Francisco "Paco" Cabanes Pastor (20 December 1954 – 31 July 2021) was a Spanish 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 known by his town's name, Genovés I, and who has begun a ''pilotaris'' saga with his son, '' Genovés II''. He's been regarded as one of the best players of all time, along with ''El Nel de Murla'', ''Xiquet de Quart'', Juliet d'Alginet and '' Rovellet'', and he deserved to be in the ''Honor Gallery'' of the

Pelayo trinquet The Pelayo trinquet ( ca-valencia, trinquet de Pelayo) is one of the most renowned trinquets courts of the Valencian pilota sport in Valencia. The most important Escala i corda competitions, such as the Circuit Bancaixa, have their final match ...

. He's also been 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 ...

Biography

He was born on 20 December 1954 in Genovés, Valencia. As is usual in his town, 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. ...

, but when he was 17 he turned to

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 ...

, the variant which he ruled for 20 years. His arrival meant the end of ''Rovellet'''s era, and his retirement meant the beginning of Álvaro; things got complicated for great players such as ''Eusebio'' or ''

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, ...

'', who had few chances to win relevant championships. He made his debut as a ''dauer'' in 1974 at the Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda, and the very next year he was the winner. His superiority was so clear for everybody that organizers had to force him to play ''per baix'' (down), that is, he could only hit the ball when it had already bounced on the ground or on the walls, but never in the air. Even with his handicap he won three more seasons. Later, for two years, he was forced to play as a ''mitger'' (a position he was unfamiliar with), but he won again. The quality difference was so great that, in order to make betting more interesting, he had to play with his brother Pepe (who was not gifted at all) or, even, had to strike the ball only with one hand. ''Genovés I'' retired as a professional ''pilotari'' after winning the 1995

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 ...

final match against Álvaro, who was 20 years younger, and finally overcame 60-55. Paco Cabanes died on 31 July 2021 at the age of 66 from a cancer.Fallece Paco Cabanes, El Genovés, el mejor pilotari valenciano de la historia

Trophies

* Winner of the Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1989 * Runner-up of the Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda 1977, 1980, 1985, 1986 and 1988 * Winner of the

1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1995 * Runner-up of the Trofeu Individual Bancaixa 1992, 1993 and 1994

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 offic ...

* Winner of the 5 Nations Championship

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 ...

1993 * Runner-up of the European Championship

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

) 1994 * Winner of the World Llargues Championship València 1996

References

External links

Youtube: 7 videos of the Escala i Corda Individual'93 final match against Sarasol I
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabanes Pastor, Paco 1954 births 2021 deaths People from Costera Sportspeople from the Province of Valencia Pilotaris from the Valencian Community Deaths from cancer in Spain