Magic City Jai-Alai players, most only having played any Jai-Alai since January of 2018 when they learned to play the game for the first time, played fantastic Jai-Alai against top U.S. professional players in the very first U.S. National Jai-Alai Championship held at Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida on December 5th and 6th.
Magic City’s Michael Carballo won 2nd place prize of $2,500 in the singles bracket, losing in the final match to seasoned Dania pro Jairo in a 9-point game by a score of 9-6. Carballo had gotten off to an early 4-1 lead in this match and Jairo mounted a comeback and was leading 7-6 over Carballo late in the contest before winning the final two points to secure the win. In the final 8-players of the singles bracket, Carballo demolished Dania’s Johan in a 7-point match by a score of 7-1 and then Carballo went on to beat Dania’s Angel by a score of 7-5 to get into the final match of the singles championship against Jairo. Dania player Jairo took home a check for $7,500 for his singles championship win.
The doubles championship also demonstrated that Magic City players are top professional players in their short Jai-Alai careers and can play competitively against the seasoned Dania pros. When the doubles tourney had dwindled down to 4-remaining teams, Magic City was represented with Anderluck-Bradley team taking on Dania’s Goitia-Arrieta. Anderluck-Bradley were playing sensational Jai-Alai and were leading the Dania duo by 5-1 in this 7-point match when Goitia-Arrieta mounted a comeback and tied the match at 6-6. The Dania team won the match 7-6 when Anderluck dropped the ball on a tough catch against the inside wall.
Likewise, Magic City’s CRB was paired with Spinner, currently at Dania, but coming to play at Magic City in February 2021. CRB-Spinner played Dania team of Goixerri-Minte to see who would proceed to the final doubles match. Goixerri-Chasio of Dania had scored a 15-point partido win over Dania’s top front and back-court players Erik-Ladutxe on Thursday night last week, so Goixerri has been playing at his career best lately. CRB-Spinner jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in this 7-point match, but Goixerri-Minte persistently whittled away at the early lead and got back into the match. Goixerri-Minte had a 1-point lead of 6-5 when the Dania team secured the win with a narrow victory of 7-5. The match highlighted some excellent play and great teamwork between Dania player Spinner and Magic City’s CRB (early game player at Magic City), who had very little time if any practicing as a team before this tournament. Spinner showed he can play extremely well on the Magic City short-court and will be a great addition to the Magic City roster next year. Welcome to Magic City Jai-Alai Spinner!
The final 9-point doubles match was between Dania teams of Goitia-Arrieta and Goixerri-Minte. The match was close throughout with Goitia-Arrieta leading by 1 or 2 points throughout until Goixerri-Minte tied the match at 8-8. The team of Goitia-Arrieta secured the win and they split $7,500 prize money with Goixerri-Minte getting $2,500 for second place in this first ever U.S. National Doubles Jai-Alai Championship.
Trophies for the tournament winners will remain at Magic City Jai-Alai.
Magic City COO Scott Savin, player manager Juan Arrasate, Stu Neiman, Lindsay Savin, Andrew Blechman, video and support staff and all others involved in the Magic City Jai-Alai program and sponsorship of this prestigious event are well deserving of a gold medal for what has been accomplished with this tournament and the development of this new short-court Jai-Alai program started from scratch in less than three short years. Magic City Jai-Alai proved they deserve respect from the full Jai-Alai community, even from those hard-core long-court traditionalist nay-sayers. Well Done Magic City! Fans are looking forward to February 2021 for the return of Magic City Jai-Alai with 10-added weeks from February through mid-April before the regular season in May 2021.
Here are all the scores from the Day 2 matches:
2020 U.S. National Jai-Alai Championship Singles Games for Sunday, Dec 6 (in order played, matches to 7-points):
Arrieta beat Minte 7-4
Goixerri beat Anderluck 7-4
Tevin beat Kubala 7-1
Casio beat Ben 7-6
Ikeda beat Bueno 7-0
Spinner beat Matt 7-3
Jairo beat Cachin47 7-3
Angel beat Bradley 7-2
DeCarlo beat Chia 7-2
Johan beat Jeden 7-4
El Barba beat Petro 7-4
Carballo beat CRB 7-2
Ant beat Monte 7-5
These are Singles Matches of the Final 16 players on Sunday, Dec. 6 (in order played):
Arrieta beat Goixerri 7-5
Tevin beat Casio 7-3
Ikeda beat Douglas 7-1
Jairo beat Spinner 7-4
Angel beat Goitia 7-1
DeCarlo beat Ari 7-4
Johan beat El Barba 7-6 (Note: Dania’s Johan overcame a 6-0 lead by El Barba)
Carballo beat Ant 7-1
These are Singles Matches of the Final 8 players on Sunday, Dec. 6 (in order played):
Arrieta beat Tevin 7-6
Jairo beat Ikeda 7-6
(Note: both of the above matches were tied at 6-6)
Angel beat DeCarlo 7-2
Carballo beat Johan 7-1
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Jairo beat Arrieta 7-5
Carballo beat Angel 7-5
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Final Singles Championship Match for 1st Ever U.S. National Jai-Alai Championship Singles Tournament (contest to 9-straight points):
Jairo beat Carballo 9-6 (Note: Carballo had an early 4-1 lead)
Jairo wins $7,500 for 1st placeCarballo wins $2,500 for 2nd place
2020 U.S. National Jai-Alai Championship Doubles Games of Final 16-Teams on Day 2, Sunday, Dec 6 (in order played, games to 7-straight points):
Anderluck-Bradley move on over Frank-Gallo by default (Frank scratched)
Johan-Gorka beat Jeden-Tevin 7-5
Carballo-Ben beat Paul-Kubala 7-3
Goitia-Arrieta beat Ikeda-Angel 7-5
Bueno-Douglas beat Chia-Ari 7-1
CRB-Spinner beat Matt-Beach 7-5
Jairo-Larrea beat Belota-Ant 7-2
Goixerri-Minte beat Monte-T-Bone 7-1
These are the Final 8-Teams:
Anderluck-Bradley beat Johan-Gorka 7-2
Goitia-Arrieta beat Carballo-Ben 7-1
CRB-Spinner beat Bueno-Douglas 7-6 (Note: match was tied at 6-6)
Goixerri-Minte beat Jairo-Larrea 7-4
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Goitia-Arrieta beat Anderluck-Bradley 7-6 (Note: match was tied at 6-6)
Goixerri-Minte beat CRB-Spinner 7-5 (Note: CRB-Spinner had early lead 4-1)
Final Doubles Championship Match for 1st Ever U.S. National Jai-Alai Championship Doubles Tournament (contest to 9-straight points):
Goitia-Arrieta beat Goixerri-Minte 9-8 (Note: match was tied at 8-8)
Goitia-Arrieta team wins $7,500 for 1st place
Goixerri-Minte team wins $2,500 for 2nd place