The town of Azkoitia will begin its journey in the Gipuzkoa Inter-Town Pelota Championship this Friday, participating in two modalities. The hand-pelota team will face Zegama, while the rubber paleta team will compete against Zarautz. Both teams will enter the competition in the round of sixteen.

The hand-pelota team will play their first match at home, in the Gurea fronton, on Friday at 9:00 PM, with free admission. Although they were initially scheduled to play away, the organization of the Zegama-Aizkorri mountain race led both municipalities to agree to start the tie in Azkoitia. The Oteiza pelota club team is one of the 24 teams registered in the championship and will begin its path to the final with eighteen pelota players.

Azkoitia aims this year to reach the final for the 23rd time and win its seventeenth txapela, as it is the town with the most titles in this modality. If they manage to qualify for the quarterfinals, they would face the winner of the Aia-Oiartzun tie. In that scenario, the Azkoitiarra pelota players would start the tie away from home and decide the qualification for the semifinals in Gurea.

Regarding the rubber paleta championship, the Oteiza team will play in Zarautz on Friday at 8:00 PM. This modality is the newest in the championship, being held for the eighth time this year, but Azkoitia also holds the most txapelas, having won all three times they have reached the final. The Oteiza club will start its participation with five pelota players: Amaia Aizpuru, Jokin Aizpuru, Marcos Azpiroz, Iker Epelde, and Igor Larrañaga.

The paleta players will also not have an easy path. If they advance to the quarterfinals, they would have to face last year's champion, Astigarraga, starting the tie at home.