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The popularity of One Wall is growing considerably and Argentina doesn’t want to be left behind.  That is why the Denak Bat in Mendoza has once again opened its doors to anyone wishing to practice and eventually compete in this sport that is softer than regular Basque handball (pelota).  Practice at the club’s fronton are being run by local pelotari Adrian Astorga, winner of the Belgium Holland open in 2015.

Mendoza, Argentina.  This new kind of handball has been very well-received in Europe and the US, where there are leagues that organize several tournaments.  In Argentina, you can say that it is just starting, but that there are also institutions and athletes that work hard to introduce this discipline.

In the case of the Mendoza Euskal Etxea, it remodeled its fronton in 2015 in order to place this mode.  Since then, the Basque club has been providing classes to train new players, and it also serves as the training place for the team from the Regata Club in Mendoza that represents Argentina at international tournaments, as well as being the site for an International Tournament last September with athletes participating from Ecuador and Argentina (Mendoza and Parana).  “We have a double goal,” club sources said to EuskalKultura.com.  “On the one hand, we want to introduce this sport and the great work that our pelotaris are doing representing the country; and on the other, to take full advantage of the club’s fronton, the only one in the country that has been especially modified for this type of pelota.”

Classes and One Wall practice takes place on Friday afternoons and is aimed at everyone in the community, men and women.  The project is being led by Adrian Astorga, runner-up at 2014 Worlds, in One Wall, and Champion of the Belgium Holland open in 2015.  For more information or to sign up, email the club: cv@centrovascomendoza.org.ar.

Adrian Astorga, Argentinean representative at the World Championships in One Wall

Twenty-five year old Adrian Astorga, is a member of the Denak Bat, and the son of Humberto Astorga, former club pelota player, who was also a promoter of One Wall.  As part of the Mendoza Regata club and member of the group of 8 pelotaris who were trained by Leandro Maure, he represented Argentina at world tournaments in this type of pelota.

The latest international event that he was selected to participate in was the Belgium Holland Open where Astorga took first in singles and second in doubles along with his partner Leandro Rodriguez.

“Looking to the future, our goal is to participate this year again in at the Belgium Open,” the young athlete told EuskalKultura.com.  “We are also looking at New York.  In Europe and in New York many tournaments are organized because they have their own league.  Here it is difficult to organize international tournaments because there is no infrastructure.  There is the club’s fronton, but you need a place with several courts to play at the same time.  That is why we want to support it.  Also, since it is played with a rubber ball, it isn’t as violent as pelota with a leather ball, and so this also is encouraging to more people,” he explains.

Argentinean representatives of One Wall already have plans for 2017, specifically to participate in Worlds in Colombia.  Worlds 2020 will take place in Euskadi according to the International Confederation of Pelota.