Welsh Petanque Association

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The following information has been posted on the EPA web site regarding the 1st round draw of the Inter-Regional Championship. As you can see our first round is against the Great Western Region.

Division One

Chiltern	v	East Midlands
Kent	v	West Midlands
Thames Valley	v	Isle of Wight
Southern	v	Eastern

Division Two

bye	v	Sussex
Great Western	v	Wales
Devon/Kernow	v	Anglia
Northern	v	Combined

In this months magazine the WPA has a two page article based upon the Celtic Challenge and its history. it is very encouraging that a French magazine produced entirely for our fellow boule players in mainland Europe took the time to find out something about us here in Wales.

The article is in French, so those of you who are fluent in French can access the article by clicking on the image of the magazine cover immediately to the left.

A translation will appear shortly.

The first weekend of May saw the return of the Celtic Challenge to Wales the last time it the competition was held in Wales in 2007, it was hosted by Abergavenny Petanque Club one of the newest clubs. This year the Celtic Challenge was hosted by one of the oldest petanque clubs, Wenvoe Petanque Club, located at the Wenvoe Arms.

The 2010 Celtic Challenge competition was formally opened by Cllr. Ira Jones who gave a brief word of welcome to all the teams, then together with the three Presidents of the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Associations threw the first boule.

After the first three rounds Wales A had 9 wins against Ireland and Scotland 6 wins each and Wales B trailing with just 3 wins. The first 'fanny' of the competition was achieved by Scotland 3, kindly given by Ireland 3, it was not to be the last. The afternoon session saw Wales A gain another 8 wins giving them a total of 17 wins for the first day. Irelands tally for the day went to 13 wins, Scotland ended with 10 wins and Wales B finished with 8 wins.

Wales B3 achieved the second fanny of the day against Wales A2.

Sunday saw a change in the weather conditions, no rain but it was much colder and a strong wind was blowing, making it more like playing in February or March but not May.

The morning session saw Wales A take another 8 wins, Wales B 5 wins, Scotland 4 wins and Ireland another 7 wins. Wales A (25 wins) maintained their small but healthy lead over Ireland (20 wins). Wales B wins went to 13 wins and Scotland increased their wins to 14.

As with previous years, going into the afternoon session Ireland could have overtaken Wales A and taken the championship if Wales A lost too many games to Ireland, so there was a little tension as the final session started. Wales A managed a draw against Ireland in the final session to maintain its advantage of 5 win and take the championship for the 4th consecutive year. Wales B took another 8 wins off a flagging Scotland who only managed to win another 4 games. The final scores are tabulated below.

Fannies were also recorded by Wales B4, Scotland 4, Wales A3 and Scotland 2.

The tabulated results for the 2010 Celtic Challenge can be downloaded as a pdf file by following this link.

The following teams represented Wales for this years competition and retained the Celtic Challenge trophy for the 4th consecutive year, which has never been achieved before in the history of the competition. The Executive and the membership of the WPA congratulate both teams on their success in this years competition.

 

The Welsh Celtic Challenge Squad

WALES A	Dischromatics - Abergavenny - Gareth Spencer, Berengere Demay and Stewart Spencer. All from Abergavenny PC. Wins + - Diff 7 125 114 11
Wales 1
Wales 2	Monkstone - Cardiff - Neil Dobbins, Phil Bradshaw & Matthew Franks. All from Monkstone PC. Wins + - Diff 11 153 68 85 Best Wales A Team and Best Celtic Challenge Team.
Wales 3	Penarth - Jean-Yves Robic, Tony Smith and Derek Jones. All from Penarth PC. Wins + - Diff 5 125 122 3
Wales 4	Wenvoe Raiders - Wenvoe - Mike Jacques, Dave Cannan & Jeff Ball. All from Wenvoe PC. Wins + - Diff 8 136 110 26
WALES B	The Piste Artists - Combined team from - Cyril Royer (Monkstone PC), Rod Dobbins (Wenvoe PC) & Glyn Attley (Wenvoe PC). Wins + - Diff 5 127 124 3
Wales 5
Wales 6	Two Lefts Don't Make a Right - Combined team from South East Wales - Scott Murray (Penarth PC), Jake Caston (Wheatsheaf PC) &Paul Mayfield (Caerleon RFC PC). Wins + - Diff 5 107 133 -26
Wales 7	Toppers - Panteg - John Legge, Chris Brown & Kevin Hughes. All from Panteg Phoenix PC. Wins + - Diff 6 114 110 4 Substitutes: Peter Westall and Ian Bailey. Best Wales B Team
Wales 8	Gwenfo - Wenvoe - Tony Jellings, Gloria Davies & Mike Coleman. All from Wenvoe PC. Wins + - Diff 5 99 137 -38
	Team Manager: Laurent Mirbelle
	Assistant Team Manager: Tansy Mayfield

 

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Last month a few Pétanque (Boules) players, who currently play in Ross, set up Monmouth Pétanque Club. The Chippenham Fields Sports Association and Monmouthshire County Council have agreed that the Club can be allocated an area at the rear of the Bowling/Tennis Courts.
Pétanque (or Boules) is a well known and popular sport played in France. The designated areas are called terrains which include the playing areas called pistes.

Pétanque is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.  The Welsh Pétanque Association already has 13 registered Clubs mainly in South East Wales. There are clubs in Pontypool, Brecon and Abergavenny, all with growing memberships. Monmouth Pétanque Club aims to provide 8 playing areas (pistes as they are called in the game) built to International standards. The Club will operate 52 weeks a year and will be open to beginners and experienced players of all ages and including people with disabilities. Members will be able to use the Athletic Club facilities in the Pavilion.

However, before the Club can start properly they need to raise the funding for the construction of the playing area. To meet the project costs the small Committee is in the process of making applications for grant aid to a number of bodies such as the Sports Council for Wales.

This is an exciting new sporting facility for the benefit for the town. If you would like to be part of this new development then why not come along to the Bridges Community Centre on Wednesday 17th March at 7.30pm to find out more about Pétanque and the plans of Monmouth Pétanque Club. You can also contact Graham Pritchard, Club Chairman on 01600 713766 for further information.

As part of our fundraising efforts, we are holding a QUIZ NIGHT to which you are cordially invited.

The Quiz will take place on Friday 29th January 2010, starting PROMPTLY at 8.00pm.

Teams of 6 MAXIMUM can enter at a cost of £2.00 per person.

There will a CASH FIRST PRIZE! Also, a Raffle with some excellent prizes!

The venue will be the CARDIFF WEST END SOCIAL CLUB, who have kindly offered us use of their excellent Concert Hall for the evening.

C.W.E.S.C. can be found at 348 Cowbridge Road West, Cardiff CF5 5BY, and has a car park at the rear.

Directions:
From Culverhouse Cross roundabout head east towards Cardiff City Centre for approx 1 mile, keep an eye open for Blockbuster Video Store on the left and C.W.E.S.C is approx 200 yards after it on the same side of the road - directly opposite the new Tesco Metro store.
From Western Avenue (Ely Bridge) follow Cowbridge Road West towards Culverhouse Cross for approx 1 mile. After passing through the traffic lights outside Ely Police Station on your left, the C.W.E.S.C. is approx 100 yards past the lights on the right - directly opposite the new Tesco Metro store.

If you would like to enter, we would be delighted to see you on the night, but it would make life easier if you could let me know if you are coming and give us some idea of numbers.

Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone if you would like any further information, but hopefully the attached flyer contains all the relevant information.

So, come on down, and bring your friends!!!!

Thanks in advance for your support..

Bob

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