It will be difficult to forget what happened this afternoon at Labrit, Pamplona’s ‘bombonera’, filled to the limit with a thousand people. A tribute in style, well deserved, for one of the members of the Olympus of professional handball as one of the seven players who have won the three great txapelas: Cuatro y Medio, Manomanista and Parejas. Due to his own merits, he is part of that select group made up of Olaizola II, Irujo, Retegi, Barriola, Arretxe and Urrutikoetxea. An athlete trapped in a time when AImar and Irujo monopolized almost all the trophies, but who knew how to make his place. He fought like many others, Barriola for example, to collect the crumbs of the two colossi. The party, deafening, has been in style, with the manista with Mohican hair surpassed on several occasions.
His charisma is enormous, something that is not acquired, it is had, like Titiín and Berasaluze in recent times. A striker who learned on the street reaches the stands like no one else and hooks up with the fans as if he had a magnet. The physique was not his thing, but he leaves for posterity his enormous quality and honor. On October 5, he celebrated his 20th birthday as a professional and asked his company Baiko to let him extend his career that far, but it has not been possible. He is a ball player with enormous commitment and perhaps that, that he was the first to step forward in the strike after the conflict with the company, has taken its toll on him. His sottomano and those left to the ‘txoko’ have been part of a spectacular repertoire. A very tough and quarrelsome player.
Oinatz could barely contain his tears in the game that put the finishing touch to his excellent and extensive career. Well, he actually plans to continue a little more, but out of the spotlight. He will spend a week in Mexico, where he has several games scheduled in April, and in July he will travel to the United States to play a match. He will say goodbye in October in the Plaza de Leitza. Valencia also claims him and is thinking about it. They are venues that touched his heart because of his past in them.
As on great occasions, the ‘bombonera’ stood up to receive their champion in the initial parade, a pelotari who surpassed the 1,000-match barrier some time ago, a figure within the reach of a select few. The couple formed by Jaka-Aranguren put up a fight during the first goals in which Bengoetxea brought out his brilliant shots to deceive his rivals. The defenders maintained a strong battle in which Mariezkurrena’s hammer blows stood out. The Navarrese striker woke up the attendees who filled the stands of the pediment located in the Old Town of Pamplona. Numerous banners could be read in support of the protagonist of the afternoon. The long points were the usual tonic. Bengoetxea VI brought out his famous hooks to make the remains of his opponents impossible.
With the passing of the minutes and the constant chants, the Colorados opened a gap in the electronic to close a very colorful carnival afternoon that served to bid farewell to one of the greats of baseball who debuted 20 years ago on this same stage. In the end, victory by 22-15, with the final goal of his service career. He closed the match with seven goals and four misses.
Then a rosary of gifts arrived. The first, an aurresku of honor, by Iñaki Iza, an ex-player and something like a brother, who made a superhuman effort because his back is sore. Chef Karlos Argiñano, closely linked to the game, gave him a framed photo with ‘Eskerrik asko’ (thank you very much). The managing director of the Navarra Sports Institute, Miguel Ángel Pozueta, gave him a plaque. He was given a red handkerchief and he also received a makila (baton of command) from the president of the Navarra Pelota Federation, Javier Conde. His cousin, Asier García, who has accompanied him as a counselor and boozer throughout much of this career, also provided a framed photo of the two of them together and Oinatz drinking. And he recited a poem. A close friend of Leitza’s bought him a keychain that he put in his pocket. He put on a txapela, received a hug from his former company colleagues and listened to a bertsolari. The framed blue shirt with which he won his first Manomanista was crowded among many present. Baiko hasn’t won a tournament since he did heads-up in 2017.
“It was a party and I feel a terrible emotion. This is the Labrit, a very special pediment. After 20 years, I can’t ask for more from life. It’s a perfect ending. It has reached my heart“, he managed to assess.
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