Category: International News

2021 European Championships

The CEP Board of Directors met on Saturday 10th July to discuss the current situation concerning Covid-19 in Europe with respect to the scheduled European Championships.  Due to the ongoing uncertainty and concern about the “Delta variant” of Covid-19, as well as the logistical challenges with differing quarantine and health regulations across Europe, the Board of Directors took the difficult decision to cancel the EC Triples: Veterans, EC Triples: Men and EC Triples Espoirs and Juniors.

The full text of the correspondence received is detailed below:

Click on the image to view the letter in detail.

You will see that a decision concerning the European Cup for Clubs, which is scheduled for early December will be announced soon.  As soon as we receive confirmation of the CEP’s decision we will inform you.

The executive appreciates the disappointment that the players who qualified to represent Wales feel, but the opportunity to play for Wales in the future has not gone away. The aim now to prepare for 2022.

The Executive will now review the playing calendar as additional dates have now become available.

Tony Smith
President.

World Championship Triples: Women

In the past few days, we have received confirmation from the Petanque Association of Thailand, the host for the 18th Junior and Women World Petanque Championships, that the spread of the Coronavirus has forced them to postpone the championships. The Association hope to be able to host the championships at a later date. 

We also received a communication from the President of the FIPJP outlining their commitment to having the championships at a later date, but also for the twice cancelled Men’s World Championship that was to be held in Switzerland (2020/2021); all we can do is wait to see what evolves.

Finally, something closer to home, as we are aware here in Wales, the movement from Alert level 2 to Alert Level 1 continues with a further reduction in restrictions for organised outdoor activities; what this means is that clubs can now exceed the previously stated maximum number of 50 people. However, clubs should undertake a risk assessment to establish their maximum capacity based upon their facilities.

It is still a requirement for Clubs to Track and Trace members attending and ensure Social Distancing is maintained during play. We are currently revising our guidance for Clubs and Players, and they will be published soon.

Finally, Clubs will shortly be asked if they are interested in participating in the Welsh Cup for Clubs. This is a competition between affiliated clubs to find the best club in Wales; please consider taking part, you never know.

Best wishes.

Tony
President

Celtic Challenge Cancelled.

At a meeting of the 3 Nations’ Presidents, the decision was reluctantly taken to cancel the Celtic Challenge for 2021.

The ongoing uncertainty around play and travel arrangements has made any organisation impractical.

It is planned to hold the competition over the usual May Bank Holiday weekend on 2022 in Glasgow, as originally planned.

As a result of this decision, a new qualifier will be held for the 2022 competition. Details will announced as soon as possible.

We will, of course, keep you informed of any further announcements concerning the Championships.

Tony Smith
President

World Championships Cancelled.

To read the announcement by the FIPJP, click on the image above.

The FIPJP has confirmed that due to the continued situation with Covid-19 in mainland Europe, the World Championship: Triples for Men, which was to be held in Prilly-Lausanne, Switzerland, in July and postponed from 2020, has been cancelled.

This must be extremely disappointing for our friends in Switzerland who have worked tirelessly to host the Championships for the past 3 years. However, due to the ever-evolving nature of the virus and the restrictions placed upon organisations, the FIPJP, together with the hosts, decided that the potential quarantine conditions for teams arriving in Switzerland and on return to their country, as well as the constraints that would have to be imposed at the site were also considered too problematic.

Following up on the announcement from the FIPJP,  The European Petanque Confederation (CEP) has stated that they “…continue to monitor the pandemic situation across Europe and remain hopeful that each of our championships will go ahead as planned; however, a final decision [by the CEP] on this year’s championships will be made in early July”.

We will, of course, keep you informed of any announcements concerning the European Championships.

Tony Smith
President

WPA REPORT – WPOC World Pétanque Offline Cup

WPA REPORT

WPOC World Pétanque Offline Cup

The 1st WPOC World Pétanque Offline Cup organised by the FIPJP.

The preliminary phase of the WPOC has finished and the qualifying results are out for the WPOC 2020 Championships.

Three WPA players who decided to enter to represent Wales had limited time to produce the necessary video for the qualifying sessions.

Derek Jones got his precision shooting and parthian shooting (trick shot) completed on Sunday 3rd August afternoon while Gareth and Michelle Spencer completed their precision shooting just before the deadline of Monday 4th August afternoon.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time for Gareth and Michelle to produce a qualifying parthian shooting video before the 4pm deadline.

Despite the lack of time the results from the players exceeded any expectation, results as below:

Men’s Parthian shooting
Derek Jones – Finalist top 8 (Qualified 5th)

Women’s Shooting
Michelle Spencer – 27th Top Female European player

Men’s Shooting
Derek Jones – 13th Top Male European player
Gareth Spencer – 32nd Second European player

Congratulations to all players an excellent performance.

Derek has now performed another parthian shot for the final phase and this is currently being assessed by the five judges.

Bob Pugh

National President

WPA REPORT – CEP CONGRESS

WPA REPORT

CEP CONGRESS

SATURDAY – 27/06/2020

The 2020 CEP Congress was held on Saturday 27/06 via a virtual Zoom session.

It was my privilege to attend on behalf of the WPA.

The CEP Reports discussed at the Meeting can be found here.

Congratulations to the members of the board elected (or re-elected) during the Congress:
Signe Hovind (Norway)
Mike Pegg (England)
Tony Smith (Wales)
Henrik Toft (Denmark)
Riccardo Capaccioni (Italy) – new board member
Sjoerd Pieterse (Netherlands) – new board member

Congratulations also to Mike Pegg on his re-appointment as CEP President for another term.

Two items discussed that particularly affect Wales are the changes to the Inter-Federation Transfer procedure and the changes to the Approved Playing Kit regulations – links to both of these can be found on the WPA websites and will be discussed in greater detail at the forthcoming OGM.

 

Bob Pugh

National President

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT: Pétanque England Inter-Regional Championships 2020 Cancelled

Our friends at Pétanque England have issued the following statement:

The PE Board Meeting met virtually today and a number of playing matters were discussed.

2020 Inter Regional Championships

It is with deep regret that the PE Board has decided in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic that we are left with no alternative than to cancel the 2020 Inter-Regional Championships.

This decision is taken with heavy heart but we have concluded that we are unable to hold and organise such a major event safely for all our members young and old.

Considerable work has been undertaken by the Board to ensure that we were not left with significant financial liabilities and we are very grateful for the support we have received from our partners IoW Tours.

2020 would have been the last time that we would have held the Inter-Regionals at Hayling Island because of their refurbishment and remodelling to a format unsuited to our needs. We are now planning for 2021 and a new venue. We look forward to a major celebration in 2021, where once again we can all gather at the biggest and best national tournament in England.

We will update members when we have more details on the new venue, but just as an advance warning, we are expecting 2021 Inter-Regionals to take place a week earlier in September than they have taken place traditionally.

Although this is disappointing, I’m sure we all agree it is totally understandable, and we applaud the PE Board’s decision to make this call earlier rather than later.

Bob Pugh
WPA National President

#StayHome
#ProtectTheNHS
#SaveLives

 

 

Home Nations 2019 – Important announcement

Good afternoon all,

Following Bob’s email to our membership yesterday he has also asked me to post it on the website.

Dear members,

I am writing to inform you of an important update to the arrangements for the 2019 Home Nations and to allay any rumours you may have heard.

I must inform you that:-

1. For internal reasons, the Monkstone Petanque Club have unfortunately decided to withdraw from hosting the 2019 Home Nations.

2. WPA Executive Committee are currently working hard to identify an alternative venue and we will keep you updated with our progress.

3. In-line with the Competitions Rules, the WPA Executive Committee is exploring the possibility of amending the team order within the Welsh Squad for the Home Nations. This decision has not been taken lightly and we are attempting to ensure the minimum disruption to the Welsh squad along with the smooth-running of the Competition. The new team order will be announced in the near future.

Finally, I am delighted to let you know that following her excellent work during the Celtic Challenge, Michelle Spencer has agreed to take on the role of Team Manager for the Welsh Squad and I hope you will respect her position and support her in this vital role.

Kind regards
Bob
Robert Pugh
National President

As your Exec. we will endeavour to keep everyone informed of developments as they happen and would appreciate the support and co-operation of you, our members.

Thanks

Gareth.

Home Nations Qualifiers – Final results

Today saw the second day of qualifiers for the teams hoping to represent Wales at the Home Nations which as we are all aware is being held in Wales this year and the competition for places was always going to be stiff.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teams that took part, it was great to see new players coming forward and entering for their first time, I really hope you enjoyed the experience. It is a great opportunity to gain experience playing against people you may not have met or played against before and hopefully you will have formed new bonds.

Again well done to everyone that took part and let’s look forward to a successful Home Nations this year. So with no further delay, here is the bit you all want to see. . . . . The results.

Regards

Gareth

PS an extra special thanks to Kon who has been busy running qualifying events all weekend but has still got these out for us tonight.

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