uarterly - Devon Petanque

UARTERLY
No.10 –SUMMER 2008 EDITION
Official Newsletter of the English Pétanque Association
NORTH SEA
QUALIFICATION
FINALISED
What’s In This Issue?
Competition Results – Pages 3-6
In a busy period for the EPA‟s organisers and umpires
we bring you reports and results from:
The EPA Club Knockout (Euro Cup Qualifier) Finals
The Junior Doubles, Triples & Shooting Championships
The EPA Ladies and Espoirs Qualifiers
The EPA Triples Qualifiers
and the EPA Titles Weekend
Following the conclusion of the various qualifying
events the teams that have qualified to represent
England at the forthcoming North Sea tournament in
Denmark in June have been announced as follows:
Round The Regions – Pages 7-9
Open Team: Martin Baker, Jerome Rousseau, Phil
Claydon and Herve Bavazzano.
Espoirs Team: Kris Smith, Matt Shrimpton and Dean
Seville.
Ladies team: Myra Huntley, Sarah Huntley and Amy
Huntley
Our usual round up of news snippets from
around the EPA‟s 15 “Regions”
Pétanque People – Page 10
Personal news on some of our members
World News – Pages 13-15
The junior team, that is being selected, has still to be
announced following a selection day in early June.
Info on the European Masters Games,
A report of France‟s domination at the
European Espoirs Championships,
The Euro Cup draw
and news from our neighbours in Scotland and Wales
as well as further afield.
See pages 4 and 5 for details of how the above teams
won through their various qualifying events.
GERMAN INVITE
Plus Much More
EPA President, Mike Pegg, received a
personal invitation to send two teams
to Freiberg, Germany over the Spring Bank Holiday
weekend to compete in an International Junior and
Espoirs tournament.
CLUB CHAMPIONS
Congratulations to all 8 clubs who made it through to
the finals of the EPA‟s first club knockout
competition and, in particular, to Eastern Counties
club Colne Angels who won the event.
Colne were virtually untroubled throughout the whole
tournament. After being handed a walk-over in the
first round they then proceeded to win their next
seven matches dropping just 7 of their 42 games on
their way to the title.
The teams selected were the winners of the EPA
Junior Triples - Alex Bruce, Andrew Willis, Robert
Cooter & Jack Barrington and the winners of the first
Espoirs qualifier - Dean Ashby, Scott Ashby & Greg
Davenport along with Dean Seville & Sarah Huntley.
They were accompanied by coach Brian Stote and
EPA Playing Director, Martin Eggleton as head of
delegation.
They now go on to represent the EPA in the European
stages against the top club sides in Europe. See page 4
for a report on the final rounds of the English
qualifiers and page 14 for the European Cup draw.
All were a credit to the Association and performed to
their full potential with the Espoirs in particular
recording some magnificent results to reach the final.
We‟ll bring you a full report in the next edition.
For current news from the EPA make sure you visit the EPA web site regularly
www.englishpetanque.org.uk
1
WELCOME
THE OMENS ARE LOOKING
GOOD, LADIES
We extend a warm welcome to the following new
pétanque clubs and their members who have affiliated
with the English Pétanque Association in 2008:
The omens for a decent finish for England at this
year‟s Ladies World Championships look good, as the
year ends in an eight.
Chigwell P.C. (Eastern)
Cleveleys P.C. (Northern)
George & Dragon PC (Kent) formerly Hilden Park
Golden Lion Clifton P.C. (Chiltern)
Horton P.C. (Great Western)
Hurricane Sizzlers (IoW) formerly Sandown Shanklin
Kings Arms P.C. (Chiltern)
Kingston P.C. (London)
Parliament Hill (London)
Rising Sun P.C. (Chiltern)
South Gloucestershire P.C. (Great Western)
Warwick P.C. (West Midlands)
Welcome Stranger P.C. (Sussex) formerly Half Moon
At the first Ladies World Championships in 1988 the
Great British Ladies team finished a magnificent
fourth, just missing out on a medal. (Under the current
format the same result now would earn them a bronze
medal).
Ten years later in 1998 GB won the Coupe de Nations
at the Ladies World Championships, recording some
great results along the way including a 13-2 win over
Morocco in the final.
However these are by no means the only
achievements of our ladies. As well as being top
Ladies team at the North Sea Tournament on more
than one occasion they won a Silver Medal at the
1989 World Games and a Bronze medal in 2001 at
the first European Ladies Championships. The latest
achievement being Vanessa Webb‟s Bronze medal in
the Ladies World Shooting Championships in France
2 years ago.
We also welcome back the following club who have
returned to the fold after taking a sabbatical (or two):
Sherwood Oak (Kent)
NEW BOOK
Founder BPA President Maurice
Abney Hastings has recently
published a new book which
“has a bit about pétanque in it”,
which in fact describes the
formation of the club at
Ashthorpe Magna and a slightly
naughty chapter on a twinning visit to Brittany!
Here‟s hoping that 2008 proves to be another good
year for our ladies on the World stage.
Sweden withdraw from
North Sea
The Swedish Federation have informed the
International North Sea Committee that they will be
withdrawing their membership from the INSPT after
this year's tournament. Losing a strong opponent such
as Germany when they withdrew their membership
last year was a concern and forced a change in the
format of the tournament, but with Sweden now
withdrawing the tournament is greatly diminished.
Maurice has previously written for many publications,
largely on marine matters, but his previous book “The
Pernod Book of Pétanque” would be well known to
most boules players. More recently he wrote and
presented a one-hour programme for UK Style, set in
France, which had an hilarious sequence in a French
competition.
We are all mindful of the cost of entering tournaments
and international representation, the INSPT is a very
expensive event for our Association and we
deliberated for many months before deciding to join.
In view of the Swedish Federations action, coupled
with that of Germany, the future of the INSPT is
looking very doubtful and I am sure that we will not
be alone is reconsidering continued involvement.
The book, entitled Big Days in Ashthorpe Magna,
costs £9.00 (inc P&P) of which Maurice has offered
to donate £1 for each book sold to an EPA member
towards our costs for sending a team to the 2009
Junior World Championships.
To order a copy of Maurice‟s book please send your
cheque made payable to:
The North Sea is not just a tournament or place to
meet new and old friends; it has been a training
ground for players, umpires and organisers alike.
Maurice Abney-Hastings, 8 High Street, Alcester,
Warwickshire B49 5AD
If we lose this event it will be hard to replace, there
will be lots to discuss when the INSPT Committee
meets in June at Denmark.
When ordering please add Ref: EPA to ensure the
donation is sent to the EPA.
For more details on the book visit:
Mike Pegg National President
http://ashthorpemagna.co.uk/
2
EPA JUNIOR TITLES
Unfortunately one team could not make the rescheduled date so the entrants were reduced to 9
teams, which was still a 50% improvement on last
year‟s turn-out.
The EPA‟s third Junior titles weekend did not go
quite according to plan. It started off okay with the
English Junior Doubles and first rounds of the Junior
Shooting events taking place at Lordswood on
Saturday 5th April. However when the juniors, along
with the Espoirs, re-assembled on the Sunday morning
the only boule to be played were snow-boules as most
of Kent, along with other parts of the country, was
rapidly covered with a white carpet. In the interests of
all the players, officials and their families getting
home safely the organisers wisely called-off the event.
The format was the same as the doubles with four
rounds of the Swiss system followed by the top four
teams then playing off semi-finals and finals.
The Kent/Northern combined team of Alex Bruce,
Robert Cooter, Jack Barrington and Andrew Willis
remained undefeated to lead the standings after the
Swiss rounds.
The other semi-finalists all contained players that
made the same stage in the doubles two weeks before:
Gary Atkinson, Ben and Josh Littley (Kent), Max
O‟Rourke, Samuel Blakey and Reece Gould
(Chiltern) and Phillip Hamilton, Sean Whaley &
Rachel Massey (Isle of Wight).
Anyway, back to the Saturday and 14 teams registered
for the EPA Junior Doubles with one further
team having to withdraw due to an injury to one of the
players. Although the attendance was still
disappointingly low this was a 50% improvement on
the corresponding EPA event in 2007.
Sam Thatcher, Matt Silvester, Callum Lombard &
Kaylee Thatcher (Southern Counties) just missed out
on a semi-final place after they lost a play-off against
the Isle of Wight team, having been equal fourth after
the Swiss rounds.
After playing four rounds of the Swiss system the top
4 teams played-off in the semi‟s and finals. Going
against the form book the 1 & 2 ranked teams (Gary
Atkinson & Ben Littley from Kent and Samantha
Thatcher & Matt Silvester from Southern) from the
Swiss rounds lost out in the semi finals.
Two keenly contested semi‟s saw the experienced
Kent / Northern combination progressing at the
expense of the Isle of Wight team while the Chiltern
team, containing the junior doubles winners, made a
spirited comeback to level at 12-12, after being 12-7
down against the Kent team, only for the latter side to
hold their composure to gain the vital point.
Following on from their win in the BPF Junior
Doubles last year Samuel Blakey and Reece Gould
from Chiltern Region ran out convincing winners in
the final to take the EPA Junior Doubles title. Paul
Fernley and Phillip Hamilton from the Isle of Wight
were runners up.
In the final Ben, Josh and Gary took an early lead but
age and experience won out in the end as Alex Bruce,
Robert Cooter, Jack Barrington and Andrew
Willis took the National Junior Triples title.
The ten teams that didn‟t make it through to the semifinals were entered into a Plate competition. After
fighting their way through from the preliminary round
Kirsty Lickorish and Morgan Critchley, from the East
Midlands, went on to win the Plate event.
Pictured above the EPA Junior Triples finalists
Pictured above the EPA Junior Doubles finalists
(Picture courtesy of http://p.etanque.tripod.com/chiltern)
The conclusion of the EPA Junior Shooting
Championship took place alongside the Junior
Triples. Most of the competing juniors took part over
the two events but none could beat the early lead of
17 points set by Matt Silvester of Southern Counties,
who thus becomes the second EPA Junior Shooting
Champion.
The re-scheduled EPA Junior Triples, along
with the conclusion of the Shooting event, took place
at Lordswood on Saturday 26th April, and what a
difference 3 weeks made as the events were played in
glorious sunshine all day.
3
EURO-CUP
QUALIFIER
LADIES QUALIFIERS
The first EPA Ladies Triples Qualifier took place at
Thurmaston on April 13th. Seventeen teams
registered, which was down on the corresponding
BPF fixture last year.
The first EPA event of 2008 saw the concluding three
rounds of the European Club Cup – English Qualifiers
take place at Whittlesey on 16th March.
After 6 rounds of the Swiss system the Kent team of
Lynn Shrimpton, Faye Golder and Sheila King were
clear leaders with 6 wins. In a very tight contest just
one game separated the next 11 teams.
Having whittled the 138 eligible clubs down the final
8 assembled early on the Sunday morning to see who
would go forward to represent England in the
European stages later in the year.
The same 17 teams reassembled two weeks later at
Lordswood for the second qualifier. After another 6
rounds of the Swiss system the winners on the day
with six wins, were the Huntley‟s (Myra, Sarah and
Amy) from Chiltern Region.
After some close quarter final matches (see table
below for results) the semi‟s were a more open affair
with both Colne Angels (Eastern Counties) and
Engine (Chiltern) progressing through easily.
At the conclusion of the event the scores from the two
competitions were added up with the result that, for
the second year running, Myra and Sarah Huntley,
this year playing with Amy Huntley, topped the
standings to earn the Ladies spot at the North Sea
Tournament.
The final was a repeat of a round 5 match between
Colne Angles and Engine. Despite a couple of tight
games the outcome was the same, a 4-1 win for Colne
Angels.
Well done to Colne Angles, who become the sixth
English club to represent their country in the
European Club Cup since its inception in 1997.
The top 8 teams (listed below) now go on to the next
stage to be held at Harrow on 27th July to decide who
will represent England in the Ladies World
Championships (or a top European event).
European Cup for Clubs EPA Qualifier Final
Results:
Quarter Finals
Semi Finals
Final
Colne Angles 6
Colne Angles
4
Hartley CC
1
Colne Angles
4
Tovil
3
Mistral
0
Mistral
4
Plough &
Chequers
Crondall
3
Cobbetts
2
Engine
5
1. Myra, Sarah & Amy Huntley
2. Fay Golder, Lynda Shrimpton & Shelia King
3. Irene Gibbs, Diane Bryant, Margaret Yates & Joyce Nash
4. Merle Sullivan, Janet Baker & Mary MacDonald
5. Kath Brooks, Chris Rand & Lisa Edmondson
6. Tracy Turner, Kim Lachani, Jennifer & Corinne Cooter
7. Samantha Littley, Deborah, Kim & Tracy Elcome
8. Kath Knight, Liz Farrow, Hilary Dalmasso & Pat Neville
ESPOIRS QUALIFIERS
4
Plough &
Chequers
1
Engine
Engine
The first Espoirs qualifier (for 18-22 year old‟s)
eventually took place alongside the Junior Triples at
Lordswood on Saturday 26th April, having been
originally „snowed off‟.
1
4
Although the turn-out was low (just 7 teams) what the
event lacked in quantity it certainly made up for it in
quality. This was not surprising given the credentials
of the players. Of the 22 competitors nearly 80% of
them had won national titles and/or represented their
country in at least one major International event and
this was reflected in the high standard of play.
After two rounds of the Swiss system the winners on
the day to lead the standings were Greg Davenport,
Dean & Scott Ashby from Kent with a maximum six
wins. Just two games separated the remaining 6 teams
with Kris Smith, Matt Shrimpton and Dean Seville
(Kent/East Midlands) in second place on 4 wins ahead
of Miles Gooda, Tom Hutchings & James Hart
(Chiltern/Northern) by virtue of a superior BHN.
Pictured above the victorious Colne Angles squad. From
left to right: Kim Lachani, Sofiane Lachani, Vanessa Webb,
Chris Allen, Dave Mark, Daphne Barrow, Vivien
Middleton-Sams, Julie Constable and Simon Bird.
For a report on the second qualifier and the final standings see next
page.
4
ESPOIRS QUALIFIERS
EPA TRIPLES
QUALIFIERS
CONTINUED…
The second Espoirs qualifying event was held at
Harrow on 11th May. Two of the teams from the first
qualifier didn‟t attend so the five remaining teams
played a round robin.
The first EPA Triples Qualifier took place at Crondall
on 20th April. 111 players competed, making up 33
teams from 11 of the EPA‟s „regions‟. After six
rounds of the Swiss system the cosmopolitan team of
Martin Baker, Jerome Rousseau, Herve Bavazzano
and Philip Claydon (from London, West Midlands &
Chiltern) remained undefeated all day to lead the
standings. Three other teams - Kevin Spillett, Marcus
Hickman, Dave Blakeley & Alex Bruce (Kent), Nic
Baxter, Chris Allen, Vanessa Webb & Sofiane
Lachani (Kent/Eastern) and Dean Little, Keith Flack
& Seetahul Dinesh (Eastern), won five games apiece
to be well placed in the standings.
The top three were the same as the previous event,
albeit in a different order. Coming out on top on the
day were Kris Smith, Matt Shrimpton and Dean
Seville with four wins. The Chiltern / Northern
combination of Miles Gooda, Tom Hutchings and
James Hart finished in second place with 3 wins
whilst Greg Davenport, Dean & Scott Ashby won 2
games to finish the day in third place.
After accumulating the scores from the two events the
final qualification places were listed as follows:
Two weeks later, on 4th May, and 29 teams assembled
at British Sugar in Bury St. Edmunds for the second
qualifier. At the conclusion four teams had won 5
games to top the standings. These included three of
the top four teams from the previous qualifier (Mssrs
Baker, Rousseau, Bavazzano & Claydon. Spillett,
Hickman, Blakeley & Bruce and Little, Flack &
Dinesh) along with Joe Sheffield, John Edmondson
and James Lewis from East Midlands.
1. Kris Smith, Matt Shrimpton and Dean Seville
2. Greg Davenport, Dean Ashby and Scott Ashby
3. Miles Gooda, Tom Hutchings and James Hart
4. Deborah Elcome, Samantha Littley, Graham Galton &
David Plumhoff
5. Steve Brown, Matthew Whatley, Charles Fribbes & Luke
Fribbens
6. Sarah Huntley, Heather Stockbridge & Richard Marsden.
7. Ben Gallimore, Jeremy Huntley and Daniel Hill
A further two weeks on and the final qualifier was
held at the Anchor in Oldbury on Severn. As expected
the turnout was lower, just 24 teams, as several teams
didn‟t have a chance of making the Top 16.
Thus Kris, Matt and Dean qualified to represent
England at the North Sea Tournament in Denmark.
This was a great achievement for Kris and Dean who
for the second year running came out top of the
Espoirs qualifiers. This is no mean achievement given
the depth of quality in this playing category.
Finishing in top place, for the third qualifier running,
with a maximum 6 wins the team of Martin Baker,
Jerome Rousseau, Herve Bavazzano and Phil Claydon
deservedly earned themselves a place in the North Sea
squad as well as finishing as top seeds for the last 16.
No.2 seeds in the top 16 will be Marcus Hickman,
Kevin Spillett and Alex Bruce who finished second on
the day, to secure their third top 3 finish.
FAREWELL
BRACKELSHAM BAY
The top 16 placed teams (listed below) have qualified
for the next stage of the tournament - the EPA Triples
Top 16. This event will take place at Harrow on June
8th to determine who will be crowned England 1 and
go on to represent England at the forthcoming World
Championships.
By Colin Senneck
This March probably saw the last Bracklesham Bay
Pétanque Weekend. Only 38 teams played on both the
tournament days (March 29th & 30th). With 14 teams
present Hartley Country Club dominated the main
event taking four of the first five places on the
Saturday. The scratch combination of Hugh Aldred
(Ryarsh), Phylis Edgington (Canterbury) and Colin
Senneck (Hartley) winning the event. On Sunday a
Canterbury team, which again included Phylis
Edgington, took first place with Poole Pirates runners
up.
TOP 16 QUALIFIERS
1 Martin Baker, Jerome Rousseau, Herve Bavazzano, Phil Claydon
2 Marcus Hickman, Kevin Spillett, Alex Bruce, David Blakeley
3 Dean Little, Keith Flack, Seetahul Dinesh
4 Nic Baxter, Chris Allen, Vanessa Webb, Sofiane Lachani
5 Mat Eversden, Ben Gallimore, Robert Silvy, Steve Zimmerman
6 Robert Binnie, Alan Wright, Sean Prendergast
7 Benoit Brousson, Graham Elcome, Daniel Hill
8 Royston Williams, Joe Sheffield, John Edmondson, James Lewis
9 Adrian Emson, Myra Huntley, Sarah Huntley
10 Vincent Schofield, Adam Buxton, David Mark
11 Samantha Littley, Kim Elcome, Tracey Elcome, Dean Seville
12 Miles Gooda, Tom Hutchings, Luke Howard, Richard Marston
13 Lee Lickorish, Ian Johns, Christian Seville
14 Philippe Bonnet, Richard Powell, Brian Stote, Dermot
Geoghegan
15 Jens Bryan, Peter Allen, Alan Watkins, Shaun Stokes
16 Kath Brooks, Emma Longstaff, Paul Brooks
Due to the diminishing support for this excellent, well
run event, South Downs Holiday Village have not
allocated dates in 2009 for a pétanque weekend.
Players of HCC won't know what to do with
themselves next year, having visited this venue every
March for the last sixteen years.
5
Defending champion Sofiane just failed to hold onto
the EPA Doubles title at the final hurdle as he and Nic
lost to Keith and Dean in the final by 13 points to 8.
EPA TITLES
WEEKEND
Thus the results of the EPA Doubles were:
The EPA Titles weekend was once again held at the
British Sugar Sports and Social Club in Bury St.
Edmunds over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend.
1st Dean Little & Keith Flack
2nd Nic Baxter & Sofiane Lachani
rd
3 Jerome Rousseau & Rachid Hannache
The weekend “coched” off with the EPA Singles
on the Saturday with 80 entrants registering, a marked
improvement on the previous year.
Thankfully by the Monday the forecasted severe
weather warnings were a little over cautious although
the rain and cold winds did persist throughout the day
for the EPA Mixed Doubles.
At the end of a full days play in glorious sunshine just
three players remained undefeated on 5 wins – David
Stockbridge (Isle of Wight), Phil Claydon (Chiltern)
and Rachid Hannache (London). They all progressed
through to the semi-finals along with James Lewis
(East Midlands), who was top of the players on 4
wins.
Despite the adverse weather 57 teams still registered
for this, the friendliest of the EPA‟s events.
Without the forced break of the previous day play was
a little quicker and the Swiss rounds were completed
by late afternoon. By this stage the top four teams
were Royston “Stone” Williams & Clare Brooks (East
Midlands), Miles Gooda & Deborah Elcome (Chiltern
/Southern Counties), Philip Claydon & Amy Huntley
(Chiltern) and Martin Baker & Merle Sullivan
(London).
Two very close semi-finals saw David Stockbridge
edge out James Lewis by 13-12 while Rachid
Hannache defeated Phil Claydon by the same score.
The final was a slightly more one sided affair with
Rachid beating David by 13 points to 6. James went
on to win the third place play-off against Phil 13-11.
Therefore the results of the EPA Singles were:
The semi finals saw “Stone” and Clare beat Phil and
Amy 13-8, while Miles and Deborah overcame Martin
and Merle 13-9.
st
1 Rachid Hannache
2nd David Stockbridge
3rd James Lewis
It was the East Midlands pairing of “Stone” and Clare
who took the title defeating Miles and Deborah in the
final 13-4. Going one better than his performance in
the Singles Phil Claydon, and his partner Amy, won
the third place play-off against Martin and Merle by
13 points to 10.
By the following day the weather had returned to the
now traditional persistent, heavy rain and wind for the
EPA Doubles. Indeed the conditions were so bad
at one stage that all games were halted with play not
resuming until the weather had abated some time
later. By this time a couple of the 71 teams entered
had already „called it a day‟ and withdrawn from the
competition.
The results of the EPA Mixed Doubles were:
1st Royston Williams & Clare Brooks
2nd Miles Gooda & Deborah Elcome
3rd Phil Claydon & Amy Huntley
At the end of a long wet day just two teams remained
undefeated on five wins apiece – Keith Flack and
Dean Little (Eastern Counties) and Luke Howard and
Tom Hutchins (Northern/Chiltern). They were joined
in the semi-finals by Nic Baxter and Sofiane Lachani
(Kent/Easter) and Jerome Rousseau and Rachid
Hannache (West Midlands/London).
PÉTANQUE QUARTERLY TRIVIA
(or DID YOU KNOW?)
Miles Gooda has made it to the final of the Mixed
Doubles three years running, being a runner up and
then a winner with Sarah Huntley and a runner up
again this year with Deborah Elcome. Coincidentally
both of his defeats in the finals have come at the
hands of Clare Brooks, who herself joins a select band
of players with two or more EPA National titles under
their belts.
Keith and Dean retained their good from to defeat
Jerome and Rachid 13-5 in their semi final while the
experienced duo of Nic and Sofiane defeated the
younger pairing of Luke and Tom 13-6.
6
It‟s “welcome
back Rick” as former Devon
President, Richard Preston, has rejoined the EPA after a couple of years away from the
sport.
Ottery St Mary PC look to have secured
their home pistes with the arrival of a new pétanque
playing landlord as they are advertising a full range of
fixtures throughout the summer at their venue.
For
the second year running Devon may not be entering a
squad into the main Inter-Regional Championships,
although they are still looking at options.
Sources: John Thatcher & www.devonpetanque.org
Devon Region
Eastern Counties Region
The
Chequers won the Braintree & District
Winter League title having topped the
league since the start of the season.
Towers 1 were runaway winners of the
Herts & Essex Winter League, six wins clear of
second placed Victorians 1.
The first regional
qualifier was held at Towers on 30th March. Early
leaders in the series are Vanessa Webb, Chris Allen &
Michelle Tarbun, who were undefeated. Frank Britt,
Graham McDougall & Simon Bird were the only
other team not to lose a game.
After taking a break
the Eastern Counties web site is now active again.
Simon Bird and Chris Parr from the Colne Angel club
won the Braintree & District League Doubles title.
The Braintree & District Triples Tournament took
place on 11th May at the Rayne Swan. Holders Bill
Eve, Frank Britt & Adam Buxton (Chequers/Rayne
Swan) defended their title in superb form, going
through the days play undefeated with none of the
opposition even getting into double figures.
A new league has been
formed in the region for
teams based on the Suffolk
Coast, aptly named the Suffolk Coastal Pétanque
League. Nine teams have registered for the inaugural
season included the EPA affiliated club Suivre Les
Boules. The League has already secured a 2 year
sponsorship deal and even before the league started
there were already 2 other potential locations looking
to enter the league for the 2009 season.
Twelve
teams competed in the first Regional Qualifier that
was held at Bury St. Edmunds on 27th April. Clear
leaders on six wins were Simon Fletcher, Tania
Cowlin and Andy Wilson. It was encouraging to see
half a dozen juniors taking part and playing well.
The Bob Carter Centre PC are celebrating their 25th
Anniversary this year with an event on the 9th August.
The second and final qualifier was held at
Wanderers St Faith‟s terrain on 11th May. Simon
Fletcher, Tanbia Cowlin & Andy Wilson were one of
four teams to finish on four wins to remain clear
leaders ahead of Peter Astle, Derek Shoesmith &
Jerome Morais, who finished in the No.2 spot.
Sources: www.ecrpetanque.co.uk
www.onleypetanque.co.uk
East Midlands P.A.
Sadly the
inter-county match between squads
from Leicestershire and Warwickshire,
scheduled for 27th April, had to be
cancelled but the “return” match in Coventry is still
on for 12th October.
Eight teams representing
Leicestershire did however travel to Wetherby on 5 th
May to take on Yorkshire. See under Northern
Pétanque on the next page for the results.
Sixteen
teams from afar afield as Leeds competed in the Air
Hostess Easter Triples. The winners were the home
team of Osman Jibril, Peter Johnson-Marshall & Rob.
Sources: www.angliapetanque.webeden.co.uk
http://scpa.intheteam.com & “On The Piste”
Chiltern Region
The Three Shires Winter
League finals were won by Engine A (Martin Hughes,
Gill & Brian Howarth). The Pennant Winter league
finals were won for the second year running by Luton
PC (Mike Turvey, Alan Roden & Keir Gale). The
Region held an open coaching day for its members on
19th April.
Nine juniors competed in the junior
winter league with Max O‟Rourke taking first place.
22 teams competed in the Cuckoos Mixed Triples
event on 27th April. Alan Brockett, Denise & Alan
Newland ran out winners.
Eight juniors attended
the “Junior Try Out” session on 10th May. Teams
were selected to represent Chiltern at the InterRegionals as well as the Tri-Way, Isle of Wight and
Leicester Regional matches. (For details of those
selected click on the “Regional News” tab from the
link below).
Twenty-seven teams so far have
booked in for the Regional Qualifiers which
commence on 1st June.
Source:www.eastmidlandspetanque.org.uk/emhomepage.htm
Great Western Region
The Inter Club
Triples scheduled for 6th April was cancelled due to a
lack of entries. The sport is spreading in the Region
with the formation of two new affiliated clubs in
South Gloucestershire.
The first Regional Qualifier
was held at the Anchor on 11th May. Unfortunately no
results have been published on the web.
Sources: www.shippetanque.org.uk
& www.petanchors.co.uk
Source: www.p.etanque.tripod.com/Chiltern
7
ROUND THE REGIONS Continued
Forty-five teams entered the
summer league this year making
five divisions of nine teams. At
the time of writing (after 5 weeks) last year‟s
champions, Ventnor, topped the tables.
17 teams
entered the Regional Triples at Sandown & Shanklin
RFC on 18th May. Winners were Terry Thorner,
Darren Massey and Harry Massey with Nick Jaggers,
John Newton and Sean Newton runners up.
London Continued.. The Regional Triples
were held at the new Kingston venue on 30th March.
Sadly just 4 teams competed and two of those were
late arriving as they had forgotten to put their clocks
forward for the start of British Summer time. After
two rounds of round robin the winners were Dan Hill,
Ben & Flo Brousson. Runners up were Nick
Goodheart, Jan Baker & Gordon Cochrane. On 24th
May the two yearly contest between players from
New York and London took place in Greenwich
Village, New York. We hope to bring you a report in
the next edition.
Source: http://islandpetanque.co.uk
Source: www.londonpetanque.co.uk
Isle of Wight Region
Northern Pétanque
Colin
Smith of Mistral PC finished on top
of the Winter Pairs League winning
34 of his 45 games. A total of 76
players took part across the 10
events.
A squad from Yorkshire entertained
Leicestershire in an inter County match at Wetherby
on Monday 5th May. Unfortunately Yorkshire
received their now customary beating by a dominant
Leicester team by 17 games to 31.
15 teams
contested the Northern Triples that were held at
Doncaster on 11th May. Winners were Clare Baxter,
Colin Smith and Don Jackson. In a virtual repeat of
the final of the Wetherby Triples a week earlier they
again finished ahead of Ted Beetham, Jenny & John
Stockton.
Seven consecutive top 3 finishes in
Northern events saw Ted Beetham leading the
Northern ranking points table just ahead of teammates Jenny & John Stockton.
Kernow P.A.
Paul Lancaster,
formerly of Thames Valley, became a
coach to the region.
After a long
delay the 2007 league finals were
eventually played on 9th March 2008. The winners
were Gordon Couch, Anthony Frost and Jock
Turnham. Runners-up were Wendy Booker, Martin
Dyke and Peter Gliddon.
The first competition of
2008 was the traditional Easter-egg shoot held at the
Star Inn on 30th March. Winners were Simon Penna
and Paul Lancaster who beat runners-up, and EPA
newcomers, Steven Boyne and Caroline Hattam, in a
close-fought final.
Both the Star Inn and Tregony
pétanque clubs will be holding regular introductory
and coaching sessions throughout the summer.
Source: www.cornwallpetanque.co.uk
Tovil „Titans‟ were
top performers in the KPA Winter
League winning 39 of their 48 games.
This is a good sign for the future of the
sport in Kent as the team was made up almost
exclusively of juniors and ex-juniors from six
different clubs around Kent. Sherwood Oak won the
other divisional title. Lordswood and Ryarsh won the
cup and plate finals respectively. An “experiment”
to hold the first regional qualifier on a Bank Holiday
attracted just 27 teams. Taking top points were the
young(ish) team of Scott Ashby, Greg Davenport,
Tracy Turner and Nic Baxter. The top 4 teams from
this year‟s KPA qualifying series will be eligible for a
£150 donation per team to participate in either the
Dunkerquoise or Nismes competitions in Europe. The
Region will also select and send a junior team. The
junior fund was bolstered by two generous donations
of £250 and £196 from the Maidstone & KPA Winter
Leagues respectively.
The Plough & Chequers PC
have temporarily relocated to Lordswood following a
change of ownership at the P&C Public House. Please
check for announcements on their scheduled events.
Sources: www.kentpetanque.org & Kent Gazette
Kent P.A.
Source: www.northernpetanque.co.uk
Southern Counties P.A.
From an initial entry of 30 teams the
top 12 teams contested the finals of the
Winter Doubles at Burridge on Saturday
29th March. Taking the title for a third time were Paul
Hayward & Mike Sheppard from Limesdowne.
Formed in 1978 Southampton City P.C. will be
celebrating their 30th Anniversary this year.
Farmhouse PC members Bob Buxton and Eugeen
Finnegan got off to a winning start this year winning
the Worthing Open Doubles and Hampshire Rose
Triples (with Eric Flaming). Bank Holiday Monday
(5th May) saw 18 teams at Burridge for the SCPA
Adult/Junior Doubles. Winners were the father and
daughter pairing of Steve and Hannah Lombard.
Sources: www.southerncountiespetanque.org.uk
& www.scpc.org.uk
Sussex Pétanque Region
Brighton & Hove PC instigated a
new club competition in April - the
"Battle of the Sexes" trophy with the
men taking on the ladies‟. Winners
were the men by 9 wins to 2.
The first Regional
qualifier of 2008 was held at Hastings on 18th May.
The results have still to be announced.
Source: www.bhpetanque.org
London P.A.
The number
of affiliated clubs in the capital
doubled this year with the formation
of Kingston and Parliament Hill
pétanque clubs.
8
JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL
ROUND THE REGIONS Continued
Thames Valley P.A.
The first ever competition between junior pétanque
players from Jersey and France took place at Jersey
Pétanque Club on 7th May in glorious sunshine. The
Jersey team were all pupils of Les Quennevais School
and although having had only a few weeks of training
performed very well and showed great team spirit.
The Bovingdon Pétanque Club
held an open charity event on 26th
April in aid of Iain Rennie
Nursing, thus reviving a tradition
of annual event‟s at this club after a break of some
15+ years. Fifty one players from the Thames Valley
and London Regions took part in this triples
competition. After playing six rounds the winners
were Mark Blackall, Ron Girdler & Dean Webb. We
raised over two hundred pounds for the nominated
charity and we thank the Royal Oak PH and staff for
providing the facilities and all the players for their
generosity. We all enjoyed playing boule on a warm
sunny day, hopefully we have given a little ray of
sunshine to the recipients of the excellent nursing care
provided by Iain Rennie Nursing.
Source: Ged Barton
After a welcome by the Honorary French Consul,
Robin Pallot the competition then got under way.
Twenty players made up each squad and teams of
both doubles and triples competed in four rounds.
After the first round Jersey lead 5-3, but then France
caught up with the same score. Round three was
drawn 4-4 leaving all to play for in the final round.
This was taken by the closest margin of 5-3. Thus the
visiting team were the victors by 17 games to 15.
The Amity Trophy was presented to the winning team
captain by Joan Le Mercier, President of Jersey P.C..
Medals were also awarded to the best triples and
doubles in each team.
The Whitnash
team
of
David
Mason and Paul
Stoodley won the WM Winter League. They finished
one win ahead of the Warwick pairing of Pete
Bingham and Jack Linstead
Whitnash Windmill
PC has now moved its home ground to Whitnash
Sports & Social Club. The newly formed Warwick
PC hosted the Regional Triples on 30th March.
Winners were Jerome Rousseau, Philippe Bonnet,
Richard Powell & Brian Stote while the runners up
were Jack Linstead, Damien Portefaix, Teresa & Pete
Bingham. Both teams qualify to represent the WM in
the EPA Champion of Champions event later in the
year.
The Half Crown won the WM Inter Club
Tournament edging out Whitnash on points
difference. Members of the Half Crown PC will be
competing in a three-way International in September
when they travel to Evreux in France to compete
against the hosts, Evreux's Navarre Club de Pétanque,
and the German club Encore Une Fois from
Russelsheim.
Sixteen teams competed in the
Regional Doubles on 11th May. Winners were Brian
Stote & Philippe Bonnet who bettered Janet & David
Kimpton in the final.
All competitors enjoyed a barbeque where many new
friendships were formed and addresses exchanged,
their different languages not appearing to be a
barrier. The French team have extended an invitation
to the Les Quennevais school players to go to France
in 2009 for a return match.
Report courtesy of www.jpa.org.je
COMING SOON
TO A PISTE NEAR YOU
Would you like the chance
to wear an EPA shirt and
represent the Association
and England?
If so your opportunity is
just around the corner.
Sources: www.westmidlandspetanque.org.uk
www.whitnashpetanque.co.uk
www.halfcrownpetanque.org.uk
The Home Nations Qualifier
is being held in Dartford on 6th July.
The top 8 teams will qualify to represent England in
the forthcoming Home Nations Tournament that will
be held over the weekend of 16-17th August
at the same venue.
Non Regional
The Jersey Pétanque Association
are running a Junior Championship through the
summer with play in two age categories - 7 to 11 and
12 to 15.
The Guernsey Winter Doubles League
was contested by 34 teams over 6 weeks. Marcel
Edwards & Paul Duchemin won the Premier League
dropping just one game.
Thirty four teams
contested the Guernsey Winter doubles, which was
played over 6 weeks. Sadly none of the EPA members
on the island featured in the medals.
Sources: www.jpa.org.je & http://guernseypetanque.co.uk
You need to pre-enter so don‟t forget to get your entry
in before the closing date.
FOR THE FULL RESULTS AND TABLES
FROM ALL EPA EVENTS VISIT
www.englishpetanque.org.uk/results.html
9
PETANQUE
PEOPLE
WHAT A DIFFERENCE
A DAY MAKES
Sisters Sarah and Amy Huntley had disappointing
outings on 26th April when they both finished around
the bottom of their respective tables in the EPA
Espoirs Qualifier and Junior Triples competitions that
were held at Lordswood. However just 24 hours later
at the same venue they teamed up with mum Myra and
had a faultless display to win all their games and
finish on top of the Ladies qualifier series, earning
themselves a place in the North Sea squad in the
process. Like they say in football “it’s a funny old
game”.
GET WELL SOON
We send our best wishes for speedy
recoveries for the following members:
Sue Swift (Northern) who is recovering from a
serious illness, Mike Haile (Isle of Wight) who is
currently recuperating in hospital and Andy Rees
(East Midlands) who is also recuperating in hospital
following a car accident.
FOCUS ON – WHITNASH WINDMILL PC
Report by Carol Woodward
Whitnash Windmill Pétanque Club is one of the
newest and most progressive Pétanque Clubs in the
country. In its short history of less than three years, it
has grown to over 40 members strong, the vast
majority of whom had never played pétanque before.
The Club is now based at the Whitnash Sports and
Social Club, in the heart of Whitnash, near
Leamington Spa, where they have recently completed
work on a new, purpose-built 17m x 30m floodlit
terrain with the help of sponsorship from various
sources, including the Whitnash Sports and Social
Club itself, without whose support and encouragement
this project would not have succeeded. In addition,
there is an overflow terrain adjacent to the new
facility providing the availability of 16 full size pistes.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Kent‟s Thomas Bruce
and his partner Emma Taylor on the birth
of their son Liam.
JOY & BABE HANG UP
THEIR BOULE
Two of the EPA‟s most “senior” players, Joy Drumey
and Violet „Babe‟ Ketteringham, have decided to
hang up their competitive boule as they have not taken
out membership of the Association for the first time in
around 30 years.
Most of the hard work was carried out by contractors,
but a great deal of labour was undertaken by club
members who completed the project in only 5 days.
The transformation of what was an unsightly, derelict
piece of land is astonishing. The project to build a
new terrain was first conceived at the back end of
2007, when the committee embarked on a mission to
obtain sponsorship and competitive prices and support
from its members in order to realise their dream. It is
a fine example of what can be achieved by dedicated
members who have the passion and determination to
succeed. It was a great team effort by all concerned
and the Club is very proud of its achievement.
Not giving away a ladies age, but the pair have a
combined age of 179 years.
Apart from one other nonagenarian the pair were the
oldest player in the EPA.
Fittingly both play for Seal Pétanque Club in Kent,
the oldest pétanque club in the country.
They are great characters and will be sorely missed on
the circuit. Here‟s to a happy „retirement‟ ladies.
COLIN STANDS DOWN
The club has excellent facilities available with a fully
licensed bar and other club rooms and the WWPC is
the latest sports section to join the Club.
After designing and then managing the EPA web site
for the past 3 years “webmaster” Colin Philip has
decided to “retire”. Over the 3 years the website has
grown and developed into what is now regarded as the
first point of reference for all things EPA related. For
the time being Mike Pegg will take over the running
of the web site. The EPA Management Committee
would like to thank Colin for all his hard work and
wish him all the best as he has decided to pursue other
interests and spend more time on his other websites
for Southern Counties and Crondall P.C.
The WWPC will be hosting its Open Triples event on
Sunday, 27th July, and a warm welcome awaits anyone
who would like to take part. There will be a maximum
entry of 32 teams, at a cost of £9 per team and the
closing date for entry is 24th July. If you are
interested, full details will shortly be available on the
Club‟s website, www.whitnashpetanque.co.uk or you
can contact Carol Woodward on 01926 770373 or by
email on woodward_carol@hotmail.com.
10
Highest Award
The highest award the EPA can give is "Honorary
Life Membership" of the Association. This award is
given at the discretion of the EPA Management
Committee in recognition of services to the game of
pétanque. A maximum of three awards may be given
in a year.
To give this award the full recognition it deserves and
to ensure all candidate proposals are fairly reviewed
the EPA MC have appointed a "Life Membership"
panel consisting of Ex Presidents who are "Life
Members" in their own right.
We have, in consultation with the panel, introduced a
new protocol which will be applied when proposing
and considering candidates for this award. The details
are as follows:

Pétanque Promotions Ltd
New Director
Life members are appointed by the Management
Committee with each nomination being reviewed
by an appointed panel of “Life Members”.

These awards will be presented at the Inter
Regional Competition or AGM.

Members and non-members of the Association
can be proposed by any EPA Member, County
Region and the EPA Management Committee
itself.

Member‟s nominations must be made via their
Registered Club or County Region.

In all instances a signed copy of the minutes
supporting nominations must be enclosed with
each proposal.

There is no time bar or restriction regarding the
number of times a person can be proposed.

In reviewing nominations the panel‟s main
consideration will be the evaluation of the
service, involvement and/or contribution made by
the nominated person to the game and/or
Association.

All nominations must be submitted to the EPA
Secretary by 30th June to ensure consideration in
that year.

Neither the EPA nor the review panel will enter
into any correspondence with regard to decisions
made.
The English Pétanque Association, as the share holder
of Pétanque Promotions Ltd, have approved and
welcomed the appointment by the existing Directors
of Richard Baker as a new and additional Director of
our company.
We wish Richard every success in this role and have
every confidence that his participation will contribute
to the continued success of our company.
HOW TO PLAY PETANQUE
A series of posters designed to go onto playing areas
to explain how the sport is played is available, free of
charge, from the EPA. They are ideal for clubs who
let their terrains out.
The poster was designed by the German Federation‟s
President Klaus Eschbach and translated and edited
by EPA President Mike Pegg.
It is set up as three A4 sheets, but can be enlarged if
required, with an information box on the third sheet.
If any club would like a copy on a CD then send a
stamped addressed A5 envelope to John Roberts,
EPA Director of Playing, 44 Oak Tree Avenue,
Marlow, Bucks SL7 3EJ.
Mike Pegg
National President
11
YOUR CHANCE
TO PLAY WITH
FRENCH CHAMPIONS
PETANQUE PROMOTIONS Ltd
Specialist suppliers of Boules, Manuals and Accessories
UK Distributors for JB Boules
Many think this game can be a lottery. Well now it
really is as our “man in Marseille” Philippe Roche
explains:
To obtain current prices and details of boules
equipment, manuals and clothing contact:
“Do you fancy a chance to enter a competition with a
great player such as Lacroix, Loy, Choupay,
Suchaud, Fazzino, Rocher, Weibel, Lozano, Foyot
and Cooter (Ed – only joking about the last one).
Well, your dream might come true for only 2 euros.”
Mick Bourton on 024 7646 4034
Or go on line to:
www.boulesales.co.uk
Remember any surplus at
the end of the year is put
back into the sport.
“A lottery is being organized by the French
association ilona (a charity for children in need).
Five draws will be held throughout the year and each
time 4 winners will be decided. In total there will be
21 winning tickets. Each winner will get the chance to
play with 2 great champions in a triples tournament
of his/her choice (before the end of 2009).”
Pétanque Promotions Ltd,
Coventry Enterprise Centre, Bilton Industrial Estate, Coventry CV3 1JL
MORE TV COVERAGE
FROM KENT
“The dates of the 5 draw’s are:
May 24th, June 29th, August 17th, September 7th and
October 26th”
By Jack Milner
For more details (in French) visit:
http://iledefrance.association-ilona.com/lire.php
On Saturday 5th April down at the Lordswood venue
an ITV Meridian South East News sports
team/cameraman showed up, as had been previously
requested. Unfortunately only a few juniors were
available (being all at lunch) but some video footage
was recorded.
Info from Philippe Roche
Pétanque Posters
of the Week
This was broadcast on the following Tuesday evening
8th April on "ITV Meridian South East News" at
about 6.20 pm. Unfortunately, it was very short about 1 minute in duration!
Editors Note – Over the past two years pétanque in
the County of Kent has featured at least 6 times on
National or Local television. Well done to Kent for
their achievements in publicising the sport at this
level. Keep up the good work!
WEB SITE RE-VAMPS
The Scottish Pétanque Association web site has
undergone a „makeover‟. The site is easier to navigate
and is even more informative. Check it out yourself
for all pétanque news “North of the border” www.scottishpetanque.org
The above posters both featured on the
www.britishpetanque.org web site advertising
pétanque events in Vienna. I‟m not quite sure on the
relevance of the shapely jester, other than the promise
of some “exciting days”! Birds and Booze – and I
though pétanque was about Boule!
Likewise the Irish Pétanque Association‟s web site
has also been re-launched at www.irishpetanque.org
12
AROUND THE WORLD
If you‟re not going to the Inter-Regionals this year
and are aged 35+ then you could always participate in
the European Masters Games (EMG).
The EMG will be taking place in the Swedish city of
Malmo. During the week sportsmen and sportswomen
will meet each other in competitions, where
enthusiasm, passion and joy are as important as
results. Here athletes older than 35 will get the
chance to compete with like-minded people from all
parts of Europe. With more than 10,000 participants
divided over 25 sports and about 100 disciplines this
will not leave any part of Malmo untouched.
RETURNING NATION
The number of nations affiliated to the World
governing body, the FIPJP, rose to 78 as the Republic
of Vanuatu (a group of islands in the South Pacific
Ocean) re-affiliated after dropping out a few years
ago. Apparently the lack of boules on the islands has
been a problem as, when competitions are organized,
the players must wait until others have finished to use
the same boules. However a visit by FIPJP President,
Claude Azema, assisted in their re-affiliation and after
a meeting with the principal private secretary of the
Minister for Sports a solution was also reached to
resolve the boule shortage.
The experience of the EMG will include challenging
competitions and attractive entertainment as well as
the chance to meet people from other European
countries who share similar attitudes.
The masters competitions in boules takes place during
the weekend on 6th-7th September. Play is in the
following age groups: Women: 35+ and 55+ and
Open: 35+, 55+ and 65+ (your age category is
determined by your age on 31st December 2008).
Sources: www.fipjp.com & www.petanque.fr
NICE DO IT AGAIN
Over the same weekend that the EPA were hosting
their European Club Cup finals the FFPJP (French
Federation) were doing the same. Winners of the
Coupe de France des Clubs for the fourth time in the
last five years were the D.U.C. (Département Union
Club) from Nice.
For registration or more information check out the
web site: www.emg2008.com
The star studded club includes the likes of
Philippe Quintais, Philippe Suchaud, Henri Lacroix,
Simon Cortes and Khaled Laklal who have 26 World
Championship winners medals between them as well
as countless national titles.
Sadly pétanque will not feature in the
Olympics this year or in 2012.
However pétanque (mens and ladies
doubles events) will feature in the
2009 World Games that are being
held in Taiwan.
World Games
SCOTS SLOW TO BUY IN
/4 MILLION EUROS
TO HOST WORLDS
3
If you thought the turn-out for the EPA
qualifiers was low spare a thought for the
Scottish. In the Scottish Pétanque Association‟s
inaugural year as independent members of the FIPJP
and CEP they had just three teams enter their
qualifying event for the World Championships and
just two clubs vying for a place in the CEP‟s
European Club Cup.
The French pétanque news site, Boulistenaute, have
reported that Senegal have a budget of €750,000 to
host this year‟s World Championships for the
anticipated 70 attending nations.
In contrast Wales had 18 teams
competing in their four round
qualifying series. The internationally
experienced team of Phil Bradshaw, Neil Dobbins and
Matthew Franks finished the series as Wales 1 and
will go on to represent Wales in the forthcoming
World Championships.
Teams from around the World are likely to converge
on Africa again in 2009 as Tunisia are looking to
organize the 2009 Junior World Championships in the
town of Monastir.
Source: www.boulistenaute.com
13
EUROPEAN
ESPOIRS
CHAMPIONSHIPS
EUROPEAN
CLUB CUP
The draw for the 2008 European Club Cup was made
at the April meeting of the CEP (Confederation
Europeenne de Pétanque). A record 19 nations
entered the event, with the current champions (Anpi
Molassana-Casellese from Italy) taking the entry up to
20 teams. As well as England, Scotland and Wales
competing independently for the first time Turkey
were the other debutants.
The final rounds of the Ladies and Gents European
Championship of Promises (or Espoirs) took place
between 18th-20th April at St. Jean d'Angely in France.
The matches followed the same format as the
qualifiers with a match consisting of 3 games (a
triples game followed by singles and doubles).
In the mens event the 8 qualifiers were drawn into two
pools –
Pool A: Italy, France, Denmark and Belgium.
Pool B: Germany, Finland, Spain and Holland.
Once again the English representatives, who this year
are Colne Angles, were drawn to play in the
preliminary round. They face a difficult away trip to
the Italian Club Champions, ASD Circolo San
Giuliano Lido.
The ladies were also drawn into two pools –
Pool A: Holland, Turkey, Denmark and Belgium.
Pool B: Italy, France, Germany and Spain.
IF Colne overcome the Italians then they will be
rewarded with a home draw against the Hvidovre
Pétanque Klub from Denmark. However this will be
no walk-over as the GB representatives have been
eliminated from the competition five times by their
counterparts from Denmark.
With the top two teams from each pool progressing
through to the semi-finals all four pools produced
clear leaders (France and Spain in the mens event,
Denmark and Germany in the ladies) with all the
second places being decided on points.
Assuming they win this then Colne are scheduled to
face the winners of Wales (Monkstone) v Switzerland
in the second round, before progressing through to the
finals.
Final Results:
Mens Semi-Finals:
France
v Holland
Spain
v Belgium
Mens Final:
France
v Spain
Ladies Semi-Finals:
France
v Denmark
Germany
v Belgium
Ladies Final:
France
v Germany
13-5, 13-5
13-10, 13-9,10-13
Draw/Results (in Red)
Preliminary Round (To be played April-May 2008):
1. Fochabers PC [Scotland] 1 v BC Sandhofen Mannheim
[Germany] 6
2. Spordiklubi Optima Tallinn [Estonia] 1 v Club Bouliste
Monégasque [Monaco] 4
3. Nilufer SC Bursa [Turkey] 0 v D.U.C. de Nice [France] 7
4. ASD Circolo San Giuliano Lido [Italy] v Colne Angels PC
[England] (Note - due to be played w/e 15-16 June).
13-2, 13-1
13-2, 13-0
7-13, 13-5, 13-8
13-10, 9-13, 13-8
Thus France were crowned as the first ever Male and
Female European Espoirs Champions.
1st Round (To be played May-June-July 2008):
A. SK Varan Karlovy Vary [Czech Republic] 3 v Péta-Boules
Schifflange [Luxemburg] 4
B. JdBC Plop Uden [Netherlands] v Happy Angel Petanque Wien
[Austria]
C. Coccinelle PC Malmö [Sweden] v PŠD Hribovci [Slovenia]
D. Winner match 4 v Hvidovre Petanque Klub [Denmark]
E. PC Auderghem St-Anne Bruxelles [Belgium] v Anpi MolassanaCasellese [Italy]
F. Club Bouliste Monégasque [Monaco] v Club des Champions
Helsinki [Finland]
G. Monkstone Inn PC [Wales] v Léman Pétanque [Switzerland]
H. BC Sandhofen Mannheim [Germany] v D.U.C. de Nice [France]
Results courtesy of www.petanque.fr
CELTIC CHALLENGE
The 20th annual Celtic Challenge, between squads
from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, took place in
Scotland over the weekend of 3rd–4th May.
Four triples teams competed from each Nation along
with a second “B” squad from Scotland, to make up
the numbers.
2nd Round (To be played August-September 2008):
Winner match H v Péta-Boules Schifflange [Luxemburg]
Winner match C v Winner match B
Winner match E v Winner match F
Winner match D v Winner match G
Wales bucked the trend of wins by the home nation
over the last 3 years to retain the title by one game
ahead of Scotland.
The Finals will be in Genoa, Italy
Results courtesy of www.scottishpetanque.org
14
WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF
PÉTANQUE RULES, OK!
The future of the North Sea Tournament took
another blow as the Netherlands have now announced
their intention to withdraw from the tournament.
At its recent meeting the FIPJP International Umpires
Committee proposed some changes that the FIPJP
Executive has endorsed (with a few small changes).
The proposed changes include:
The FIPJP have just confirmed that the Ladies
World Championship will NOT be held in China.
(Rumour has it that it may now be held in France or
Turkey)!
Article 3
Size of the jack – “the diameter must be 30mm
(tolerance + or – 1mm)”.
Article 5
Concerning a marked terrain – “When the terrains of
play are enclosed by solid barriers, these must be a
minimum distance of 1 metre from the exterior line of
the playing area”.
This change does away with the separate “dead ball”
line which surrounds the marked area.
The CEP will not hold European Espoir qualifying
events in 2008. Instead the qualifiers and finals will
be held in 2009. The qualifiers are schedule to be
held in week 12 and the finals in week 42.
The Netherlands Federation (NJBB)
have moved the Junior European
Championship from Maastricht to
Nieuwegein. This is in the vicinity of
Utrecht in the centre of the Netherlands,
about 40 kilometres from Amsterdam
and Schiphol airport.
News from Mike Pegg
With this change other rules have been amended to do
away with the 1m rule regarding the drawing or
placing of a circle and the position of a thrown jack.
In addition to the marked terrain this article also states
“Certain competitions can be organised with a time
limit”. This last sentence is to allow for the changes to
the World championships format which for the
qualifying rounds will be the Swiss system with timed
games.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
CHANGES UP FOR DEBATE
At the FIPJP 2008 World congress, which will be
held alongside the World Championships, items for
discussion could include making the World
Championships into a Mens only event and holding it
every two years. There is also talk of introducing
another World Championships for “Espoirs” (18-23
year olds), again to be held every other year. This will
be in keeping with the current Ladies and Juniors
World Championships which are both held every two
years.
Article 6
To amend the dimensions of the resin circle to 50 cm
(tolerance + or – 2mm) and to add “Use of the
prefabricated circles is by the decision of the
organiser that must supply them”.
Article 26
A change to the title and first sentence “Article 26 –
Removed Boules: It is forbidden for players to pick up
played boules before the completion of an end”.
It is possible that if these proposals were adopted then
the World Championships would alternate with the
European Championships to give either a World or
European Championship in each category every year.
Article 37
This has been re-written and given a new title “Article
37 – Lack of Sportsmanship: “The teams that argue
during a game, who show lack of sportsmanship and
respect towards the public, the organisers or the
Umpires, will be excluded from the competition. This
exclusion can incur non-acceptance of the results, as
well as the application of penalties set out in Article
38”.
For example:
2009 – Mens Worlds, Junior Worlds, Ladies
European and Espoirs European.
2010 – Mens European, Junior European, Ladies
Worlds and Espoirs Worlds.
It should be noted that these are only rumours at
this stage.
There are several other small changes mostly to
correct a phrase or to bring the rule in line with those
above.
LIPPY DOWN UNDER
I must emphasise that all the proposed rule
changes have yet to be agreed by the member
federations at the World Championship in
November at Dakar, they should not be
implemented until we notify you.
Ex BPA member, Dave Lippard (formerly of the
Crown, Chislehurst), once again featured in the New
Zealand National squad in their annual “Trans
Tasmin” match against Australia. New Zealand won
both categories (Open and Senior) in comparative
ease.
Mike Pegg
International Umpire
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SACRÉS BOULES
PÉTANQUE ON THE
RADIO (AGAIN!)
Once again pétanque featured on the radio. This time
it was Lynne Ciano of Chiltern Region. She gave a
live interview on 5th March on Radio Verulam in
St.Albans. Lynne spoke about pétanque in general
and the ILM St. Albans Open Doubles tournament on
9th August in particular. This was followed a couple
of weeks later by a phone interview and another after
Easter when Lynne answered questions on pétanque.
The radio station will give the event more publicity
nearer the date.
News courtesy of http://p.etanque.tripod.com/chiltern/
WAS IT YOU?
There are still a few gaps in the BPA/BPF/EPA Roll
of Honour, that is located at
www.britishpetanque.org/Info.htm (click on the “Roll
of Honour” tab at the top of the page). It lists all of
the National Champions and International
Representatives (from the World, European and
North Sea Tournaments) from the present day back to
the BPA‟s formation in 1974. However there are still
a few gaps, which is where you come in. Can you help
fill in the gaps for the following?

Pétanque – That great summer sport.
Brought to you courtesy of www.petanque.org
CELTIC BOULERS
1987 & 1991 Junior World Championship
teams?
1988 Ladies World Championship team?
1998 Junior European Championship team?
North Sea Squads from 1982 to 1990 inclusive
plus some missing members from 1993, 1996,
2001 & 2003.
Inter-Regional Presidents Cup Winners 1984 to
1992?
Champion of Champions Winners pre 1992 plus
the names of the winners from 1993, 1994 &
1996?
Founders Cup Winners pre 1993 plus the names
of the winners from 1993, 1994 & ‟2000?
Following on from a story in the last edition – The
Celtic Boulers, a quiz team made up of members of
the Welsh Pétanque Association, appearance on the
BBC2 quiz Eggheads was aired on 31st March. The
team acquitted themselves well knocking out “CJ”
and Millionaire winner Judith in the „head-to-heads‟
(or singles to us boule players). Unfortunately they
just missed out on the £7,000 prize in the final round.
If you can help fill in any of the above gaps then
please e-mail Mike Pegg (mike.pegg@fipjp.com) to
ensure that you take your rightful place on the Roll of
Honour.
The views expressed in PÉTANQUE QUARTERLY
are those of the editor and contributors only. They do
not, necessarily, reflect the views of the English
Pétanque Association.

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
Teams from the EPA and Brighton & Hove PC have
also applied to be on the show. If/when they appear
we‟ll let you know how they get on.
EDITORS NOTE

PÉTANQUE QUARTERLY is edited by: Mark Cooter. Any items for inclusion should be sent to:
Post: Pétanque Quarterly, 13 Sun Lane, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5HQ
 Tel: 01474 354310
Fax: 01474 832437
E-mail: m.cooter@btinternet.com
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