not very good in this phase of the contest either. It was after the tie at thirteen when Urrutia put a good ball on the rebound and the Biscayan missed another one next to the wall (13-15).
They began the second game with the wind in their favor, but Olharan took a step forward to display his best version. He had no other choice. However, it did not last as long as expected. The winners continued to equalize the match in the seventh goal. Until the tenth, a nice fight could be seen in the happy teams with both forwards seeking to tickle each other, but Urrutia and Basque finished the match much better because they managed the pressure well and were more correct in making decisions and when placing the ball on wall (12-15).
