| Jai alai (: [ˈxai aˈlai]) is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker cesta. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term jai alai, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where matches take place. The game, whose name means "merry festival" in Basque, is called cesta-punta ("basket tip") in the Basque Country. The sport is played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, and in various Latin American countries. |
