Report: 2022 Peter Westall Open Doubles
Sunday 12th June saw the inaugural Peter Westall Open Doubles which was held at Monkstone Pétanque Club, Cardiff.
Those of you that knew Pete will no doubt have your own memories of him both as a player and also of the way he would hold court regaling tales of his exploits both on and off the piste. For anyone reading this that didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Pete, I can only say he was one of life’s great characters.
The competition comprised 16 teams who played in four groups with the top two teams in each group going into the Peter Westall Cup and the bottom two from each group going into the Peter Westall Novice Cup.
The day got off to a great start with the group stages with some results that “on paper” would not have been expected. The quarter-final of the Novice Cup was equally unpredictable seeing two of the WPA’s newest members, Mel and Gary Giles (Pontyclun RFC Pétanque Club) taking a 9-1 lead against the experienced pairing of Bernard Adshead and Roger Griffin (Monkstone Pétanque Club). Experience eventually paid off as Bernard and Roger dug in and came back to win 13-9.
The quarter-final of the Cup was equally as unpredictable with Vickie Adshead and Ash Seath (Monkstone Pétanque Club) beating Julie Bailey and Len Fields (SWBRC PS)13-7. Vickie and Ash went on to meet Tony Smith and Mike Jones (Monkstone Pétanque Club) in the Semi-final where they put up a great fight but eventually lost 11-13. The other game in the semi-final was Ian Bailey and Jean-Yves Robic (SWBRC PS) with a 13-10 win against Derek Jones and Stuart Spencer (Pontyclun RFC Pétanque Club).
The semi-final of the Novice Cup saw Bernard and Roger with a 13-10 win against Gill Clark and Amanda Jenkins (Monkstone Pétanque Club) along with Jake Caston and Scott Murray who beat Mike Wigg and Dominic Power (Monkstone Pétanque Club & Monmouth Pétanque Club) 13-4.
This brought us to the finals:
- Peter Westall Cup – Ian Bailey/Jean-Yves Robic v Mike Jones/Tony Smith
- Peter Westall Novice Cup – Jake Caston/Scott Murray v Bernard Adshead/Roger Griffin
In the Novice Cup, we saw Jake and Scott go 12-0 up against Bernard and Roger but they were unable to close the game out with that elusive last point. Roger and Bernard dug deep into their reserves and stepped up a gear, Bernard started pointing with pinpoint accuracy and Roger’s shooting matched the accuracy of Bernard’s pointing. Unfortunately for Bernard and Roger, it was a little too late as Jake and Scott got that elusive point and finally won the game 13-9.
The final of the Cup was also an exciting game with Tony and Mike putting up a great fight against Ian and Jean-Yves, the final score of 13-2 to Ian and Jean-Yves did not reflect the game.
Final results:
Peter Westall Cup
Winners – Ian Bailey and Yean-Yves Robic (SWBRC PS) with Tony Smith WPA President (centre) |
Runners-up – Tony Smith and Mike Jones (Monkstone Pétanque Club) with Jean-Yves WPA Treasurer(centre) |
Peter Westall Novice Cup
Winners – Jake Caston and Scott Murray (SWBRC PS) with Tony Smith WPA President (centre) |
Runners-up – Bernard Adshead and Roger Griffin (Monkstone Pétanque Club) with Tony Smith WPA President (centre) |