The Monkstone PC hosted the 2021 NC Singles: Men in variable weather conditions to say the least.  Sixteen members came together to battle it out for the title of Singles Champion; however, this being the last championship of the calendar year, it was pleasing to see a good number taking part from the following clubs:

• Caerleon RFC PC
• Monkstone PC
• Pontyclun PC
• South Wales Bowls & Recreation Centre (SWBRC) Pétanque Section (formerly Penarth PC)
• Wenvoe PC and
• Wheatsheaf PC

The Men’s World Championship team were seeded, and it was good to see them finishing in the top four places after the ranking rounds. SWBRC had four players in the top 8, followed by Pontyclun with 2, Caerleon and the Monkstone with one apiece.

Players in the three qualifying rounds recorded no 13/0 wins, and all the games were played in good spirits, but as always, competitively fought.

Plate.

The following clubs were represented in the Plate competition:

• Caerleon RFC PC,
• Pontyclun PC,
• Monkstone PC,
• SWBRC,
• Wenvoe PC and
• Wheatsheaf PC

The quarter-finals was a closely fought affair, where it was only decided in the last few ends who would go through to the semi-finals. By this time, the weather had changed, and the sun came out, allowing the playing surface to begin to dry out and ultimately acting several players out.

In a competitive match, the final was between Tom Mills (Monkstone PC) and David Sharratt (Wheatsheaf PC). Tom took a healthy lead against David and had the opportunity to close the game and take the title early. However, David began to fight back and slowly closed the gap to 12/12. With some consistent pointing and shooting, Tom was able to take the last point required to win the match and win the Plate Competition.

Congratulations to all our members taking part in the Plate Competition. 

Championship.

The quarter-finals again was a closely fought round with the four members of the World Championship team pitched against experienced players. The result of the match between Kon Tomczyk (Caerleon RFC PC) and Ken Agius (SWBRC) was the exception. Ken took an early lead and looked to be coasting towards victory. However, Kon is an experienced player, and he fought back to bring the scores level, but a loose point left Ken the opportunity to close the game.

The semi-final draw had Ian Bailey (SWBRC) drawn against Roger Green (Monkstone) and Len Field (SWBRC) against Ken Agius (SWBRC).

Both semi-finals were closely fought, but consistent pointing and shooting took Ian Bailey and Ken Agius to the final.

The final was an all SWBRC affair, with Ian Bailey slowly gaining a good lead over Ken Agius. With Ian’s consistent point and shooting, he took the match and title 13/6. Congratulations to Ian Bailey for becoming the National Single’s Champion for 2021.

Congratulations to all our members taking part in the championship.

Finally, the WPA Executive would like to thank the Membership and Executive of the Monkstone PC for hosting the championship and allowing their facilities to be used to make the event run smoothly.

Tony Smith.
President.

Thirteen teams took part and after the ranking rounds the knock out stage was split into a Cup and Plate and played out as follows:

CUP

John Attfield & Kath Attfield (3) V Gail Brooksbank & Basil White (13)

Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster (13) V Kon Tomczyk & Barbara Vaughan (5)

Sean Smith & Gill Greenwell (13) V Hugh Morris & Marie Jones (0)

Jayne Dunn & Peredure John (13) V JY Robic & Valerie Falconer (2)

 

PLATE (QF) elimination round

Jim Page & Sue Foster V Shirley Smart & Tony Griffiths

 

The semi final was between:

CUP

Jayne Dunn & Peredure John (13)  V Gail Brooksbank & Basil White (0)

Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster (13) V Sean Smith & Gill Greenwell (1)

PLATE

Len Field & Pat McCarthy (13) V Jim Page & Sue Foster (7)

Gill Clark & Roger Green (13) V Peter Kensett & Rose Fiera (3)

 

The Final

CUP

Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster (13) V Jayne Dunn & Peredure John (6)

PLATE

Gill Clark & Roger Green (13) V Len Field & Pat McCarthy (0)

 

Congratulations to the 2021 National Mixed Doubles Champions: Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster

 

WPA National Doubles (Men) Champions 2021: Ian Bailey & Jean-Yves Robic 

The WPA would like to thank the Executive and Membership of Brecon Boules Club for their support during the competition.

Derek Jones
National Director of Development

After a few years away, it was great to return to playing at the picturesque Brecon PC on the side of the Brecon canal basin. Eight teams took part and after the ranking rounds the knock out stage was played as follows:

Ian Bailey & JY Robic (13) V Jake Caston & Scott Murray (12)

Kon Tomczyk & Steve Snudden (13) V Lyn Babbage & Hugh Morris (6)

Len Field & Ken Agious (13) V Sean Smith & Roger Green (8)

Tony Griffiths & Jay Geldert (7) V Jim Page & Gareth Smart (13)

 

The semi final was between:

Ian Bailey & JY Robic (13) V Kon Tomczyk & Steve Snudden (12)

Len Field & Ken Agious (13) V Jim Page & Gareth Smart (6)

 

The Final was a close affair with the scores evenly matched

Ian Bailey & JY Robic (13) V Len Field & Ken Agious (12)

Congratulations to the 2021 National Doubles Champions: Ian Bailey & JY Robic

 

The WPA would like to thank the Executive and Membership of Brecon Boules Club for their support during the competition.

Derek Jones
National Director of Development

The qualification competition for Petanque England’s annual Inter-Regional Championship took place at Caerleon RFC PC on Sunday 13th June, which became a scorching day.

Seven teams entered the competition, with only 4 of the teams being selected to represent the WPA. Each team played each other to obtain the final ranking detailed below.

Even though the entries represented a small percentage of the membership, the competition was fierce to see which would qualify and represent the WPA in Melton Mowbray at the beginning of September. There was only one team that almost had a clean sweep: Monkstone PC team (WPA1) represented by Gill Greenwell, Gill Clark, Roger Green & Sean Smith, finishing with 5 wins (+31 points difference), losing only to the Wheatsheaf PC team (WPA3) of Gail Brooksbank and Jim and Linda Hutchinson who finished with 3 wins (+8 points difference).

The other two teams that qualified are the combined team (WPA2) represented by David Elston (Sully PC), Bob Pugh (Wenvoe PC), Derek Jones (Pontyclun PC) and Steve Sudden (Caerleon RFC PC), who finished with 4 wins (+17 points difference) and the Caerleon RFC PC team (WPA4) represented by Gemma Foster, Tansy Mayfield, Kon Tomczyk and Barbara Vaughan completing the day on 3 wins (+3 points difference).

The other results were as follows:

The second Wheatsheaf PC team comprising Alan Evans, Colin Sweet, Basil White and Dave Sharratt finished with 3 wins (-2 points difference).
Brecon RFC team comprising Tony Griffiths, Gareth Smart, Jim Page and AJ Jones finished with 3 wins (-15 points difference) and
the second Caerleon RFC PC team comprising Dai Bevan, Wally Wilkinson, Ray Williams and Ian Wheeler finished with 0 wins (-42 points difference).

The WPA would like to thanks all the players who took part in the qualification round and the executive and members of the Caerleon RFC PC for hosting the event and making the facilities available throughout the day.

Tony Smith
President.

The first National Championship took place at the South Wales Bowls and Recreation Centre-Petanque Section (SWBRC-PS) Sully on Sunday 30th May.  This is the first time a National Championship has been held at this new and rapidly developing venue.

Eight teams representing Pontyclun PC, Monkstone PC (Cardiff) and Wheatsheaf PC (Gwent) came together to take away the National Women’s Doubles title. 

The morning session saw the teams play in two leagues to decide their ranking and opposition in the afternoon knockout phase. The top team from Group A was Julie Bailey (SWBRC-PS) & Jayne Dunn (Monkstone PC), and Group B Simone Ballett & Sonia Ford (SWBRC-PS).

The first round of the afternoon knock-out session saw the following teams drawn against each other:

Julie Bailey (SWBRC-PS) & Jayne Dunn (Monkstone PC) v Patricia McCarthy & Jenny Spooner (SWBRC-PS)
Linda Thomas & Sue Roberts (SWBRC-PS) v Katharine Attfield & Marie Jones (Pontyclun PC)
Gill Greenwell & Gill Clarke (Monkstone PC) v Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson (Wheatsheaf PC)
Judith Smith & Amanda Jenkins (Monkstone PC) v Sonia Ford & Simone Ballett (SWBRC-PS)

The second round (semi-final) of the afternoon saw the winners of round 1 coming together with: 

Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson (Wheatsheaf PC) v Simone Ballett & Sonia Ford (SWBRC-PS) Score: 13-12
Julie Bailey (SWBRC-PS) & Jayne Dunn (Monkstone PC) v Linda Thomas & Sue Roberts (SWBRC-PS) Score: 13-7

The final saw Julie Baily and Jayne Dunn (dark blue shirts) against Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson (light blue shirts).

The final was a tight match between two experienced teams, Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson, who took an early lead, but Julie Baily and Jayne Dunn fought back to take the match and the title 13-10.

National Champions: Jayne Dunn & Julie Baily with Tony Smith, WPA President.

Runners-Up: Linda Hutchinson and Gail Brooksbank with Tony Smith, WPA President.

The WPA would like to thank the Executive and Membership South Wales Bowls and Recreation Centre-Petanque Section for their support during the competition.

Tony Smith
President