«I have won the boss again, to number 1, I cannot be happier and prouder»

Joseba Ezkurdia had to leave the Bizkaia Bilbao press room on one leg and making stops to stretch his calf. He didn’t have one more ounce of strength to give. But he left with a smile from ear to ear that surely he did not erase throughout the night. “On the field we are not aware of the game we have played. It has been well-rounded, both mentally and physically due to all that it has demanded of us, but also in terms of play, I think it has been a great ball show.” You can’t describe it better, Joseba.

The man from Arbizu beat Altuna III for the third consecutive time in the final of the cage, who is, for him and without discussion, “the kingpin, the number 1, I couldn’t be happier and prouder for beating a pelotari like him, but also for all the work done during the year. He had a thorn stuck in him, and yesterday he took it off. «In the Manomanista final I lost to Laso forcefully and I didn’t give my level, and that’s why I wanted to end the year with a bang. If I lost, I wanted to lose giving my best, my best version of the game.

Minutes after the txapela went off, it is difficult to analyze the final since the heart rate is still through the roof, but Ezkurdia believes that in the clash “there have also been errors, but it is the most normal thing in the world to play at the speed at which is played now. It was a demanding game with legs, but I think that on a physical level I was a little more than him. At first I filled up, but I recovered very well and in the meantime I had time to breathe. I think I could have kept playing,” joked the new cage champion.

“At 16-19, I believed in myself”

He gave the impression, and he also believes so, that Joseba Ezkurdia was more than Altuna III in the general computation of the final. Even if it was very little. However, and despite dominating the score from the beginning, the Amezketarra turned the final around to such an extent that he had it in his hands. On 16-19 this was evidenced. «With that result against me, it was when I believed in myself. I have demanded a lot of myself mentally, I knew I had a little more to give within me and that’s how it has been ». Of course, the Arbizuarra had to change his strategy to get a new txapela. «From that result if I wanted to win I had to play something different. I have started to be more aggressive, I have risked more with the hook and I have looked much more for the txapa and the angles », he analyzed.

The result? A hook, a serve goal and a long ball with his left foot to tie the game. His family could not suffer any more from the stands, even more so when Ezkurdia had the ball to finish with 21-20. «I have had balls to end up winning earlier in that goal you mention, and I think I have made good shots, but it has not been enough because Jokin has made an enormous defense. You have to kill Altuna III, you cannot give him life and I have given it to him because he has gone to the txapa ».

Twenty one equal. The final, in a bit. At that moment, when your legs can shake and your arms stiffen, Ezkurdia once again trusted himself. «I was subtracting very well throughout the final -Altuna III did not get any serve goals throughout the game- and I looked great in the rest, also with 21-21. In the end it was a coin toss, and if my ball hit the plate before, in the last goal it was his ball that hit the plate. It has been one of the most beautiful sounds of my life, ”the Navarrese shot wit.

Ezkurdia has won five finals out of the six it has played. «I work every day of my life to achieve these things, the truth is that it has been difficult for me to be in the fight for the txapelas, but now I think that I am showing a lot of regularity and without a doubt that I am in the best moment of my career. I didn’t pay too much attention to seeing who was the favourite, but it gives me morale to see that I can win again. Hopefully I can do it again in five years, because that will mean that I continue to play at a good level, “he strongly wished.