Welsh Petanque Association

 

Throughout the the beginning of the season, a series of Grand Prix events are held to establish the teams for the major competitions on the playing calendar, such as the Home Nations and the EPA Inter-Regional Event at Brean Sands. However, from 2008 onwards the Grand Prix Series will also have a further very important function, that is to establish those teams who will represent Wales in the World, European Championships and other competitions that Wales are invited to compete in.

The 2010 four Grand Prix events took place at the following Clubs:

Grand Prix 1 - 7th March at Panteg Phoenix PC, Organiser: John Legge, Umpire: Derek Jones
Grand Prix 2 - 28th March at Abergavenny PC, Organiser: John Legge, Umpires: Derek Jones & Tony Smith
Grand Prix 3 - 12th April at Wenvoe PC, Organiser: John Legge, Umpires: Derek Jones & Tony Smith
Grand Prix 4 - 25th April at Brecon RFC PC, Organiser: John Legge, Umpire: Derek Jones

The overall winners of the Grand Prix Series will be eligible to represent Wales in the World Championships to be held in Taiwan - Chinese Taipei between 9th and 12th September 2010. Also the top six qualifying team will be invited by the WPA to represent Wales in invitation competitions in main land Europe.

The Ladies Qualifying event this year will be held at Brecon RFC PC on Sunday 23rd May, the winners will be eligible to represent Wales at the Ladies European Championship to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia between 19th and 22nd August.

The above events are Pre-Entry only and therefore it is recommended that you complete the pre-entry form as soon as possible.
THIS FORM MUST BE USED TO ENTER.
The pre-entry form can be downloaded by following this link.

 

The results of the 2010 Grand Prix Series can be reviewed by following this link.
The results of the 2009 Grand Prix Series can be reviewed by following this link.
The results of the 2008 Grand Prix Series can be reviewed by following this link.
The results of the 2008 Ladies Qualifier can be reviewed by following this link.
The results of the 2007 Grand Prix Series can be reviewed by following this link.

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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.

Total Wins by Country

1st

31 wins

2nd

26 Wins

3rd

21 wins

4th

18 wins

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

Follow this link to view the 2010 Celtic Challenge Scottish Squad. |
Follow this link to view the 2010 Celtic Challenge Irish Squad.

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This year the Home Nations Championship is to be hosted by the SPA on the weekend of 7th and 8th August 2010, the venue was the Inverness Petanque Club.

For the 11th consecutive year England won the trophy which this year was received by Adrian Thomas, the EPA National Treasurer who threw down the challenge to both Scotland and Wales by stating that "...he would be the only Celt who would ever hold the Home Nations Trophy."

The onus is now upon the players in Wales to prove him wrong.

Follow this link to visit the SPA's website with all the current information.

Final Results of the Senior 2010 Home Nations Championship.

1st	2nd	3rd
Wins For Ag'st Diff ENG1 7 136 95 41 ENG2 10 146 95 51 ENG3 8 140 82 58 ENG4 11 151 72 79 ENG5 8 127 89 38 ENG6 5 112 115 -3 ENG7 8 144 121 23 ENG8 9 134 92 42 Total 66 1090 761 329	Wins For Ag'st Diff SCO1 4 126 126 0 SCO2 6 106 112 -6 SCO3 9 137 92 45 SCO4 5 107 123 -16 SCO5 3 116 139 -23 SCO6 8 123 118 5 SCO7 5 106 121 -15 SCO8 4 96 118 -22 Total 44 917 949 -32	Wins For Ag'st Diff WAL1 6 111 135 -24 WAL2 2 76 145 -69 WAL3 3 100 137 -37 WAL4 4 101 127 -26 WAL5 7 114 117 -3 WAL6 4 100 130 -30 WAL7 4 79 142 -63 WAL8 4 91 136 -45 Total 34 772 1069 -297

Wales 1 - Derek Jones (Penarth), Ian Bailey (Abergavenny) & Peter Westall (Monkstone)
Wales 2 - Jeff Ball, Dai Cannan & Mike Jacques (Wenvoe).
Wales 3 - Bob Pugh (Wenvoe), Jake Caston & Steve Brace (Wheatsheaf).
Wales 4 - Alison Gregory, Richard Harris, Paul Gregory & Kirstie Gregory (Caerleon).
Wales 5 - Julie Bailey (Abergavenny), Tansy Mayfield, Paul Mayfield (Caerleon) & Diane Westall (Monkstone).
Wales 6 - Keith Nott, John Barnes, Roger Griffin & William McCarthy (Monkstone).
Wales 7- Marie Attfield, Graham Attfield & Lyn Babbage (The Barn).
Wales 8 - Andrew Jones, Aart Van Bemel & Jim Page (Brecon RFC).

Team Manager: Tony Smith

 

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The annual League Competition is very popular amongst the clubs in South Wales, each year the competition is fierce to win the respective league and where possible gain promotion to the next division. Even though there is a competitive element to these games the atmosphere is friendly and enjoyable, weather permitting.

This league is currently the only one affiliated to the WPA, however, there is the BIG (Boules in Gwent) League which is run by a small dedicated committee, should you require further information on the BIG League, please contact us and we can put you in touch with the organisers.

2010 Division One Fixtures & Results

2010 Division Two Fixtures & Results

2010 Division Three Fixtures & Results - No Division 3 in 2010 Season

Follow this link to read the rules for the WPA League Competition.

Results of League, League Cup and League Plate can be sent directly to the Vice President Playing by following this link.

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The League cup Competition runs parallel to the League competition and adds another dimension to the playing season. Teams playing in the League do not have to play in the League Cup, but it's well worth it. It's our equivalent to the FA Cup!

League Cup

League Plate

Follow this link to read the rules for the WPA League Cup/Plate Competition.

Results of League, League Cup and League Plate can be sent directly to the Vice President Playing by following this link.

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