Over the last few days (25th-31st on August) the Pamplona-Iruña pelota court has been dressed in its best clothes to welcome the 11th World Under 22 Basque Pelota Championship. The Huarte txalaparteros Patxi Castillo and Rubén Sevillano, the dantzaris from the Duguna group, the trikitilakis from Zizur, the volunteers from the federated clubs, such as Larraina, and the seven participating delegations (Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, France, Mexico, Spain and Peru) added a touch of colour and folklore to the opening ceremony.

The opening short paddle match was won by Spaniards Telmo Charro and Gonzalo Pérez, beating French pair Quentin Mariaud and Kyran Techer 15-3 and 15-4.

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During the World Championship it was clear to see that Spain is dominating the event. In singles, Spain (Iker Amiano) and Mexico (Rodriguez) sealed their qualification for the semi-finals as group winners after closing their group stage with two wins out of two. In pairs, both teams also managed to achieve the same objective, to top their groups, as they met no resistance in the Labrit.

France’s men’s teams, for their part, opened their winning record in cesta punta in a solvent manner against Mexico and Cuba. In the men’s team, the Argentinian paleta leather team (Candal-Peloni) bolstered their morale after beating Cuba (15-7 and 15-4), while Spain (Iribarren-Aramendia) got rid of Peru 15-2 and 15-0, thus positioning themselves as firm candidates for the title.

Iker Irribarria, from Pamplona, was again in the Spanish line-up to play with Telmo Charro in a short-stick match with little opposition against the Albiceleste team (15-2 and 15-3). France’s Lauilhe-Duple, meanwhile, recovered from a bad start to open their winning streak against a combative Mexican team.

200 pelotaris from seven countries are taking part in the U-22 World Championship, in the modalities of pelota a mano (individual and pairs), paleta cuero, pala corta, cesta punta individual men’s and cesta punta pairs women’s, and they will remain in Pamplona until the 31st giving their best to their sport.