Northern Starchive- June 06
Arregui Wins his 7th Frontcourt Championship in the 2006/2006 Dania Jai-Alai Winter Season
The veteran star Arregui once again shined in the Dania Jai-Alai 2005/06 Winter Season, winning his 7th Frontcourt Championship at the fronton. The most consistent force in the Dania feature games over the last decade, Arregui now only stands behind Joey on the Dania all time list. Joey won 10 Frontcourt Titles while playing at Dania Jai-Alai.
Arregui is known in the sport of Jai-Alai as the premiere shotmaker in the game today, most notably the back hand two walled shot known as the remate. While small in stature at 5′7” and 140 pounds, he uses his quickness and accuracy to spread the court and keep opponents reeling. Arregui finished the season 5 games ahead of 2nd place Frontcourt Title finisher Egi, who completed the season with 27 victories.
Arregui is a calculated player, who despite his size, can still intimidate almost anyone on the court. He is the king of stealing the serve. When a server is walking to the line and Arregui is in the box, you better believe the thought of that snap remate is going through their head, especially if it happens to be a possible game point.
No fronton keeps track of how many bad serves are thrown against a particular opponent, but I’d be willing to toss a few bones that Arregui would be at or near the top of that list. His unique catching style on the backhand enables him to throw the shot more quickly and accurately than almost every opponent.
What do I mean by that? Most players when catching the ball for the back hand kill shot still catch the ball in basically the same position as they would for a normal reverse. That means when bringing the arm back for the shot they have to lift it up over the shoulder. That both makes the time to throw the ball longer and can make the ball more unstable in the basket, leading to errant throws.
Watch Arregui as he moves in to catch the remate. He cocks his right shoulder up towards his chin, while putting his weight onto his back foot. His body twists slightly as Arregui positions the basket, lining it up for the shot before he even makes the catch. Not only does this mean he catches the ball above the shoulder, but he has the basket in a perfect position.
Instead of carrying the basket over the shoulder, his form allows Arregui to just snap his forearm and wrist to catch and release the shot. The ball’s not jumping around the basket as much so the accuracy improves with it. That is the key. It’s extremely difficult to catch the ball in this manner, that’s why most players catch the ball in the more traditional position.
In other major awards Foronda continued to display his athletic prowess, finishing the season over .500% in the money. His .506% finish is 2nd best in modern Dania history, another record held by Joey. Joey finished the season with a .522% in 1989.
Foronda’s phenomenal season included 46 wins in game 7, and saw him win just about one in every five matches he played in. Foronda won the Overall Most Wins Title with 195, trailed by Erkiaga’s 183 and Gorrono’s 161 victories.
Foronda is an incredible talent, who unfortunately, is heading to play in St. Jean de Luz, France, starting this July. His rise up the Dania ranks over the last few years has been remarkable. When he came to the states he was a raw player, definitely talented, but was missing a lot of pieces.
Now he goes down in the books as only the 3rd player since Spectacular 7 Scoring started at Dania Jai-Alai to finish above %.500 in the money. Joey, Atain, Foronda. That has to have a nice sound to it if you are Foronda, as the first two are arguably the best two players in over 50 years of Jai-Alai in Dania.
Foronda is a well rounded player who excels at most things except for the rebote. He’s improved his rebote greatly in the last couple of years, but it’s still the biggest weakness Foronda has. Among his strong points include court management and the ability to create offense.
Foronda plays within his framework well. He’s not very prone to errors in judgement and rarely beats himself. Foronda plays the court from outside in, slowly using his superb placement to push his opponents against the side wall, as he waits patiently for an errant ball to come outside, so he can unleash his highly accurate cortada.
In the backcourt it’s a fond farewell for J. Arriaga, who won the Backcourt Championship for the 3rd time in his final Dania season. Taking home 38 wins, he won commandingly over 2nd place finisher Ikeda and his 29 victories. J. Arriaga, one of the most athletic competitors in all of professional sports, has played at Dania since the summer of 1998.
In another unforgettable moment in my own personal Jai-Alai history, I recall a play J. made several years back that I will never forget. It was quite simply one of the most amazing moves I’ve ever seen in any professional sport, bar none.
It was the Singles Championship game and Arriaga, version frontcourt, was rolling all over everyone again. Three straight ace serves for Arriaga and he was looking to make J. Arriaga victim number four. Any doubts about the fourth ace serve attempt where answered when Arriaga let go of one of the most beautiful serves that can be thrown in this game.
So, it was over, right? Not for J. Arriaga. If you’ve ever seen the movie Rush Hour, then I’m sure you remember the scene when Jackie Chan scaled the brick wall by going to the corner and jumping up both sides. J. Arriaga, seeing the ball was way over his head, turned to the pit (or back corner of the court) and started racing. Leap to the side wall, then to the back wall, back to the side wall, before spinning his body and coming down with the catch.>
The crowd was shell shocked as J. Arriaga returned the ball to the frontcourt. I cannot remember who won that point and I don’t even think that it matters. J. Arriaga will always be remembered as high flier, but that one catch, to me, signified what he was always all about. Never say die, let it all hang out, and never let yourself go back to the cage wondering if you could’ve made a play. Win or lose, J. Arriaga was always a spirited player.
The winter Campeonato, or player championship, was won by Foronda with 1,571 points. The award goes to the most consistent player over the season, with players earning 5 points for each win, 3 points for each place, and one point for each show. Erkiaga finished in 2nd with 1,506 points and Chasio took 3rd with 1,400 points.
In the Singles Championship, Egi won his first title with his 35 wins. Solozabal concluded the season in 2nd place with 29 victories.
Here are the 2005/06 Dania Jai-Alai Winter Season individual game award winners: Game 1: Chasio- 26 wins, Game 2: Miguel- 34 wins, Game 3: Gorrono- 33 wins, Game 4: Foronda- 37 wins, Game 5: Gorrono- 32 wins, Game 6: Foronda- 29 wins, Game 7: Foronda - 46 wins, Game 8: Leo- 24 wins, Game 9: Leo- 29 wins and 30 places, Game 10: Lopez- 32 wins, Game 12: Arregui- 41 wins, Game 14: Egi- 21 wins.