Welsh Petanque Association

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South Wales Echo - 28/10/09 - Petanque: sport Aims to raise its profile. To see a copy of the article please follow this link.
South Wales Argus - 31/10/2009 - Pub boules team to take on the world.

First let me on behalf of the ladies team thank everyone who contributed to our fund raising, even on the plane Kon managed to get the Thai Airline crew to donate 2 bottles of wine to the team. Thanks to Kevin Hughes for organising very helpful training sessions in the lead up to our departure for the World Championships.

After the long 11 hour flight and a 2 hour taxi ride (rush hour traffic jams) we finally arrived at our first stop in Bangkok. After a quick shower and change we were out to sample our first Thai meal – we didn’t have to look very far as quite near the hotel we found an open-air eatery. What an experience, all you could cook, yes cook yourself and eat for £2 each!!!!!

The following morning after experiencing a short trip on the Bangkok Sky Train we headed off, with mascot in hand (Myfawny), to Suphanburi. We arrived at the tournament hotel, checked in and joined some of the other teams for a practice on a rough area outside the hotel.

That evening we attended the welcome dinner and eagerly awaited the draw for the competition. The draw was favourable for us as we were drawn against the USA in round 1, which was to be played on the Friday night.

Friday morning we were transported to an impressive sports stadium for the shooting competition. A daunting task for experienced world players let alone for someone’s first world championship (relieved it wasn’t me!!) but no worries, Jill Brace bravely stepped up for Wales and scored a total of 11 points. The afternoon commenced with the opening ceremony, stadium adorned with national flags, flowers, dignitaries and television cameras, an impressive sight!!! All players lined up behind their National flag and when announced walked the length of the stadium, a proud moment for us all.

Before we knew it we were on the piste ready to play our first game, the starting hooter sounded and the games commenced, all but ours that is!  We were playing USA who only had one player present. It was to be another half hour nervously waiting before the rest of the USA team arrived. At last we could start I threw the first boule for Wales which landed slightly short but in front of the cosh and although I wanted it to be closer it took 4 boules before it was beaten, we went on to win our first game 8-3 a good start.

The next game was Hungary which was a tight game until they took a 4 and there was not enough time left for us to recover, losing 11-4

We left for the hotel disappointed, feeling we should have been 2 games up but a glass of wine and a relaxing swim soon lifted our sprits and we were ready for the game in the morning. We arrived at the stadium in good spirit ready to play New Zealand unfortunately they beat us 11-5 but we felt it was another game we could have and should have won .

The next game really brought us down to earth, Slovakia, it did not seem to matter what we did - things just did not go right and we lost 13 – 5 unfortunately this put us out of the main event and in to the cup. We had and lost our chances against Hungary and New Zealand had we won those games it would of put us in the top 16 and in the main event but we have all been there (if only) at some stage.

So on to the cup which were of a knockout rounds, our next game was against Monaco a tough game but we managed to lift ourselves to win it 9-6

Then it was on to Hungary who had beaten us in an earlier round but who also did not make the main event. This game we really should have won we were leading 12-5 only to see Hungary claw their way back in to the game and take 13-12 . This put us in 26th place overall in the competition, not bad for our first time.

Speak to the 2009 team who have a wealth of information to give, not on how to play, but various other things that would help any future team.

Good luck to the 2011 team, have a great time and there is no reason why Wales cannot make the top 16, we have ladies with the talent to achieve this.

p.s. don’t forget the mozzie spray!!!!!

Barbara Vaughan
Caerleon PC

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The Welsh Ladies Squad successfully competed in their first World Championships held recently in Suphan Buri, Thailand. Tony Smith, National President went as Head of Delegation, assisted by Steve Brace as Coach.

At the welcoming banquet we became the centre of attention as we draped the Welsh Flag over our table which attracted all the cameras due to the red dragon. After the top eight teams from the last World Championships were seeded the remaining teams were invited to go out to the front of the hall and pull their number randomly from the bag, we drew 34.

The draw was favourable for us as we were drawn against the USA in round 1, which was to be played on the Friday night.

The Swiss System was the format of the all the games in the qualifying series, this was a timed game of 1 hour duration, therefore the strings were dead. After the hour if the game was not won, then there were two additional ends, however, if an end had already begun then the two additional ends began after the completion of the current end. As a note an end is started when the jack is picked by by the team who won the previous end.

The whistle blew for the start of the competition, Wales were on the terrain, but only one member of the USA Team was present! So the first words uttered by the Welsh captain in a World Championship competition was UMPIRE!!

Instead of following the rules, the Umpire decided to postpone the start of the game, which finally got underway 20 minutes after the formal start. This caused a problem at the end of round 1 as all the other matches were completed and we were still playing!

Wales at Work.

	Wales and Monaco.
Gill Brace and Gemma Foster talking tactics.		Gemma Foster, Gay Evans, Gill Brace and Barbara Vaughan, the pressure is on!.

After a bit of tactical play at the end, Wales won 8-3, a good win for Wales. The team then met Hungary, a team that Wales could potentially beat. Play went past the stipulated hour and was decided on the last end, which was lost 11-4. The team certainly suffered from the heat and the humidity in this game and really didn't perform to their best.

On Saturday we were pleased to draw New Zealand an old rival in another sport, we felt we could take revenge. Unfortunately, New Zealand started well and got off to a good start, Wales appeared to be out of sorts and were uncomfortable as a team. By the 3rd end New Zealand were 9-0 up, Wales really had to do something serious to pull back. Wales took the next end to get some points on the board, but unfortunately the fight back was too late and almost at the end of the hour New Zealand were 10-3 up. There were 15 seconds left, plenty of time to pick up the jack to get three ends rather than two. Unfortunately the team failed to take this opportunity and ended up with the two additional ends. The final score was 11-5 to New Zealand.

Slovakia were next, possibly due to the mistake in the last game and the team being unsettled, Slovakia took control of the game taking 5 points in the first end, Wales were never likely to pull this game back and Slovakia won 13-5 well within the time limit.

Last draw on the Saturday was against Monaco, another well established side. Tony stated it would be like playing against France, a bit of a white lie but after the last two games the team needed to focus. At first it appeared that the ploy didn't work as Wales were behind 4-0 after the first four ends. The team then snapped out of their dream like state and took the next three end to take the lead 8-4, the clock was ticking.

Monaco took the next end to bring the score line to 8-5 to Wales the horn sounded to mark the end of the hour. Monaco took the next end brining the score to 8-6, final end nip and tuck all the way through but some great pointing from Gill Brace and Monaco's shooter missing a vital shot allowed Wales to take the end and the game winning 9-6.

Winning only two games meant that we qualified for the Nations Cup. This meant if we lost to whoever we drew then the competition was over for Wales. Wales were again drawn against Hungary. Wales really came out focused on winning, they won the first three ends going 4-0 ahead. Hungary then won the next two ends bringing the score to 4-3. The next two ends were taken by Wales taking the score to 8-3, after the 9th end Wales were 12-5 ahead, could the game be won?

The next end was a disaster for Wales, after a good point from Gay Evans, Hungary failed to point closer with their first boule, however, they succeeded with their second. Instead of shooting the boule Wales decided that they could point closer, 5 boule later we hadn't. Thankfully, Hungary failed to shoot a critical boule which would have given them a big score, but pointed their last two boule to take the end bringing the score line to 12-7. Unfortunately for Wales, the pressure of being on 12 for 5 ends and the score line being 12-11 on the 13th and penultimate end took its toll and Hungary finally took the 14th end and the game 13-12, winning a place through to the next round against Japan.

Overall the team can be very proud of their performance, they realised their mistakes and what improvements are needed for the future. As it was their first World Championships it was a great  experience, which will hopefully set us up for the next World Championships in 2 years time in Hanoi.

Results of the Qualifying Rounds

R1	Wales	08 - 03	USA
R2	Wales	04 - 11	Hungary
R3	Wales	05 - 11	New Zealand
R4	Wales	05 - 13	Slovakia
R5	Monaco	06 - 09	Wales

Nations Cup - Knock Out

Hungary

13 - 12

Wales

In the qualifying round of the shooting competition Gill Brace scored a brilliant 11 points, to date the second highest score ever recorded in an International Competition, placing her 25th. This score failed to take Gill into the second round of the event. However, we must congratulate Gill on her endeavours.

Round 1					Round 2					Round 3					Round 4					Round 5					Total
6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	5	11

For the full results, please visit the official web site which can be accessed by following the adjacent link. Follow this link to visit the Petanque Thailand Web site

Tony Smith
National President

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The WPA has today received a formal invitation to send two juniors to the EPA Junior Weekend of Excellence held annually. The event will take place on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November 2008 at the Whittlesey Bowls & Pétanque Complex, 194-198, Station Rd, Whittlesey, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. PE7 2HA.

As in previous years, the weekend is open to juniors who have not attended the event before and will begin at 10:00 on the Saturday and should finish by about 17:30 on the Sunday.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Tony Smith as soon as possible.

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The Welsh Junior Squad successfully competed in their first World Championships held recently in Monastir, Tunisia. The WPA Youth Development Officer Scott Murray went as Head of Delegation, assisted by Alison Gregory and Jean-Yves Robic who were both self-funded.

Scott Murray has initially reported the following; after attending the format meeting where the top 8 teams of the world were all seeded, we were then dealt a tough blow by drawing Spain (3rd in the world) in the first round which was to be played on the Friday night.

Spain won 13-0, we were inconsistent and were punished by a team that have been together for a long time. The team then faced Chinese Taipei, another top team, play went past the stipulated hour and was finally decided on the last end, which was 13-5 to the opposition.

On Saturday we were pleased we drew Libya a new nation to the sport. The team went 8-1 in the lead and then got complacent which allowed Libya back in to the game, they slowly pulled points back, we eventually went on to win 13-10, this was Libya's best result of the tournament.

Austria were next, this was quite an even game with both sides gaining off each others mistakes, we lacked the killer instinct to finish off sides and the consistency of our game was not evident, Austria finally won 13-9

Last draw on the Saturday was against the Czech Republic, another well established side, again lack of consistency and tactics proved our downfall and we lost 13-3.

Winning only one game meant that we qualified for the Nations Cup on the Sunday. This meant if we lost to whoever we drew then the competition was over for Wales. Wales were drawn against Slovenia, this was a close game and we played really well and tactically much better, Slovenia started to pull away but we pulled back to 9-9, again the killer instinct vanished and Slovenia scored 4 in the last end of the match, sending us out.

The team realised their mistakes and what improvements were needed for the future. As it was their first World Championships it was a great learning experience which will hopefully set us up for the next Worlds Championships in 2 years time.

Results of the Qualifying Rounds

R1	Spain	13 - 00	Wales
R2	Chinese Taipei	13 - 05	Wales
R3	Wales	13 - 10	Lybia
R4	Austria	13 - 09	Wales
R5	Wales	03 - 13	Czech Republic

 

Nations Cup - Knock Out

Slovenia

13 - 09

Wales

In the qualifying round of the shooting competition Rhydian Lee scored an excellent 22 points, to date the highest score ever recorded in an International Competition, placing him 13th. This score took him in to the second round of the event. Unfortunately, his second round score of 8 didn't reflect the success of the first round score. However, we must congratulate him on his endeavours.

Round 1					Round 2					Round 3					Round 4					Round 5					Total
6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T	6m	7m	8m	9m	T
0	3	3	0	6	5	0	3	0	8	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5	22
0	0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5	8

For the full results, please visit the official web site which can be accessed by following the adjacent link. Follow this link to visit the Tunisian Petanque Federation Web site

Scott Murray
Youth Development Officer

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One of the above images will be the cover for the next issue of the free magazine which promotes play, sport and physical activity in the Vale of Glamorgan. The Vale of Glamorgan Sports, Arts & Play Development Unit is very active in promoting all types of sport and in conjunction with the Marketing Officer Bob Phillips the above, together with a three page article has been made possible.

To download a copy of the featured article, please follow this link.

Penarth Petanque Club is actively involved with the Vale of Glamorgan District Sports Council, which works very closely with the Vale of Glamorgan Sports, Arts & Play Development Unit.

After his first international competition Jesse Lepitz-Robic found himself being invited on S4C children's program Mosgito. Which was aired on Thursday 8th October. By following the adjacent link to can see the interview, by the way it's in Welsh.

The link expired on 13th November 2009.

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Members of the WPA were again invited to play in the annual Inter-Regional held by the English Petanque Association over the weekend of 19th/20th September at Pontin's Holiday Centre, Brean Sands, Somerset.

In 2008 the WPA won promotion to Division 1, this year the WPA were endeavouring to play to stay in the division for the first time, rather than bouncing between the two divisions, as has been the normal situation.

On Saturday the top eight teams plus the juniors had Kent as the opening round followed by West Midlands, Southern, Northern, East Midlands, Eastern and Chiltern Regions. At the end of the 7 rounds Wales finished on 29 wins, 631 points for, 623 points against, leaving a points difference of plus 8. Wales 2, comprising Derek Jones, Ian Bailey and Peter Westall were the top Welsh team with 6 wins, plus 35. Wales 1 had a disappointing day with only 3 wins, together with a number of other Welsh teams on 2 or 3 wins.

On Sunday the challenge was set, if Wales wanted to stay in Div 1, then they would have to go out, dig deep and win games. The opening round was against Chiltern, followed by Kent, Eastern, Northern and West Midlands. At the end of the last five rounds Wales had only managed to win an additional 15 games, to give a total of 44 games won. This was not enough for Wales to remain in Division 1 and therefore will play in Division 2 in 2010.

In the Challenge Cup Wales faired a little better on Saturday Wales 9 to 12 had The Great Weston Region as the opening round, followed by Thames Valley, East Midlands, Chiltern, Northern, Southern and Anglia Regions. At the end of the first day Wales finished on 14 wins, 270 points for, 268 points against, with a points difference of plus 2. The top Welsh Team was wales 11 with 5 wins.

On Sunday saw Wales first round against the Isle of Wright followed by West Midlands, Sussex, Kent and Eastern Regions. Wales had an excellent first round winning all four games, and then only dropped 5 games out of the remaining 16 games, a very good performance which ultimately gave Wales 3rd place in the Challenge Cup.

Full Welsh results can be downloaded by following this link - Broadband.
Full Welsh results can be downloaded by following this link - Dial Up.

Read the following article about our one and only Neil Dobbins in the current electronic issue of Sporting Wales dated 25th August 2009.

Author - Roger Hughes
Photographs - Steve Pope

Follow this link to view the article on Sporting Wales

The annual Wenvoe Open Doubles took place on Sunday 30th August, although it was damp, 14 teams took part in the annual event. After the preliminary round 12 of the 14 teams were split into three competitions, unfortunately, for two teams it was time to dry their boule and wind their way home.

In the main competition the semi-finals were between:

• Kevin Mildon, Cyril Royer and Neil Dobbins play Jill Brace, Tony Jellings and Steve Brace
• Laurent Mirbelle, Tony Smith and Kevin Hughes play Derek Jones, Ian Bailey and Peter Westall.

After the two semi-finals, the final was between Kevin Mildon, Cyril Royer and Neil Dobbins and Derek Jones, Ian Bailey and Peter Westall. The final started with an onslaught by the team captained by Neil Dobbins who took 5 points in the first end. The score line continued towards 13 but at 12 - 0 the team captained by Peter Westall started a counter attack and slowly cut into the oppositions lead. After 1 hour and 20 minutes Peter Westall's team won 13 - 12.

In the Plate Competition saw the team of Mike Jacques and Jeff Ball beat Julie Bailey, Tansy Mayfield and Christine Hughes 13 - 2.

In the final competition saw the team of Barbara Vaughan, Gemma Foster and Gay Evans beat John Barnes, Roger Griffin and Glyn Attley 13 - 0.

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Each year the top six teams from the Grand Prix Qualifying competition are invited where possible to attend an international event, by following the link below you can read their competition report.

Wales 4 - National de Pétanque de Kerlouan (North Finistère)

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As part of a team drafted in at late notice to the English squad (what Rod Dobbins wryly dubbed England 9 – with apologies to the real England 9 – the successful Junior team), these are some of my thoughts about the Home Nations at Swansea.

The atmosphere, the banter and the camaraderie between and within the squads were superb and the organisation by the WPA was excellent. The programme ran smoothly, the umpiring presence was just right - relaxed but efficient (well done, Derek!) and particular mention should be made of the contributions of Tony Smith, Di Westall and their team who put in an enormous amount of work before and during the weekend.

The only real controversy was about the terrain and I would like to mount not only a spirited defence of it but would actually commend the WPA for presenting us with a challenge which stretched all three squads to the limit in their efforts to tame it.

From comments picked up, the qualifying processes for all three countries were played out on relatively smooth, even surfaces with fine grit coverings, the standard for most clubs in the UK. They may have had slopes and softer or harder bases but none had provided the mix of scalpings and grit which overlaid sometimes absorbent, sometimes downright rock-like, areas which meant that every single track had its own peculiarities and character which had to be learned. To some extent, it was a lottery (I used the term myself on encountering it in practice on Friday evening) but, as the weekend wore on, you saw players and teams adjusting their tactics and techniques to try to achieve more consistent results.

One of the biggest failings amongst the majority of players on our islands is playing from the circle without bothering to go up the piste to examine the run-in for the boule and identifying a precise landing spot which might give them the most effective rebound for the play.

If you didn't do that at Swansea you were always going to get more bad bounces and runs than the average. Even if you did do it, there were still rogue stones, hidden brick ends and the like which scattered boules to all points of the compass, but you did reduce the likelihood.

I think that the terrain was a wake-up call that we need to radically reconsider our current philosophy of bland, benign pitches which serve us so badly when our representative teams arrive for foreign tournaments (further afield than Swansea). We should encourage every club that has the room to have at least one strip of their playing area which is populated by larger stones, either randomly scattered or in dense patches, to compel players to use a variety of techniques of delivery and to develop their boule control.

If the Swansea experience kickstarts a move away from pristine, meticulously raked, pistes towards the philosophy of providing tough challenges which demand that we develop a game which can adapt to any conditions then it will have done a service to us all.

Once again, thank you to the WPA for possibly giving us more than it realised!

Roll on, Inverness – or will we?

Brian Stote EPA
Extract from the Home Nations thread from Talking Boule.

---

Dear Tony

On behalf of my team (Scotland 8) I would thank you and your team for a great weekend in Swansea for the Home Nations.

The venue was excellent, the accommodation and supporting facilities very suitable, and we found the entire set-up was terrific!  Our only problem was learning how to play the piste!!??

Seriously, your team did a GRAND job and I just hope we can match up to it in Inverness next year.  Please congratulate all involved on our behalf.

Gordon Scott.
SPA

---

Thanks Tony,

That goes for all your work preparing and running the event.

Despite the weather you and your very small team did us all proud.

Also well done to you wife for making so much money on the raffle.

Job well done!

Mike Pegg
President English Petanque Association

---

Hi there, I played in the Home Nations a couple of weeks back in Swansea and although the terrains were something of a "challenge" to say the least, I did finally get to grips with them and master them on the Sunday.... just!!

The hospitality over the whole weekend from everyone and the girls supplying the food on a constant basis, which helped a lot.
It was good to have the playing area so close to the hotel, which meant we could roll straight out of bed and on to play....

I played as EPA1 over that weekend and really enjoyed myself.

So I just wanted to thanks you for a brilliant weekend of hosting and organising.

Many thanks again.

Richard King
(The George Inn P.C)

During the weekend of the Home Nations Championship raffle tickets were sold to all those present, many of you put your hands in your pockets to buy tickets. The money raised from the purchase of the raffle tickets would be split between two charities Pedal Power and St John Cymru - Wales, over the weekend members of the three associations raised £144.00 in aid of these causes.

Along side the selling of raffle tickets, ASDA maintained a food outlet supplying breakfasts and lunches to the players and supporters present, we are waiting to hear the final amount raised but we are hopeful it was a significant amount. Again, the money raised through the sale of food and beverages will go to the same charities.

The WPA Executive would like to that everybody who purchased raffle tickets and food and especially Judith Smith who really worked hard to sell tickets to everybody who entered the organisers marquee and a special thanks to the members of ASDA who worked through the weekend to provide us with the food and drink sorely needed.

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As part of our fundraising efforts to help send us to the Ladies World Championships in November, we are organising a doubles competition this Sunday 9th August at Panteg.
 
We aim to start playing by 10am so you need to be there for 9:30am to pick your lucky team number!! We are asking for £5 per player for a whole days play and some of this will be put back in to give prizes for the Main and Plate competitions. If the weather is nice, we might even get the BBQ going at lunch time!!
 
So to sum up - Doubles Competition @ Panteg House, Sunday 9th August, 9:30am registration, £5 per player.
 
If you fancy playing, email me or send a text to 07742263403 and let me know so I can book you in.
 
Thanks
 
Gemma
 
Wheatsheaf Boules Club Secretary

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On Sunday 26th July the annual Wales v The marches took place, this year for the first time it took place at the Swan Inn, Letton the home of the Hereford Open.

The results are as follows:

Men's competition - Wales 20 games: Marches 16
Top Wales Men's team - Jake Caston, Stewart Spencer & Gareth Spencer with 5 wins.
 
Mixed competition - Wales 25 games: Marches 11
Top Wales Mixed team - Linda Hutchinson, Jim Hutchinson and Berengere Demay with 6 wins, but only by out pointing the team of Paul Gregory, Alison Gregory and Richard Harris who also had 6 wins.
 
Jim Page (Brecon RFC PC) said that "this event was now to alternate between Brecon and Hereford, and next years event would be held at Brecon".

Graham Attfield
WPA Secretary

The WPA Executive is happy to confirm the Junior team that has been invited to represent Wales for the first time in the FIPJP Junior World Championships to be held in Monastir, Tunisia in early October, are:

Jesse Lipetz-Robic (Penarth PC)
Sam Lipetz-Robic (Penarth PC)
Rhydian Lee (The Barn PC) and
Katie Gregory (Caerleon PC)

Follow this link to visit the Tunisian Petanque Federation Website

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The Ladies team that will be representing Wales in the FIPJP World Championship in Thailand later this year has been confirmed as:

From the left -
Gemma Foster (Wheatsheaf PC)
Barbara Vaughan (Caerleon RFC PC)
Gay Murphy (Wenvoe PC) and
Gill Brace (Wheatsheaf PC)

Unfortunately, Berengere Demay (Abergavenny PC) who qualified as part of the team is unable to attend.

The Executive Committee would like to congratulate the team and wish them good luck in their endeavours to find sufficient sponsors to aid them on their way to Supanburi, Thailand.

The team members will be hosting a number of events between now and November to raise funds, please support them as much as you can.

Tony Smith
National President

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It was good to see a good Welsh contingent at the recent Hereford Open held at the Swan Inn, Letton. Teams from Abergavenny, Brecon, Caerleon, Penarth, Wheatsheaf and Wenvoe were represented.

Welsh teams were represented in the finals of the main and plate competitions. In the final of the main saw Ian Bailey (Abergavenny PC), Peter Westall and Neil Dobbins (Monkstone PC) play against Jeff Ball, Dave Cannan and Mike Jacques (Wenvoe PC). Ian, Peter & Neil won to take the Hereford Open Title, congratulations to the both teams.

Pictured to the left is the winning team of Ian Bailey, Neil Dobbins and Peter Westall, with the team they beat in the Semi-finals. Pictured right are the runners-up Jeff Ball, Di Cannan and Mike Jacques receiving their trophy from one of the organisers of the Hereford Open.

In the Plate competition saw the Team of Jake Caston (Wheatsheaf PC) and Stewart and Gareth Spencer (Abergavenny PC) win the Plate Competition, pictured left.

It was also the first outing of the Junior team in a competitive arena, Katy Gregory (Caerleon PC), Jesse and Sam Lepitz-Robic (Penarth PC) found out what it was like to play all day against adult teams.  They performed well under the extremely hot conditions and ended up winning a medal for their efforts.

On Saturday 11th July from 5pm onwards at the Wheatsheaf Inn, the Wheatsheaf Petanque Club is hosting their annual Summer BBQ Fundraiser.

The aim is to make as much money as possible, whilst having some fun, and we usually split the total between two local charities. This year, the money raised will be split between one charity and the WPA Ladies Grand Prix Winners to support them in their trip to Thailand to represent Wales in the World Championships.

The qualifying team to represent Wales are Gemma Foster (Wheatsheaf PC), Jill Brace (Wheatsheaf PC) and Berengere Demay (Abergavenny PC).

During the day, there will be a few games - bingo, carreau for a tenner - a raffle, a bottle prize stall, a cake stall, not to mention some live music from Luke and his partner Rhiannon (The Barn PC) to entertain you all. Don't forget there will be the BBQ to keep you fed!

Please support this event in aid of the local charity and the girls!!

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On the weekend of 24th to 26th July, Wales 1, comprising Matthew Franks, Phil Bradshaw, Neil Dobbins and Cyril Royer, all members of the Monkstone Petanque Club will be representing Wales in Nice to qualify Wales for the 2010 World Championships.

This is the first time that the European Championships have been used as a qualifying event to the World Championships and has overnight become a very important competition.

Neil Dobbins will have an extra duty during the competition as he will also represent Wales in the qualifying rounds of the Shooting Competition, which will be held prior to the main triples competition on the Friday morning, the finals will be held on the Sunday.

During the competition the CEP Congress is also held and Tony Smith will be attending the Congress to involve Wales in the decision making process and continue to create links with other Federations.

We wish them every success in the European Championships.

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29 wins - 28 wins - 27 wins

For the third successive year Wales has won the Celtic Challenge Trophy, this year the competition was extremely close, as any one of the three countries could of won.

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The WPA has formally received an invitation from the President of the EPA, Mike Pegg to play in the Inter-Regional Championship and Challenge Tournament on the weekend of 19th and 20th September 2009.

As with previous years their tournament is being held at Pontins Holiday Centre, Brean Sands, Burnham on Sea, Somerset. Accommodation is available from Friday the 18th to Monday the 21st as required.

Please be aware that year all participants must be registered with Pontins and resident on the site.

The Teams that will be representing Wales in the Challenge Tournament have been decided after the round 4 of the 2009 Grand Prix Series. The Teams that have qualified to play in the Championship have also been identified, but their final positions will be decided after the Top 8 play off's, which are to be held on 10th May.

To download a copy of the poster, either double left click on the image to the left or follow this link.

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The 9th Home Nations is being hosted by the WPA, initially, the competition was set for the weekend of the 8th/9th August, however, due to the clash with the first leg of the European Cup for Clubs and at the request of both the SPA and EPA, we have had to move the competition to the following weekend of 15th/16th August.

The Executive have reviewed three potential venues, Tredegar House, Newport, Caerleon University Campus and The Premier Inn, Swansea.

After careful consideration of the cost and the facilities on offer, the Executive have decided upon Swansea as this years venue.

More details about the competition and venue can be found on the WPA Competition Page of this website, which can be accessed by following this link.

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Just to let members know that if you are in the hunt for white trousers, Marks & Spencer's are currently selling them at £25.00, together with three quarter length shorts at £18.00.

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Information from the recent FIPJP meeting has been passed on to the WPA by Mike Pegg, the following information concerning the this years programmed World Championships and future events are as follows:

• The 2009 Women's World Championship will now be held in Supanburi, Thailand from the 13th to the 15th November 2009.
• The Open World Championship, this will now be called the 'World Triples Championship', dropping the term Open.
• We have been informed that from 2010 nations will need to qualify through the continents for the World Triples Championship, in our case this is through the CEP European Championship.
• The list of qualified nations is to be with the FIPJP in March 2010 for the World Triples Championship later that year.
• There will not be any need for qualification for the Women or Junior World Championships because of the current number of nations competing.
• The allocation of 48 qualifying nations for the World Triples Championship are:
  • Europe - 24 nations
  • Africa - 10 nations
  • Americas - 2 nations (Canada/USA)
  • Asia - 7 nations
  • Oceanic - 3 nations
• The Men's European Championship is to be used to decide the top 24 European Nations, which will include Israel. How the top 24 European Teams is to be decided, is by taking the ranking order after the qualifying rounds, that is before the nations are split into the Nations Cup and Championship.
  
• As it is the Nation that qualifies for the World Triples Championship, it will be up to each CEP Nation to decide how they select or qualify their teams.
  
• The FIPJP are making plans to introduce an Espoirs World Championship - this is why the CEP is making it an "every other" year European Championship.

Future FIPJP Dates:

2009 - Women: Thailand
2009 - Juniors: Tunisia
2010 - Triples: Taipei

Tony Smith
National President

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Information regarding the European Championships to be held later this year are beginning to emerge after the recent meeting of the CEP Executive. Mike Pegg our CEP Representative has forwarded the following information.

Regarding accommodation, the cost of rooms will be between 70 - 90 Euros per day, the WPA are waiting for more information, but at this moment in time it is believed that each room will accommodate 2 people.

Currently, there is no information available concerning the costs of meals, however, the congress will be on Thursday 23rd July with the competition starting on Friday 24th July - again this is subject to final confirmation from the CEP Executive.

The following dates and venues have been set for the European Championships:

2010
Juniors:    France
Women's: Slovenia
2011
Men's:      Sweden
Espoirs:  Denmark
2012
Juniors:   Belgium
Women:   Belgium

We have been informed that England is penciled in as a possible host for Juniors/Women's European Championships in 2014.

Tony Smith
National President

The WPA Executive contacted the EPA Management Committee via Mike Pegg to ask if our Juniors could take part in their Junior qualifiers, I am pleased to say that we were informed on 10th March that our juniors could take part in the three qualifiers which are due to take place in April, June and July.

The three qualifiers are going to be held at the following venues:

Adur PC, West Sussex on Sunday 19th April.
Lordswood PC, Chatham, Medway on Sunday 14th June and
British Sugar PC, Bury St Edmunds on Sunday 12th July

The following format will used for a team of 4 players:.

The main format is a triple (3 players) will play the first round and at the same time the 4th player will play a singles game. The second round will be 2 doubles games.

It is understood that each team should have six matches to play during the day each comprising triples/singles and doubles. This will result in a very busy day of petanque but the EPA are keen to adopt this format to encourage the team (4 players) to work and support each other.

The parents/guardians of all our Juniors have already been informed of the generous invitation from the EPA.

I am sure that many of the adults who play regularly would find this a challenge!

Follow this link to download the entry form for the 1st Junior Qualifier.

Tony Smith
National President

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A one day web design course will be held on Monday 30th March, there are three places remaining. If any WPA member is interested in attending to learn the basics of web page design/maintenance then please contact me before Friday 27th March. The course will start at 10:00 and finish around 15:00, other details will be given upon registration.

Tony Smith
National President

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A potential venue for the 2009 Home Nations has been identified adjacent to the Premier Inn, Upper Forest Way, Morriston, Swansea, SA6 8WB, members of the executive will be visiting the potential venue on Sunday 15th at 10:00, any member wishing to look at the venue and offer their views are also welcome to attend.

The executive are considering venues outside the normal venue area to endeavour to expand the sport to other areas.

Tony Smith
National President

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On Monday Graham Attfield was interviewed by Darren Devine a reporter for the Western Mail, the title above says it all. The article was published in The Western Mail on Tuesday 7th March, page 14. If you have a copy have a read, if not follow the link below.

The full article published by the Western Mail can be read by following this link.

Thank you the Welsh Football Team.

Tony Smith
National President

Hi all

We will be commencing the weekly Monkstone melee evening from Thursday 12th March from 7pm. I think it's a great way to see the players you are striving to beat this coming season ( I will be there...), and hopefully the juniors can turn out for some valuable game time.

Regards

Matt Franks
Club Secretary

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Couple of items reported as lost and found:

Gay Evans reported her blue tape had gone 'walk about' any one who picked it up accidentally or found it orphaned and is waiting to reunite it with it's owner, please let Gay know.

I also have a cardigan in my procession, again anybody missing one, please let me know.

Tony Smith
National President

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The WPA has received information from Flemming Jensin the President of the CEP concerning the European and World Championships from 2009.

World Championships:

• Senior World Championship, the next competition will be in 2010, 2012, 2014 etc.
• Senior Female World Championship, the next competition will be in 2009, 2011, 2013 etc.
• Junior World Championship. the next competition will be in 2009, 2011, 2013 etc.

European Championships:

• Male European Championship, next competition will be in 2009, 2011, 2013 etc.
• Espoirs Championship, next competition is due to be held in 2009, thereafter upon clarification from the CEP. This competition is divided in to two categories Male/Female.
• Senior Female European Championship, next competition will be in 2010, 2012, 2014 etc.
• Junior European Championship, next competition will be in 2010, 2012, 2014 etc.

Members between the age of 18 to 22 years (under 23 years of age) qualify as Espoirs, anybody wishing to create espoirs teams please contact myself or John Legge as soon as possible to clarify if you are eligible.

Tony Smith
National President

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In readiness for the 2008 Presentation Evening the Executive would like to receive nominations for the Senior Player of the Year and Most Improved Player of the Year. This process worked very well year so we have decided to repeat the same format, therefore all you have to do is down load the appropriate forms and send them back to Graham Attfield as soon as possible.

The Executive will review the nominations and add their votes to obtain an overall winner.

Follow this link to down load the Senior Player of the Year form.

Follow this link to down load the Most Improved Player of the Year form.

We look forward in reading your nominations.

The 2008 Presentation Evening will be held at the Monkstone Inn on Saturday 24th January starting at 07:30 pm. The cost per ticket is £6.50 which will include a "Curry Supper", this will be two types of curry (meat and vegetable) and a chille.

The venue will hold 70 people, so get your tickets quickly.

Any club wish to donate a raffle prize, please contact me.

Tony Smith

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2009 membership renewal forms have now been produced and will be sent out by Graham Attfield to each Club Secretary for dispersal to their members.

Please could all members check the details printed on the membership forms, especially the email address and contact telephone numbers. If we have the correct information then when can ensure that you receive the circulated information.

Don't forget that your membership renewal date is 1st March 2009.

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During the EPA Inter-Regional and the recent World Championships I undertook an analysis of play on all the matches that took place during each event. I have analysed the results and produced two reports which are available for downloading in pdf format.

Anybody wishing details on how these reports were derived, then please contact me for further information.

Analysis Report - Junior Play, EPA Inter-Regional Competition.
Analysis Report - Senior Play, World Championship, Dakar, Senegal.

Tony Smith
National President

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