2nd Open Triplet Tournament, Kaunas, Lithuania.

New Welsh Shirt.

The first batch of Welsh shirts has been produced for Wales 5 for their trip to Lithuania departing on 31st July. The shirt will be ready for the Home Nations on 16th and 17th August and EPA Inter-Regional Competition early in September. Those members who are playing in the EPA Inter-Regional in September and have not informed Bob Pugh of their shirt size can they please do so as soon as possible.

This shirt will replace the existing Crymu/Wales Petanque shirt (easily recognised by the green dragon) for all International competitions e.g. Celtic Challenge, Home Nations, Welsh Team Invitations , World Championships and the EPA Inter-Regional Invitation or where when requested, permission is given by the WPA Executive. This shirt shall not be worn for any other competition e.g. WPA qualifying or National events.

Those members qualifying to play for Wales this year will be eligible for one free replacement shirt, additional shirts can be purchased at a cost of £19.90. If a second shirt is required please inform Bob Pugh when ordering your first shirt.

The existing jumpers, fleeces, water-proof tops etc that have been purchased by some members will still be allowed to be worn until further notice. The Executive are looking into providing alternatives to these garments.

Return to the top of the page

2009 Celtic Challenge Qualifier

On what must easily of been the hottest day of the playing calendar this year, thirteen teams battled it out for the four places to represent Wales in the 2009 Celtic Challenge which is to be hosted by Ireland.

It was going to be a tough challenge for any team to qualify in the top 4 places, as Wales 1, 2 and 3 were represented together with a host of very competent teams. Round 1 saw Glyn Attley's team (Piste Artistes) loose to Penarth who came from behind to win 13/12 and YSL loose to Fatty Returns 13/0, seeing Paul Bond teaming up with Neil Dobbins and Matthew Franks after some time away from the sport. The first round also saw the Dubliners, who have qualified for the last 4 years loose.

Round 2 saw some surprise results, Fatty Returns dropped a game to the DJ's 13/11, together with ABC (Wales 3) loosing to Penarth 13/0. Rounds 3 and 4 saw the top teams win their matches, however a surprise team winning all their games to this point was Penarth, could they maintain their composure?

Round 5 again saw the top team win their games together with a few surprise wins that took valuable games away from some of the contenders. Round 6 became critical as two teams were on 5 wins each (DIP1 and Penarth), two teams with 4 wins and 3 wins, any surprise losses would result in missing the top 4 places.

Round 6 saw DIP1 drop a game to the Piste Artistes 13/1. Fatty Returns needed to win their final game against ABC, they were well in front when ABC began to fight back and put them under pressure and shots began to go wrong, however, they dug deep to win 13/8. The Dj's won their match 13/9 against the Bouligans and Penarth won their final match against the Monkey Business 13/2, who were then the only team not to have dropped a game throughout the entire day.

The WPA would like to thanks the members of the Brecon RFC Petanque Club for their hospitality throughout the day and also to the top four teams.

Organiser: Tony Smith
Umpire: Derek Jones

Return to the top of the page

2008 World Championships

For the first time in the history of Welsh petanque we are able to send a team to the 44th World Championships. This year the Senior World Championship is to be held in Dakar, Senegal (12th to 16th November 2008) and the team representing Wales are Ian Bailey (Abergavenny PC), Peter Westall (Monkstone PC), Julie Bailey (Abergavenny PC) and Mike Jacques (Wenvoe PC) - the Team Manager will be Diane Westall.

The team, especially Diane has worked extremely hard to obtain sponsorship from various companies and organisations to fund their trip to the world championships in November. The Executive is therefore encouraging members to support the various events Diane has organised to raise the outstanding funds for the team.

The first fund raiser is set for 1st August at Branwen Rugby Club, please follow this link to download the flyer.

Not to be out-done the the Woman's World Championships are to be held in Samsun, Turkey between 10th to 12th October 2008, again this will be a first for Wales and we are extremely pleased that the following have qualified to represent Wales for the first time, Linda Hutchinson (The Wheatsheaf PC), Jill Brace (The Wheatsheaf PC), Julie Bailey (Abergavenny PC) and Diane Westall (Monkstone PC).

Return to the top of the page

2008 National Doubles

The 2008 National Doubles took place at Wenvoe Petanque Club on Sunday 6th July. 16 teams took part to endeavour to win the 2008 title, which saw the 16 teams play three games in the morning, the top eight teams then went through to the main competition and the bottom eight playing in a plate competition in the afternoon.

The top eight teams to qualify were:

Pool A:
Monkey Business (Roger Griffin & John Barnes), Penarth Double (Jean-Yves Robic & Scott Murray), Jokers (Ian Bailey & Peter Westall) and It's Luke and Hazard (Luke Ross & jake Caston).

Pool B:
Hopeful (Gay Evans & Dan Murphy), Tin Snails ( Tansy & Paul Mayfield), Monkstone (Neil Dobbins & Phil Bradshaw) and Tortola (Linda & Jim Hutchinson).

This initial stage of the afternoon play was extremely tight especially in Pool A, as the favourites Jokers, dropped a game and this left the place in the final up for grabs, as many of the teams were on equal wins and in the end it came down to points difference to get through to the finals. Pool B was more straight forward as the Monkstone went through to the final without dropping a game.

The final not only saw last year’s winners Neil Dobbins and Phil Bradshaw (Monkstone PC) playing against Peter Westall and Ian Bailey (Monkstone PC and Abergavenny PC) but the skies opened and the rain fell causing the spectators to dash for cover leaving the finalists and the umpire to get a little damp.

Phil and Neil stormed into a 10-0 lead, but excellent play from Ian and Peter saw them come back to within two points.  A brilliant tactical shot from Neil saw the pair take the match and the title as National Champions 13-9.

The plate competition saw Barbara Vaughan and Kon Tomczyk from Caerleon RFC and Peter Clarke and David Mason from Abergavenny play in the final, Barbara and Kon took the game and the prize. Congratulations to the Winners of both competitions and a thank you to all the teams that took part in the National Doubles and made it a very enjoyable day.

Thanks also the the staff of the Wenvoe Arms for their hospitality and excellent lunch-time menu.

Competition Organiser: Bob Pugh
Umpire: Tony Smith

Return to the top of the page

2008 National Singles & Shooting Competitions

The National Singles and Shooting competition was formally opened by the Mayor of Penarth, Mrs Maureen Kelly Owen on Sunday 16th June.

The morning took a snake format, with the top 4 players going through to the Main knockout competition. Paul Mayfield (who took the Welsh title in 2006) had the best morning – winning all 4 of his first round matches comfortably and taking the 1st seed spot in the afternoon. This set him up for a semi-final against the 4th seed - an all too familiar opponent - his wife, Tansy. In the other semi-final, Derek Jones played Jean-Yves Robic, both from Penarth Pétanque Club.

The lunch break had seen a torrential downpour and the pistes were very muddy and churned up for the afternoon session, so it was the players that made the quickest adjustment that had the upper hand.  Jean-Yves Robic and Tansy Mayfield won through to the Final, whilst Paul Mayfield went on to win the 3rd/4th place play-offs.

In the final Tansy stormed into the lead with 9-1, with good shooting keeping her ahead. Over the next couple of ends Jean-Yves hit form, and pulled back to 11-7. Tansy was gifted a chance to close the game on the next end, but a timid 3rd boule meant that she only took one point. Jean-Yves looked as if he had done enough to save the game on the next end, placing his last boule an inch in front of the jack but Tansy shot his boule neatly to win the match and the Welsh Singles title.

The Shooting Championship followed straight after the conclusion of the Singles. It followed the World Championship format - a very exacting series of challenges with 20 boules being thrown over 4 different distances, at 5 different set ups (e.g. hit the middle boule out of 3, hit out the jack). With only one boule at each distance, it gives no time to find the range and it was a humbling reminder of just how far off the pace most shooting in Wales is. Only five of the players took the challenge, which was a good test of holding your nerve in the face of such a cruel format! The final outcome was quite tight, with the top three players within 4 points of one another.  It was reverse of the Singles competition, with Tansy Mayfield as runner-up, losing out by one point to Jean-Yves Robic, who became the first Welsh National Shooting Champion.

Competition Organiser: Bob Pugh
Umpire: Tony Smith

Return to the top of the page

National Mixed Doubles Competition.

After the postponement due to inclement weather at the end of May, the competition was rescheduled for 22nd June at the Pentwyn Leisure Centre, a less played and hidden terrain, with interesting twists and turns that provides any player with a challenge.

Eight teams challenged each other to endeavour to win the National Title, slightly disappointing that very few clubs were reprented. However, Abergavenny Petanque Club, Caerleon RFC Petanque Club, Penarth Petanque Club and The Wheatsheaf Petanque Club were represented.

In the morning teams played a series of matches to split the group in to 2 pools, the Main competition who would play for the National Title and the Plate competition, the split between the two competitions came down to points difference in many instances.

After two semi-finals the plate competition final was between Tortola and Nevers C'est Dai's. The final was won by the mixed pair of Yvonne and Stewart Spencer from Abergavenny Petanque Club.

Plate Semi-Final 1 - Nevers C'est Dai's beat Red & Blue 13/ 9
Plate Semi-Final 2 - Tortola beat Penarth Mixed 13/3

Plate Final - Nevers C'est Dai's beat Tortola 13/ 3

The main Competitions semi-finals were between:

Main Semi-Final 1 - Barbie & Kon beat Rough Diamond & A Gem 13/ 9
Main Semi-Final 2 - Benin Boulers beat Jill & I 13/11

The Main final was between Gareth Spencer and Bérengère Demay and Barbara Vaughan and Kon Tomczyk. Some tough ends were played throughout the final, with some being played at unusual distances - including one at 12 metres. The Benin Boulers played some great boules and ultimately taking the game and the title over Barbie & Kon 13/8.

The WPA would like to congratulate both Gareth Spencer and Bérengère Demay from Abergavenny Petanque Club on being the first National Mixed Doubles Champions. Also to Barbara Vaughan and Kon Tomczyk from Caerleon RFC Petanque Club as Runners-up and to all the other entrants who made this a very enjoyable competition.

Organiser: Bob Pugh
Umpire: Lynda Williams

Return to the top of the page

Qualifying Grand Prix Teams for Invitation Events in mainland Europe.

Teams attending the above invitations will be asked to submit a report for all the membership to read.

Return to the top of the page

WPA Pin - Update

The WPA pins have now been received from the manufacturers and are being distributed to club officials, so each paid up member of the WPA should receive one very soon. Please wear them, I have mine on my jacket and wear it to work, already a number of people have commented favourably about the pin.

Additional pins can be purchased at a cost of £1.25 (WPA Members) and £2.50 (Non-members).

Return to the top of the page

Home Nations 2008      

The WPA squad for the2008 Home Nations Championship is as follows:

Wales 1 - Peter Westall, Ian Bailey & Derek Jones
Wales 2 - Tansy Mayfield, Paul Mayfield & Gay Evans
Wales 3 - Chris Brown, John Legge, Jake Caston
Wales 4 - Laurent Mirbelle, Jean-Yves Robic, Lynda Williams
Wales 5 - Stewart Spencer, Gareth Spencer, Bérengère Demay & David Mason
Wales 6 - Mike Charles, Jim Page & Bill Davies
Wales 7 - Linda Hutchinson, Jill Brace & Julie Bailey
Wales 8 - Steve Brace, Jim Hutchinson & Gemma Foster

The WPA is endeavouring to send one Junior team to the event, England have kindly offered to "lend" Wales a junior team if we cannot send two.

Return to the top of the page

EPA Inter-Regional Championships 2008

The WPA squad for the EPA Inter-Regional Championship is as follows:

Wales 1 - Phil Bradshaw, Neil Dobbins & Matthew Franks
Wales 2 - Don Jenkins, Peter Westall & Ian Bailey
Wales 3 - Coral Jenkins, Julie Bailey, Glyn Attley & Christine Hughes
Wales 4 - Kevin Hughes, David Elston, Derek Jones & Scott Murray
Wales 5 - Tansy Mayfield, Paul Mayfield, Roger Griffin & John Barnes
Wales 6 - Chris Brown, John Legge & Jake Caston   
Wales 7 - Laurent Mirbelle, Jean-Yves Robic, Lynda Williams & Brian Spooner
Wales 8 - Mike Charles, Jim Page & Gemma Foster   
Wales 9 - Gay Evans, Cyril Royer, Rod Dobbins & Christine Hutchinson
Wales 10 - Steve Brace, Jill Brace, Roger Morgan & Peter Hufton
Wales 11 - Jeff Ball, Dave Cannan & Mike Jacques   
Wales 12 - Stewart Spencer, Gareth Spencer, Bérengère Demay & David Mason
Juniors - Sam Lipetz-Robic, Jesse Lipetz Robic, Rhys Lee & Rhydian Lee

European Cup for Clubs

Photographs from this morning:

Monkstone v Le Lèman

The Home Nations and EPA Inter-Regional Competitions.

Home Nations

As you are all aware, the Home Nations is due to be held at the Princes Park Stadium, Gravesend, Kent on the weekend of 16th/17th August. To date we have had a very poor response from those teams that qualified to represent Wales. This competition is very important and we must ensure that our best teams attend to have any opportunity of winning this competition. By failing to attend this competition we handing the championship to England and/or Scotland without a fight, this is surely not our intention.

Can the top eight teams from the Grand Prix Series please let Bob Pugh know as a matter of urgency if you are available to attend the Home Nations, those teams who finished outside the top eight, please can you also let Bob Pugh know if you would be available.

Inter-Regional Championship & Challenge Tournament

Recently, I formally received an invitation from Mike Pegg for the WPA to again take part in the 2008 Inter-Regional Championship & Challenge Tournament, I have extracted relevant details from the letter.

Dear Tony,

Re: 2008 Inter-Regional Championship & Challenge Tournament

It is with great pleasure that I formally invite the Welsh Pétanque Association to take part in the English Pétanque Associations 2008 Inter-Regional Championship and Challenge tournament.

As with previous years our tournament is being held at Pontins Holiday Centre, Brean Sands, Burnham on Sea, Somerset and will take place from Saturday the 6th to Sunday the 7th September.

Accommodation is available from Friday the 5th to Monday the 8th as required.

It is important that the teams who qualified to go to the Inter-Regional Championship & Challenge Tournament, let Bob Pugh know if they intend to go as soon as possible and book their accommodation using the details as printed on the poster.

Tony Smith
National President

Return to the top of the page

Youth Development Officer

It is with regret that I have on behalf of the WPA Executive accepted the resignation from Alison Walton as Youth Development Officer for personal reasons. I would like to thank Alison for all of her assistance whilst she has been in the role of YDO since 2006 and epically for formulising the Junior Award Scheme. The WPA Executive wish her all the best.

If any member of the WPA is interested in taking up the position of Youth Development Officer, please could they contact me for further information.

Tony Smith
National President

Return to the top of the page

A Players view of the Celtic Challenge.

Wales sent a squad of 4 teams to compete in the Celtic Challenge which was held in Scotland this year, including Tansy and Paul Mayfield of the RFC, playing with Gay Evans of Cardiff Yacht Club.

The format demands that each of the 4 teams in the 4 squads (Wales, Scotland A, Scotland B and Ireland) play every other opposing team across a total of 12 matches. Wales got off to a cracking start on Saturday morning, holding a clear lead at the break. However, lunch was rather too good (stovies and a fantastic array of cake!) and the squad took a dive in the afternoon, placing Scotland A in first place (leading by 5 games) with the other 3 teams tied in 2nd/last place.

The lead passed back and fore throughout Sunday, with the team managers keeping a watchful eye on the results and making quick tallies of what was needed in each round. Thanks to Ireland overwhelming favourites Scotland A in the 11th round Wales was handed an apparently easy run-in to take the championship needing just one win from the last 4 matches. Despite some hard slogging, 3 of the Welsh teams were beaten leaving us to try and grab the clinching game. Fortunately we were all playing strongly and we took the match and sealed the championship with a 13-3 win, with Paul taking the victory point. This secured the Celtic Challenge Trophy for Wales for the second successive year. We snuck in as top Welsh team on points with 7 wins, although it was generally a very consistent across the squad. The team spirit in the Welsh squad was very strong with everyone cheering one another on. This was helped by having a team manager overseeing the games, and I really hope this cohesive and supportive atmosphere carries over to the Home Nations and Brean.

Despite dire weather forecasts the weather was very kind to us: dry, warm, and beautifully sunny on Sunday. Fochabers is a lovely village alongside the Spey river - source of the very best whisky which your correspondent was forced to sample, over and over again. Its always good to catch up with friends from the SPA and IPA, and with all the teams staying in 2 hotels just 200 yds apart it really added to the camaraderie and party spirit. The SPA and the good people of the Fochabers club went out of their way to ensure that the tournament logistics ran smoothly, with plenty of entertainment on and off the piste (honestly, brace yourself for the photos). Many thanks go to the staff at the Red Lion and The Gordon Arms for their tolerance, and to the SPA and Fochabers Club for sterling organisation. Here’s to Cork 2009!

Tansy Mayfield
Caerleon FRC Petanque Club

Return to the top of the page

Updated Rules for Rules of Entry for WPA Events and Competitions.

The rules of entry for WPA events and competitions have been reviewed and updated by the National President, Vice President Playing and the National Umpire, we hope that the new version resolves some of the questions that arise each year. The section on Dress Code is still be discussed by the Executive, any changes will be communicated to the members in due course.

The revised version can be downloaded by following this link.

Return to the top of the page

WELSH BOULERS ON ‘EGGHEADS’

On Saturday 23 February a team of Welsh boulers face their biggest challenge yet. No, it’s not playing England in the pouring rain in Inverness. They are going to challenge the elite ‘Eggheads’ team on the popular BBC2 quiz programme.

The WPA was invited to provide a team of quick-witted, intelligent quiz buffs to audition for the programme. We couldn't find anyone who met the criteria but, nevertheless, the following team got through their audition and will take on the Eggheads next Saturday:

Jake Caston (captain) Panteg
Harry Drake Creigiau
Roger Griffin Monkstone
Tony Jellings Wenvoe
Mike Jones Monkstone
John Barnes (Reserve) Monkstone

We don’t know when the programme will be broadcast and, if we get humiliated, we probably won’t tell you the date!

Return to the top of the page

2007 WPA Presentation Evening.

This took take place on Saturday 26th January at the Brynhill Golf Club, Barry. The event was again well supported by the membership and an enjoyable evening was had by all those attended. The evening was hosted by Tony Smith ably assisted by Alison Walton after a meal provided by the Chef at the Brynhill Golf Club.

Awards were presented to the winning teams and individuals who competed throughout the 2007 playing season, for the first time the membership was asked to nominate their choices for Most Improved Player and Senior Player of the Year, the Executive then voted on those nominations.

Further details appear on the awards page.

For your information we are hoping to hold the 2008 Presentation in the Caerleon/Newport area, if any club knows of a venue, please inform a member of the executive.

Return to the top of the page

Dear Member,

As your incoming-President, I would like to thank the members of last year’s Executive committee for encouraging and proposing me to take on this challenging but exciting position for the forthcoming year. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who attended this year’s AGM, and for making it one of the quickest in Welsh pétanque history!

Last year, under the leadership of Don Jenkins, the WPA Executive had a difficult job as we had very little historical data to base our role on. However, during the year the Executive worked together extremely well as a team, and we believe we have established a good foundation for the future.

Don Jenkins has moved to the post of Executive Vice-President, a position that he is very keen to get his teeth into. The Executive and I will rely on his honesty and fairness to keep us in check and help us to keep focused on the membership at all times.

Two members of the WPA Executive resigned this year, Dave Cannan and John Legge. In his President’s Report, Don thanked them for their service to the WPA over the past years; I do not intend to add anything more but my thanks for all their hard work.

As people leave, new people come to the fore to carry on the good work. I would therefore like to welcome Bob Pugh (Wenvoe P.C.) as Vice-President Playing, a difficult and demanding role on the Executive, but I am confident that Bob will take this role in his stride and bring a fresh approach to the position. Secondly, I would like to welcome Phil Bradshaw (Monkstone P.C.) to the Executive as Publicity Officer; with Phil’s contacts within the UK and abroad his role will be particularly important with the proposed changes to the sport in Wales.

So what of the future? On 31st October the membership of the WPA voted to move towards direct affiliation to the FIPJP (The sports world governing body). This is an exciting step for the sport in Wales. What will it mean for the membership? Well, for many, you will see no difference - it will play as normal. However, for those who play at a National level, there is now a greater opportunity to represent Wales at a truly international level; this has to be good for the sport.

The Executive voted to maintain the current membership at £10.00 with a full review prior to the next AGM in 2008. However, the club affiliation fee was increased by £10.00 to £30.00 per year. This affiliation fee has not been increased at any time since I started playing in 1996. As Don stated in his President’s Report, those people who play at higher levels pay more in to the WPA via entrance fees etc, and the new Executive have no intention to change this philosophy.

So what’s going to happen in the next 12 months? I see the following as important targets for us to achieve:

• The immediate task for this new Executive is to move towards direct affiliation to the FIPJP and the proper winding down of the BPF.
• To continue to place the WPA on a sound financial footing.
• To continue to establish a formal coaching structure that will enhance the WPA members to develop and excel and compete in the sport.
• To establish a formal umpiring structure within Wales.
• To establish links with schools via the local authority networks of sports development units.
• To further develop relations between Wales and our neighbours in mainland Europe; clubs can be a catalyst for this with their contacts in France etc. to receive invitations to competitions.
  • We have already received our first invitation to the Zurich open in 2008
• To maintain and strengthen our already excellent relationships with both the EPA and SPA.

Finally, I would like appeal to the membership as a whole. The number of registered members attending meetings has been very low, even for important decisions that affect the whole membership. It has been stated to me that the sport is “too political” and “all I want to do is play boule”. I would like to be able to be in the position at the next AGM to say these comments are a thing of the past. We all entered the sport to play boule, so let’s play boule.

The WPA is in existence and needs to run. All of the members of the executive are volunteers, many have done nothing like this before. We try not to, but on occasions we make mistakes. I will be the first to stand up and say to the membership that a mistake has been made. Through your club meetings and the general WPA meetings you can become involved and influence the decisions that affect the sport as a whole. Do not leave this process to a few members.

Let’s assign politics to the dustbin and play boule.

Tony Smith
WPA President

Return to the top of the page

Bratislava or Bust!

Paul and I recently returned from a 3,300 mile round trip from Wales to Bratislava (via the Home Nations in Inverness) where we met up with Phil Bradshaw to play in the Centrope Cup. Along the way we played in doubles tournaments in the Czech Republic and in Bratislava.

The Centrope Cup The Grand Prix Series played between Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Over the course of 6 tournaments teams and countries compete for the beautiful Centrope Cup trophy: the rules stipulate that teams must comprise of at least one woman.

We played in the last tournament of the series – one of a handful of the 94 teams not from the 6 member countries. The competition was held in the grounds of the Slovakian President’s Palace in old Bratislava, a beautiful setting that attracted a fair amount of publicity and plenty of passing spectators. The standard of boules was fairly good – with several of the teams warming up for the Worlds – and many of the women having returned from the previous week’s Ladies European Championship.

The morning consisted of a ‘Swiss’ where we played 5 teams in a series of timed games. This is the first time Phil, Paul and I had played together and it took us a little time to warm up to it - and Paul took some time to feel comfortable playing as main shooter after a year off! Despite a wobbly start we won the first 4 games, which put us in second position and gave us a last round match against the top team – the Fighters from the Czech Republic. The game was close, but they outshot us to win 11-7. With 4 good wins, we were 5th after the Swiss comfortably making the top 16 cut-off.

At this point we really hit our stride, playing well individually and pulling together as a team. We stormed through the knockout beating a Hungarian Team (13:0), a Czech team (13:4) and a Polish team (13:1). This put us in the final against the Fighters, to whom we’d lost in the last round of the Swiss.

Despite sweet thoughts of revenge, and having played a mean first point all day, I took the last game off and only 50% of my boules were counting. Paul’s hit rate dropped, leaving Phil with a lot of work to do. This dip against a seriously in-form team (the two men - who are playing at the World’s in Thailand - shot everything, hitting about 95% and carreauing 60%; Romana had just returned from the European Ladies where she’d taken the Silver medal) meant that we had our work cut out.

In an attempt to turn the game around we went for broke shooting everything and going for some really cheeky shots. At 12-5 down, with Romana’s first boule a 6 inches in front of the jack, Paul shot twice and missed, followed by my first boule rocketing past the head. We decided we had to shoot the jack to have any chance of playing on, but Phil missed. With me still hanging on to my last boule Phil shot again in a last ditch attempt to save the game. He hit the jack plum on the front, sending it rocketing into the air – we let out a collective yell of “YES!” followed by Phil yelling “NOOO!” twice as loudly as the jack struck a boule and sprang into open territory. With my one remaining boule looking very lonely indeed we agreed that we had nowhere else to go – we dropped the boule and shook hands. The Fighters were very deserving winners (in fact this win clinched them the ‘top team’ slot for the whole Grand Prix series) – but we were worthy runners up.

The following day (and despite hangovers from some enthusiastic celebrating) Paul and I played in the Club doubles competition – a smaller affair (just 26 teams) but with a smattering of Polish and Czech teams joining the Slovakians for the tournament. Phil was to have played but with his planned partner languishing in Scotland he opted for a lie in instead (lightweight!).

The first part of the tournament was again a Swiss with timed games. We romped through the 4 games with 3 good wins and one very narrow defeat after a drawn game demanded a sudden death decider. We went through to the knockout round, where our experience with Phil the day before really came into play. With the first two rounds being really tight, and the time ticking away we used some really canny tactics to ensure we won, shooting out boules that were outside the head just to keep the opposition’s scoring opportunities down. Two good wins put us in the semi final against an excellent father and daughter team from Poland. At 9-0 down things looked bleak but we never gave up on aggressive play and we scored 9 points in 3 ends to draw. Two dead ends in a row (with each team shooting a jack to save the game when boule down) ratcheted the tension up further but the Poles clinched the next 3 ends to win 13-9. They went on to win the competition in good style, whilst we took 3rd, beating another Polish Team 13-1.

The week before Paul and I had played in a doubles tournament at Havlickuv Brod a small town about 80km from Prague. Despite a rotten day’s play (we limped in with one win and a few near misses) it was a great tournament: the Czechs have a lot of very good young players who have had the benefit of working with French coaches. The tournament fell on the same weekend as the Ladies European Championships, and Mikhal – the tournament organiser – kept everyone up to date with the results as the Czech ladies cruised to a brilliant 2nd place which really added to the good atmosphere.

We had an excellent time. Not just because of our good results, but because of the warmth and camaraderie that everyone played with and the enthusiastic welcome we received as the ‘foreignest’ players at the tournaments. Just about every team played positive attacking boule, encouraged one another no matter what happened, and were generous in applauding the opposition when good shots were played. It was also noticeable how enthusiastically the teams playing for their country supported one another at the Centrope Cup - particularly the Slovenians who, after they were all knocked out, chose to adopt us as their own and became our primary cheerleaders! We were made very welcome, and boules acted as a common language – we made some good friends and secured more invites to further competitions.

Tansy Mayfied
Caerleon RFC Petanque Club

Return to the top of the page

Pentwyn Doubles.

The results of the Pentwyn Doubles competition held on Sunday 14th October at the Pentwyn Leisure Centre are as follows:

Winner Main: Neil Dobbins and Phil Bradshaw	Runners-up Main: Peter Westall and Ian Bailey  (Who were fannied)
Winner Plate: Rod Dobbins and Cyril Royer	Runners-up Plate: Jim and Linda Hutchinson

Representative Honours for Abergavenny's Juniors

Pictured left are three of Abergavenny Petanque Club’s Junior players who have gained Welsh National Representative Honours this year. They are seen being presented with a cheque from Mr Alan Tandy, President of the Rotary Club who said that “the boy’s achievements this year are exactly the type of endeavour and commitment that we the Rotary Club of Abergavenny want to assist with. Particularly when it is the youth of the Town who through their own efforts are taking pride in their sport and representing Wales and their Abergavenny Club in major National Tournaments”

Matthew Bailey, Ollie Pook & Matthew Howells have represented Wales at the Home Nations Championship held this year in Inverness, Scotland, the National Inter-Regional Championships in Brean Sands, Devon & the British Petanque Association National Junior Triples tournament held at Crondall Petanque Club in Crondall, Surrey. As well as playing for their Club in the local leagues throughout the year and taking part in many competitions around the SE Wales area.

Mr Nigel Mason, the Youth Development officer for Abergavenny Petanque Club (pictured above – back row, third from right) paid tribute to the boy’s commitment during the year and expressed his delight that they had progressed so quickly in the sport. He hoped that other boys & girls would see the example set by them and consider taking up the sport themselves.

Peter Clarke, President of Abergavenny Petanque Club thanked Mr Tandy and the Rotary members for their continued support of the Club’s achievements and added his congratulations to the boys on their brilliant year.

The Petanque Club meets every Monday evening at their playing area in front of the Old Pavilion by the Park Avenue entrance in Bailey Park from 7pm.

All are welcome to come and try.

WPA League Cup and Plate Finals

The 2007 WPA League Cup and Plate finals were played at the Monkstone Inn, Cardiff on Sunday 30th. Each competition comprised three rounds which were spread over the day.

The League Cup competition was between Abergavenny, Panteg 2, ISCA Romans and the Wheatsheaf, after the opening round ISCA Romans were ahead with 3 wins, Wheatsheaf on 1 win and the remainder on 2 wins. Round 2 saw Panteg 2 catch up on their number of wins, but Isca Romans were still leading the table with 5 wins.

The competition was decided on the last round, with the Wheatsheaf and Isca Romans failing to get the wins allowing Abergavenny and Panteg 2 to take the lead. Panteg 2's poor second round allowed Abergavenny to take the title with 7 wins.

For Against Wins Diff Abergavenny 121 92 7 29 Panteg 2 123 118 6 5 ISCA Romans 120 118 6 2 Wheatsheaf 100 136 5 -36
	Abergavenny 2007 WPA League Cup Winners. Ian Bailey, Julie Bailey, Tony Flynn and Frank Westall
Panteg 2 2007 WPA League Cup Runners-up. Chris Jones, Sandra Jones, Jake Caston and Peter McCarthy.

The League Plate competition was between Caerleon Greens, Penarth Pendragons, Penarth Pic n Mix and Panteg Phoenix. As for the League Cup the competition was played over three rounds. All four teams won 2 games each in the first round, so on points Penarth Pix n Mix went into the second round as leaders on +8. Round two saw a change in that Penarth Pendragons dropped a game to Caerleon Greens which put them ahead on wins, with Penarth Pic n Mix second with 2 wins and +9.

The final round saw a home derby between Penarth Pix n Mix and Pendragons, for any change for Penarth Pendragons to win they had to win 4-0 and Caerleon Greens to draw or loose. Penarth Pendragons failed to win all 4 games, winning only 3 and Caerleon Greens won their last match 3-1 giving them the title.

For Against Wins Diff Caerleon Greens 122 110 8 12 Penarth Pendragons 108 110 6 -2 Penarth Pic n Mix 117 113 5 4 Panteg Phoenix 108 122 5 -14

Caerleon Greens 2007 WPA League Plate Winners. Robert Derrett, Neil Wilkinson, Kon Tomczyk, Barbara Vaughan and Richard Harris

Penarth Pendragons 2007 WPA League Plate Runners-up. Tony Smith, Judith Smith, Hugh Harrison, Derek Jones and David Elston.

The WPA would like to thank The Monkstone for their organisation throughout the day and epically to the Monkstone In for providing a hot roast meal.

Return to the top of the page

Welsh Teams Sweep the titles in 2007 Hereford Open

WPA members traveled to Hereford on Sunday 24th to take part in the annual Hereford Open Triples competition held at the Hereford Leisure Centre on Sunday 24th June. A total of 64 teams took part in the very well organised event, many of which traveled across the boarder from Wales.

The majority of the players in the final of the Hereford Open were from Wales, including Phil Bradshaw, Glyn Attley, Neal Dobbins, Derek Jones and Peter Westall. The winning team was "Cardiff East" (Phil Bradshaw, Phil Clayton and Glyn Attley) who dominated for much of the match but they allowed their opponents to fight back to and almost steal the game from them, before they finally won.

The second final of the day was the Beddards Trophy, the finalists of this competition were again all from Wales. The two teams were the "Wenvoe Raiders", Jeff Ball, Mike Jaques and Nigel Mason and the "Left-Overs" , Rod Dobbins, Peter Hufton and Cyril Royer. The "Wenvoe Raiders" won. Third place went to "Penarth Plunderers", Judith Smith, Tony Smith and Jean-Yves Robic.

Unfortunately, no Welsh teams got through to the finals for the Inches of Hereford Ltd Trophy or the Pen-Y-Coed Petanque Trophy, perhaps it will be a clean sweep next time.

French Market - Cwmbran Shopping Centre.

10th to 12th May 2007

Following the success of the Cardiff Bay Weekend the WPA was invited to provide another terrain at Cwmbran. The organisers had three days to arrange this event which was sponsored by Inshops Cwmbran.  The weather was unfortunately un-seasonal but in between showers members of the WPA were able to demonstrate their skills.

The executive of the WPA would like to thank all those members who rallied around to assist in making this event enjoyable. Thanks also go to the maintenance staff of Cwmbran Shopping Centre who laid the pistes.

We would also like to thank Inshops for the sponsorship given toward this and other events organised by the WPA.

Images from the Cwmbran French Market Event

French Market - Oval Basin, Cardiff Bay.

5th to 8th May 2007

While many of the seasoned players were away in Abergavenny winning the Celtic Challenge Trophy for Wales, other members of the WPA were in Cardiff Bay showing members of the public the rudiments of boule, whilst also enjoying the delights of the annual French Market.

The piste was constructed by Cardiff County Council and located in the centre of the market, giving a truly French feel, but more importantly providing a prime spot to show the sport of petanque off to the many hundreds of people who roamed around the market.

This event gained new members for local clubs and ultimately the WPA as well as increasing the profile of the sport throughout Wales.