Enric Sarasol Soler (born 1964, in El Genovés), known as Sarasol I, was a professional

Valencian pilota Valencian pilota ( ca-valencia, pilota valenciana "Valencian ball") is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known. Rules variations within the generic ''Pilota Valenciana'' category are frequent fr ...

player. He retired in 2004 and for 3 years he was the Sports General Director of the

Generalitat Valenciana The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized. It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Valen ...

, until 2007. He used to play

Escala i corda Escala i corda (, "stairs and rope") is the most prestigious variant of Valencian pilota, and the only one apart from raspall to have professional players. History The "Escala i corda" variant began around 1910, when the player Nel de Murla s ...

matches with his brother Sarasol II, forming one of the stronger duos for 20 years.

History

He began playing

Raspall Raspall ({{IPA-va, rasˈpaʎ, "scraping") is a variant of the handball game, Valencian pilota, played mainly in the Valencian regions south to the Xúquer river: the Vall d'Albaida, the Safor, the Costera, the Marina Alta and the Marina Baixa. ...

as is usual in the Costera region. When he was 15 years old he replaced Fenollosa in an

competition for youngsters and amazed everybody with his technique. Soon after that, he began playing against professional ''pilotaris'' in the

Guadassuar Guadassuar () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Ribera Alta in the Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most ...

trinquet, where he learnt to be a ''dauer''. On 1983 he first won a one-on-one match against

Fredi Fredi may refer to: * Fredi (Valencian pilota) (born 1957), retired Valencian pilota professional player * Fredi Bobic (born 1971), German football striker * Fredi González (born 1964), Cuban current manager of the Atlanta Braves * Fredi Walker, ...

, and later on he won Eusebio. On 1986 he was the runner-up of the first

Trofeu Individual Bancaixa The Trofeu Individual Bancaixa () "Bancaixa one-on-one trophy") is the Escala i corda singles league played by Valencian pilota professionals and promoted by the Bancaixa bank. Statistics {{clear Relevant facts about the ''Trofeu Individual ...

losing the final match against the almost invincible

Genovés I Francisco "Paco" Cabanes Pastor (20 December 1954 – 31 July 2021) was a Spanish professional Valencian pilota player known by his town's name, Genovés I, and who has begun a ''pilotaris'' saga with his son, '' Genovés II''. He's been reg ...

. This was repeated on 1989, 1990 and 1991, but on 1992 he finally won ''Genovés I'', as in the next two seasons. After a break, he became the new one-on-one main player on 1996 and 1997. But on 1998 he got hurt when he was playing against Álvaro. The very next year he won again the ''Individual Championship''. Eventually, ''Genovés I'' and ''Sarasol I'' has got 6 one-on-one trophies, while ''Álvaro'' won 11 times. ''Sarasol Is curriculum is very complete. He won twice the

Circuit Bancaixa The Circuit Bancaixa (; "Bancaixa League"), officially Liga Profesional Escala i Corda, is the professional league of Valencian pilota. Circuit Bancaixa name is taken from its main sponsor, the Valencian Savings bank CaixaBank. During the period ...

escala i corda Escala i corda (, "stairs and rope") is the most prestigious variant of Valencian pilota, and the only one apart from raspall to have professional players. History The "Escala i corda" variant began around 1910, when the player Nel de Murla s ...

teams' league with his brother, Sarasol II. As a kind of tribute to his career as a "pilotari", the German School of Valencia (DSV) organized several championships all over the years with some of the elder students playing this typical Valencian discipline in the fourth floor of the school's building. He has been as well a member of the

Valencian Pilota Squad The Valencian Pilota Squad are the Valencian pilota professional or amateur players chosen to take part in the Handball International Championships representing Spain, even though all of them are Valencians and they use the Valencian flag This is ...

for the

Handball International Championships The Handball International Championships are yearly held competitions where many countries and regions play the handball sports derived from the Jeu de paume. It is organized by the International Ball game Confederation, and there are three offici ...

, and deserved the title of the ''World's Best Player'' in

València Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

on 1993. The

awarded him with the Medal to the Sports Recognizement.

Trophies

* Winner of the Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda, 1992 * Runner-up of the ''Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda'', 1990 * Winner of the

1992, 1997 and 1998 * Runner-up of the ''Circuit Bancaixa'' 2003 * Winner of the

1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1999 * Runner-up of the ''Trofeu Individual Bancaixa'' 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 2002

* Winner of the 5 Nations Championship,

1993 * World's best player, València 1993

References

External links

YouTube: 7 videos of the Escala i Corda Individual'93 final match against Sarasol I
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarasol, Enric 1964 births Living people People from Costera Sportspeople from the Province of Valencia Pilotaris from the Valencian Community