Category: International News

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.

Celtic Challenge 2019 – latest news

Celtic Challenge WPA website page.

The Celtic Challenge website page has been updated to reflect this years competition that was held over the weekend of 4th/5th of May at Pontyclun PC.

The full results are there along with a selection of photographs taken over the weekend.

The page can be found in the dropdown menu under Competitions.

Celtic Challenge 2019 – Update

Great weekend at the Celtic Challenge, held at Pontyclun PC.

Scotland – 32 games

Wales A – 24 games

Wales B – 24 games (just behind Wales A on points)

Ireland – 16 games

Full update and pics to follow tomorrow.

 

Celtic Challenge 2019

 

Today saw the start of the 2019 Celtic Challenge.

It opened with welcoming words from Cllr. Margret Griffiths, Rhondda Cynon Taff and her husband Cllr. Paul Griffiths, leader of Pontyclun Community Council, these were then followed by welcoming speeches from Bob Pugh, president of the WPA, Heads of delegations for Ireland and Scotland along with Gareth Jackson, President of the hosting club (Pontyclun PC) and Bob Parker from the English Pétanque Association, our guest umpire.

The competition started and all teams were up to the challenge, Wales A had to play their first games against Wales B which was a tough fought battle with Wales A finishing 8 – 4 ahead at the lunch break.

Similarly, Scotland were showing Ireland no quarter in their early rounds and they too finished 8 – 4 up at the break but Wales A were ahead on points.

The afternoon session started with Wales B taking games off Wales A, Scotland continued their strong play and by the close of play had held their nerve and continued to take games from all angles including those against the home nation.

The day finished at:-

Scotland – 15

Wales A – 13

Wales B – 13

Ireland – 7

Tomorrow brings a new day and more great games, there were a few nail biters there today and I am sure there will be many more tomorrow.

There will be more pics posted soon, don’t forget to watch out on the WPA facebook page for the games that are being live streamed.

2019 World Championships – Almeria, Spain.

It was brought to our attention at last night’s OGM that the names of the players who qualified to represent Wales were not published on the website, this was obviously an oversight and I would like to apologise on behalf of the Exec.

Following three rounds of assessments in various disciplines over several weeks the following players were selected to represent Wales at this year’s World Championships.

Players:

Gemma Foster
Tansy Mayfield
Matthew Howells
Richard Harris

Coaches:

Tony Smith and Peter Beresford

We would like to wish them all the best for a successful and a safe trip.

2019 Veteran’s Welsh National Championships

This year’s National Veteran’s Championships will be held at Monkstone Petanque Club, Penylan, Cardiff  on Sunday 28th April.

Registration will be between 09:00am and 09:30am.

The winners and runners up of this event will be invited to represent Wales at the Veteran’s Nations Cup which this year is also being held at the Monkstone Petanque Club.

The Veteran’s Nations Cup is to be held over the weekend of 29th and 30th June 2019.

Pre Entry is required, please email your entry to:-

dev [at] welshpetanque [dot] org [dot] uk

Payment can be made on the day, the closing date for entries is 21st April 2019.

2019 Veterans Poster

BBC Feature on Pétanque in Wales

The BBC Wales cameras attended the Cup for Clubs match between Penarth and Caerleon on Sunday 11th December to produce a feature on the growth of Pétanque in Wales.

James Pontin from BBC Wales spoke with WPA President Dan Murphy, Director of Development Jean-Yves Robic, Caerleon’s Wales International Tansy Mayfield and Penarth’s Tim Howard, who is one of the younger members of the Association.

View the BBC Wales Video Here

Several hours of Pétanque were captured for the BBC archives and Pontin has cut that down to an excellent 3 minute feature of the BBC’s digital platforms.

The match was won comfortably by Caerleon, who join Wenvoe at the top of the table in the 2016/17 Cup for Clubs. The competition continues in the New Year.

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