Pamplona (EFE).- This Sunday, April 2, several months of competition will close with the final of the 2023 Couples Championship in which the favoritism of José Javier Zabaleta and Aitor Elordi will be offset by the illusion of Unai Laso and Ander Imaz.
The Navarra Arena pavilion will be the setting for the great match between the two best couples who have already filled the 3,000 seats in the pavilion next to the El Sadar stadium to play a high-flying clash.
On the one hand, Zabaleta from Navarre and Elordi from Biscay have the experience of the three txapelas achieved by the first of them in this tournament, out of the five totals played. For the striker it will be his first final, so his intensity and desire will not fail from the beginning.
Laso and Imaz will seek to make up for last year’s defeat against Altuna and Martija in this same final. They arrive in a great state of form and the Navarrese and the Gipuzkoan do not want to miss the opportunity to win the title.
What is clear is that the `txapela` will stay in Navarra. Laso’s magic against Zabaleta’s punch. Laso is the current champion of the manomanista and finalist in four of the last grand finals since his return, and returns to the Navarra Arena where he won his most precious title. Imaz for his part would premiere his record.
“We liked. In my opinion, it is good material and I think that each couple has had a bit of the balls they wanted”, Zabaleta said after the selection of material three days after the game of the year held today at the fronton.
The man from Echarren was satisfied with how he arrived physically: “I’m much better after the problems I ended up with on Sunday. I am much more whole”.
His rival partner, Laso and Imaz have had one more week off, something that the Navarrese defender plays down: “It seems that they didn’t end very well in the match they played against us at the Labrit either. They will have had slightly fairer days to recover and for our part, Elordi finished the other day very well and I feel much better. We all arrive on equal terms.”
Zabaleta has indicated that it seems that the pavilion “will be full” and he expects a “terrific” atmosphere, like Bilbao the other day. “There was a great atmosphere and I hope we can see it on Sunday”, he added.
He has asked his teammate for “courage”, as throughout the tournament: “He has shown it in every game and I hope he continues like this because it is what works for both of us and for him”. “There are no favorites in this type of match. The two couples are going to go to the top and anyone can win, ”he says.
Aitor Elordi believes that, during the league, “I have not had any embarrassing or bad game. The first game of ‘semis’ we were very complete and in the second it was also good”.
For his part, Unai Laso has tried to choose “live balls” over those of Elordi and Zabaleta, “quite different”, knowing that it is a fronton in which “the balls stay”. His teammate, Ander Imaz, expressed his satisfaction with the good practice sessions carried out this week, which have increased his “confidence” for Sunday.
“The previous games have been very hard. We are going to try to play as in the previous match at the Labrit, although we know that all matches are different. We will have to give it rhythm”, Laso assessed.
“They are favourites. They have shown it throughout the championship, but it is true that in the semis they have not shown their game so much. It is a very difficult couple to beat. If they play very well it is difficult to face José”, Laso concluded.