Experienced in high-commitment matches, protagonist of three Manomanista finals and seven of the Cuatro y Medio Championship, looking for the second of the Couples, Jokin Altuna humbly acknowledges that experience is not a guarantee of tranquility in these commitments. “There is no vaccine against pressure,” he says.
Tension surrounds the run-up to the crucial match on Sunday at the Bilbao Bizkaia between Altuna III-Tolosa and Elordi-Zabaleta. Although it belongs to a league, it has overtones typical of a pure semifinal. The winning couple will be finalists and the loser will say goodbye to the tournament.
The Amezketarra speaks from his own experience. «Every time I have thought that I already control the pressure well, he appears. Always. The athlete has days in which he feels good and others in which that nervousness arises. You have tools and you try to do those things that you think are good for you, but in the end doubts or fears arise. They don’t abandon you for being older.”
«We feel capable of winning the txapela from the first day, regardless of the fact that the favorites were other couples»
“The Couples is the championship in which it is most difficult to master how you get to the last stretch,” he adds. “Some will say yes, but it is impossible to manage how you are going to reach the final. You need to win matches in the first phase. Getting victories requires being well. Reaching 22 gives confidence. There are four months of competition and all couples have ups and downs. And when you find yourself in this stretch, you try to give everything you have inside.
“Arriving in good shape does not ensure you play well on that specific day either,” points out the man from Amezketa. «It has happened to me the other way around: arriving sore, concentrating to the fullest and performing well. Xabi and I are calm and we must not change anything, but plan the game in the same way as the previous ones and see what happens on the field. We feel capable of winning the txapela from day one, regardless of the fact that the favorites were other couples. We have had a good Championship and we have maintained a regular line”.
Relief for Aspe
The victory of Altuna III and Tolosa on Sunday at Astelena in Eibar against Peña II and Mariezkurrena II was not only a relief for the winners. Also for an Aspe company that after the defeat of Elordi and Zabaleta on Saturday at the Labrit sensed the threat of being left without any representative in the final, a circumstance that last occurred in 2015. The good results of its pelotaris since then, with six Consecutive Couples titles between 2017 and 2022, have spared their coaches and managers moments of trouble during that period, more complicated for Baiko.
Although he has not been oblivious to this circumstance, Altuna III confesses that «if I tell the truth, the main thing for me is what touches us as a couple. You are happy that two other colleagues from the company reach the final, but what we really want is to qualify ourselves. It is true that the result on Saturday changed things and it seemed that even two Baiko couples could win the final. Now, just after that meeting I spoke with Xabi and what was on the table were our own interests ».
«There is a difference between the tension of the first phase and the semifinal group. I would be lying if I denied it.”
On the rival side, José Javier Zabaleta downplayed Saturday’s defeat at the Labrit. «As was the result on Sunday at Astelena in Eibar, in the event of victory we would also have been obliged to achieve a high number of goals against Altuna III and Tolosa at Bizkaia. Actually, we are the same. After losing, you live your moment of sadness. But as soon as you get home you should start thinking positive.
Elordi and Zabaleta took advantage of their visit to Bizkaia yesterday to complete a training session with Víctor and Erostarbe as sparring partners. Altuna III and Tolosa have left the rehearsal for tomorrow.
“Loss influences”
Aitor Elordi comes from curdling the poorest of his fifteen performances in the Championship. «Even if you want to believe that you don’t, defeats have an influence. But neither should we give them more importance than they have. What is in our control is to do the daily work well and give everything in the game. The rest is not in our hands.”
The Mallabia striker acknowledges that “there is a difference between the tension of the first phase and the semifinal group. He would be lying if he denied it. When you first enter the premier tag team competition and enter the finals, it shows.”
Elordi tries to extract positive readings: «If you mentalize yourself for the worst, everything you get more is positive. We have to focus on it. I will come to enjoy Sunday in Bilbao. If we win, we would achieve something beautiful for me. And if we lose, I’ll keep everything we’ve done so far. Deep down, I think there are no reasons for sadness.
