kent pétanque gazette issue 29 june 2008 kent … · mates, philip jarrett and charles fribbens...
TRANSCRIPT
The final round of the EPA Espoirs two-event series saw Kent play-ers dominate. In the end, the Kent/East Midlands teaming of Matt Shrimpton and Kris Smith with Dean Seville triumphed in the final round over the team that had domi-nated until then, com-prising Dean and Scott Ashby and Greg Dav-
enport (all from Kent).
It all went wrong for Dean, Scott and Greg in this last round. With only 6 points needed to win the overall se-ries, they could not register a single point and unfortunately lost ingloriously.
Although the EPA Espoirs events were
not well attended, the standard was very high and forms a core of stars of the future. Kent had 10 players in the competition out of 23 attending which will help Kent in its plan to re-capture the Inter-Regional trophy later this year.
Results and report on page 3 inside.
KENT PÉTANQUE
GAZETTE
June 2008 Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Inside this edition
EPA Events 2-3, 5-6, 10-12
Competitions 4-5, 14
Regionals 7-9
News 4,
12-19, 21
KPL 13
What’s on 20
Kent Espoirs show promise for the future
Junior Champions - Robert Cooter (P&C) and Alex Bruce (Vale) teamed up with their old adver-saries from Northern Region, Jack Barring-ton and Andrew Willis, who were simi-larly indisposed.
Also competing was 2007 English Junior Champion Gary At-kinson (George) who was teamed up with last year’s third placed players Ben & Josh Littley (Villager).
After 4 rounds of the
Swiss system the Kent/Northern combined team of Alex, Robert, Jack and Andrew re-mained undefeated to lead the standings while fellow Kent play-ers Gary, Ben & Josh held second place which meant they both progressed to the semi-finals along with teams from Chiltern and the Isle of Wight.
Both semi-finals were keenly contested with the experienced Kent/Northern combination progressing at the ex-pense of the Isle of
As is the norm, Kent dominated the EPA Junior Triples compe-tition, that this year was held at Lords-wood on 26
th April.
For the third year run-ning, since its incep-tion in fact, the event was won by a team containing Kent play-ers.
Having seen their long term team mates, Philip Jarrett and Charles Fribbens step up to the senior ranks 2005 British Junior Champions and 2006 English
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Wight team while Gary, Josh and Ben had to hold their composure at 12-12 against the Chil-tern team, which con-taining the EPA junior doubles winners, to win the vital point that saw Ben and Gary progress one step further than they did in the doubles three weeks earlier.
In the final, Ben, Josh and Gary took an early lead but age and ex-perience won out in the end as Alex and Robert’s team took the National Junior Triples title.
Kent Juniors capture EPA triples title
Report Mark Cooter
EPA Junior Triples Finalists2 008
back row l to r: Alex, Robert, An-drew & Jack
front row: l to r: Ben, Gary & Josh.
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Page 3
The EPA Espoirs competition entered its second year, this time in a two round series. The winners of the competition would be selected to represent England at the North Sea Competition in Denmark in June as well as at the CEP European Espoirs Competition in 2009.
The first round was aban-doned due to the snow at Lordswood earlier in April (see Gazette Issue 28) but was re-run in warmer conditions on April 26th at the same Kent location. On that day, Kent trio Dean and Scott Ashby with Greg Davenport dominated the event winning six out of six games.
But on one of the warmest days in 2008 so far, the sec-ond event at Harrow PC saw fortunes change. Kent’s Kris Smith (a member of the win-ning team last year), and Matt Shrimpton moved from third place into contention.
The organisers had arranged things perfectly as Dean, Scott
and Greg were scheduled to play Matt, Kris and partner Dean Seville (East Midlands) in the final game of the day.
Dean, Scott and Greg needed just 6 points to ensure victory but immediately ran into trou-ble. Heads started to drop, as Kris, Matt and Dean scented victory.
Hopefully, Espoirs lead the Kent revival
The final score of 13-0 was not a fair reflection of the game but it saw Kris, Matt and Dean through to become the EPA’s Espoirs champions for 2008 and to go forward as our rep-resentatives at the interna-tional Espoirs Championships.
We wish them well and look forward to 2009
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Page 4
Crowborough Pétanque Club held its Sporties Doubles on 27th April 2008. Unfortunately with a Southern Region com-petition and the Qualifier for the EPA Ladies at Lordswood, being held on the same day we only had ten teams enter the Competition. With only one team from the Southern Re-gion the other nine were all KPA members.
The day had been forecast to be wet which may have put some players off coming to this event. They need not have worried, except for one small shower midday the weather was quite good.
The morning’s play was di-vided into two leagues of five meaning each team had a bye which of course is unfortunate. Everybody seemed happy with the arrangement and play got under way punctually at ten o’clock.
No team won all their games in the leagues and only one team failed to win any game. In the Main Frogeyes (Pam and Neville Plummer, Harriers) and The Friends (Liz and John
Friend, Hartley) progressed steadily to the final. The teams had met in the morning when The Friends had suffered their worst defeat of the day losing 4-13 to Frogeyes. They were determined this would not hap-pen in the final.
The Frogeyes did some good pointing but Liz’s shooting proved decisive. In spite of Pam and Neville playing well The Friends just kept ahead to win 13-8.
Sporties Doubles — Crowborough - 27 April
Kent Juniors and Espoirs selected to represent England in Germany
The Plate Final was a Crow-borough and Hartley affair but although Pete&Jean (Pete and Jean Chappell) had the home advantage they lost 5-13 to Quakers (Geoff and Maureen Fuller, Hartley). Although only ten teams took part, some of the games, especially the Main final, lasted a long time so the competition did not finish much before five o’clock.
Report: Tom Waldron
Winners Liz and John Friend (Hartley)
Kent Juniors & Espoirs were included in teams se-lected to represent England in an international com-petition in Freiberg (Germany), following an invite to do so over the weekend of 24-25 May.
Juniors - 2 of the 5 strong team Alex Bruce of Vale Tavern, Ramsgate Robert Cooter of Plough & Chequers
Espoirs - 3 of the 5 strong team Dean Ashby of Tovil Greg Davenport of Plough & Chequers Scott Ashby of Tovil
The Head of Delegation was Martin Eggleton, Chairman of the KPA and a member of The George, Meopham.
in some comfort!
Clubs represented were Tovil, Lords-wood, Beauty of Bath, Croydon and Harriers.
The final of the main competition was con-tested by Barry Wing and Chris Watkins of Lordswood and Paul Hardwick and Hum-phrey White of Tovil. Barry and Chris took
the lead and steadily progressed to a 10 - 2 lead when the Tovil pair started to claw back with 4 points, but in the next end Lords-wood scored 3 points to win 13-6.
The Plate Final was contested between Mike and Debbie Cap-eling of Lordswood and Michael Gear and De-nise Williams of Harri-ers with Harriers even-
Surprisingly, twelve teams t rave l led through the elements to compete in the Martyn Potts Memo-rial Doubles competi-tion hosted by Tovil Working Men's Club on Bank Holiday Monday, 26th May 2008.
Luckily the weather abated late morning, to enab le the matches to be played
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
tually winning 13-8 after a long and absorbing contest.
Cash prizes were given for the main competi-tion and wine in the Plate competition.
A donation was given to the Cerebral Palsy Charity. A good day was had by all!"
Report: Michael Gear (Chairman Harriers PC)
Martyn Potts Memorial Doubles Competition
Kent Ladies narrowly miss out on England spot
They were the most
consistent team over-
all at the two Ladies’
Qualifiers.
Fay Golder, Lyn
Shrimpton and Sheila
King came second
and Irene Gibbs,
Diane Bryant, Mags
Yates and Joyce
Nash came third.
The top 8 teams that
will play off to decide
who will represent the
EPA and England at
the Ladies’ World
Championship also
include Tracy Turner,
J e n n y C o o t e r ,
Corinne Cooter (6th)
and Samantha Littley
(7th) meaning that
eleven of the 28 Ladies
in the top eight teams
are from Kent, an ex-
cellent representation.
The Top 8 event to de-
termine the team to
represent England at
The Ladies of Kent
were unfortunate to
just miss out on rep-
resenting England at
the International
North Sea Tourna-
ment later in June in
Denmark following
the second round of
the Ladies Qualifying
Series held at Lords-
wood on 27th April.
The EPA website an-
nounced the Ladies’
team that will repre-
sent the EPA at this
year’s INSPT will be:
Sarah Huntley
Myra Huntley
Amy Huntley
the World Champion-
ships (originally to be
held in China, see
Page 18) will be held at
Harrow PC on July
27th.
Results of Round 2 and
overall standings are
on Page 6
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
EPA Ladies Qualifier 2 and Overall results
Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Score BHN fBHN
HUNTLEY, Sarah HUNTLEY, Myra HUNTLEY, Amy 6 20 126
SULLIVAN, Merle BAKER, Janet McDONALD, Mary 4 24 113
MANN, Elizabeth BEADSMORE, Tania SEVILLE, Sabrina 4 20 113
GOLDER, Fay SHRIMPTON, Lynda KING, Sheila 4 20 113
ELCOME, Deborah LITTLEY, Samantha ELCOME, Kim ELCOME, Tracey 4 17 118
BROOKS, Kath RAND, Chris EDMONDSON, Lisa 4 17 116
GIBBS, Irene YATES, Margaret NASH, Joyce 4 17 100
TURNER, Tracy LACHANI, Kim COOTER, Jennifer COOTER, Corinne 3 23 114
GAUGHAN, Angela HISCOCK, Shirley THORNE, Amanda 3 22 119
BEST, Christine SEVILLE, Lori HOY, Caroline 3 21 88
CIANO, Lynne TREEND, Pamela JONES, Emma 3 18 115
SHEPPARD, Mary BAXTER, Pauline PEAT, Christine BECKETT, Julie 3 17 116
PIGGIN, Rosemary GOODYEAR, Frances HOURCASTAGNOU, Louise 2 18 88
KNIGHT, Kathleen FARROW, Liz DALMASSO, Hilary NEVILLE, Patricia 2 17 103
LICKORISH, Kirsty MARSHALL, Virginia LICKORISH, Vicki 2 17 84
RANDALL, Barbara SACRE, Olive GEBBETT, Jill 2 15 82
HENRY, Shirley BAILEY, Jo BLACKMORE, Jan 1 13 87
Qualifier 2— Lordswood 27 April 2008
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Kent Regional Qualifier 1 report & results Lordswood S&SC 5th May 2008
Lordswood provided a fine venue with some of the best weather of the spring so far for the first
Regional Qualifier on Bank Holiday Monday, 5th May. Turnout was down on the usual 1
st round
with only 27 teams attending, possibly a consequence of the Bank Holiday date. The Swiss for-
mat was just 5 rounds because of this smaller turnout. The results were:
Pos Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Points Wins Diff
1 Tracey Turner Nic Baxter Scott Ashby Greg Davenport 40 5 41
2 Colin Senneck Joyce Nash Mick Nash 35 4 27
2 Dean Ashby Kevin Spillett David Lavelle David Turner 35 4 27
4 Steve Golder Mark Dennis Rob Harvey 32 4 18
5 Keith Atkinson Gary Atkinson Kevin Atkinson 30 4 14
6 Alan Creegan David Blakeley Alex Bruce 28 3 16
7 Josephine Elvin Glenn Hutchinson Julie Hutchinson 26 3 12
8 Matthew Whatley Steve Brown Neil Phillips Rebecca Glenn 24 3 11
9 Trevor Gordon Phil Jarrett George Jarrett 22 3 9
10 Luke Fribbens Martyn Fribbens Jean-Louis Guiot Nigel Mansell 20 3 7
11= Peter Turner Theresa Williams David Shook 18 3 5
11= Colin Gibbs John Bradley Irene Gibbs 18 3 5
11= Hugh Aldred Brian King Peter Conetta 18 3 5
14 Catherine Clark Sam Littley David Littley 16 3 4
15 Robert Booth Geoff Booth Fred Booth Russell Brewis 15 2 3
16 Trevor Glenn Matthew Shrimpton Charles Shrimpton Martin Eggleton 14 2 -5
17 Colin Myers Larry Belcher Morton Almond Mick Weston 13 2 -10
18= Sheila King Fay Golder Lynne Shrimpton 11.5 2 -12
18= Janet Davenport Mark Cooter Corinne Cooter 11.5 2 -12
20 Charles Fribbens Robert Cooter Jennifer Cooter Craig Wilson 10 2 -13
21 Michael Capelin Peter Iles Diane Iles 9 2 -16
22 Roy Pemberton Nigel Austin Bobby Territt 8 2 -17
23 David Baxter Margaret Bradley Linda Bradley 7 2 -22
24 Ron Yates Eileen Fowers Margaret Yates John Fowers 6 1 -10
25 Josh Littley Ben Littley Elliott Fribbens 5 1 -11
26 Andrew Pucknell Phillip Killick Neville Hurren 4 1 -19
27 Richard Spillett Dave Hurren 3 1 -27
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Kent Regional Qualifiers 2 report and results Hartley CC 1st June 2008
A change of location for the second regional on Sunday 1st June saw the “peloton” move to Hartley in-
stead of the scheduled Plough and Chequers. With 30 teams turning out, the numbers were up on the
previous round and the various terrain textures made it a challenging day for many teams which was re-
flected in some of the variable results. Again, with fewer than 32 teams, the format was a 5-round Swiss.
The cool weather seemed to improve the speed of play with a relatively early finish recorded.
Pos Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Points Wins Diff
1 Richard Spillett Dave Hurren Matt Horrigan 40 5 31
2 Barry Wing Kris Smith Chris Watkins 36 4 31
2 Tracey Turner Nic Baxter Scott Ashby Greg Davenport 34 4 25
4 Robert Booth Geoff Booth Fred Booth 32 4 23
5 Keith Atkinson Gary Atkinson Kevin Atkinson Rowland Jones 30 4 15
6 Jes Paine Martin Pennell Ron James 28 3 19
7 Colin Myers Larry Belcher Morton Almond Mick Weston 26 3 17
8 Matthew Whatley Steve Brown Neil Phillips Rebecca Glenn 24 3 12
9 Janet Davenport Mark Cooter Corinne Cooter 22 3 12
10 Dean Ashby Kevin Spillett David Lavelle David Turner 20 3 10
11= Colin Senneck Joyce Nash Mick Nash 18.5 3 9
11= David Baxter Margaret Bradley Linda Bradley 18.5 3 9
13 Luke Fribbens Martyn Fribbens Jean-Louis Guiot Nigel Mansell 17 3 8
14 Alan Cregeen Alex Bruce Michelle Cregeen 16 3 6
15 Gordon Angel Kenneth Potter Alan Rush 15 3 -5
16 Colin Gibbs John Bradley Irene Gibbs 14 3 -8
17 Sheila King Fay Golder Lynne Shrimpton 13 2 -4
18 Trevor Gordon Phil Jarrett George Jarrett 12 2 -7
19 Sam Littley David Littley Richard Buchan 11 2 -8
20= Trevor Glenn Charles Shrimpton Martin Eggleton 9.5 2 -9
20= Steve Golder Mark Dennis Rob Harvey John Holborne 9.5 2 -9
22 Hugh Aldred Brian King Peter Conetta Richard King 8 2 -11
23 Josephine Elvin Glenn Hutchinson Julie Hutchinson Dennis Peareth 7 2 -15
24 Pam Plummer Neville Plummer Elaine Jackson Barry Soilleux 6 2 -25
25 Charles Fribbens Robert Cooter Jennifer Cooter Craig Wilson 5 1 -9
26 Michael Capelin Peter Iles Deborah Capelin 4 1 -14
27 Ron Yates Eileen Fowers Margaret Yates John Fowers 3 1 -18
28 Roy Pemberton Nigel Austin Bobby Territt 2 1 -22
29 Theresa Williams David Snook Peter Mount 1 1 -27
30 Josh Littley Ben Littley Elliott Fribbens 1 0 -36
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Kent Regional Qualifier standings after 1 &2 Pos Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Q1 Q2 Total
1 Tracey Turner Nic Baxter Scott Ashby Greg Davenport 40 34 74
2 Keith Atkinson Gary Atkinson Kevin Atkinson Rowland Jones 30 30 60
3 Dean Ashby Kevin Spillett David Lavelle David Turner 35 20 55
4 Colin Senneck Joyce Nash Mick Nash 35 18.5 53.5
5 Matthew Whatley Steve Brown Neil Phillips Rebecca Glenn 24 24 48
6 Robert Booth Geoff Booth Fred Booth Russell Brewis 15 32 47
7 Alan Cregeen David Blakeley Alex Bruce (j) Michelle Cregeen 28 16 44
8 Richard Spillett Dave Hurren Matt Horrigan 3 40 43
9 Steve Golder Mark Dennis Rob Harvey John Holborne 32 9.5 41.5
10 Colin Myers Larry Belcher Morton Almond Mick Weston 13 26 39
11 Luke Fribbens Martyn Fribbens Jean-Louis Guiot Nigel Mansell 20 17 37
12 Barry Wing Kris Smith Chris Watkins 36 36
13 Trevor Gordon Phil Jarrett George Jarrett 22 12 34
14 Janet Davenport Mark Cooter Corinne Cooter 11.5 22 33.5
15 Josephine Elvin Glenn Hutchinson Julie Hutchinson Dennis Peareth 26 7 33
16 Colin Gibbs John Bradley Irene Gibbs 18 14 32
17 Jes Paine Martin Pennell Ron James 28 28
18 Catherine Clark Sam Littley David Littley Richard Buchan 16 11 27
19 Hugh Aldred Brian King Peter Conetta Richard King 18 8 26
20 David Baxter Margaret Bradley Linda Bradley 7 18.5 25.5
21 Sheila King Fay Golder Lynne Shrimpton 11.5 13 24.5
22 Trevor Glenn Matthew Shrimpton Charles Shrimpton Martin Eggleton 14 9.5 23.5
23 Peter Turner Theresa Williams David Snook Peter Mount 18 1 19
24= Charles Fribbens Robert Cooter (j) Jennifer Cooter Craig Wilson 10 5 15
24= Gordon Angel Kenneth Potter Alan Rush 15 15
26 Michael Capelin Peter Iles Diane Iles Deborah Capelin 9 4 13
27 Roy Pemberton Nigel Austin Bobby Territt 8 2 10
28 Ron Yates Eileen Fowers Margaret Yates John Fowers 6 3 9
29= Josh Littley (j) Ben Littley (j) Elliott Fribbens (j) 5 1 6
29= Pam Plummer Neville Plummer Elaine Jackson Barry Soilleux 6 6
31 Andrew Pucknell Phillip Killick Neville Hurren 4 4
Regional Qualifier Leaders after 2 rounds: Scott Ashby, Nic Baxter,
Greg Davenport, and Tracy Turner
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
EPA Triples Qualifying Series results Qualifier 1 was held at Crondall in poor weather on 20th April, followed by much bet-ter conditions at Brit-ish Sugar’s facility at Bury St. Edmunds on 4th May.
The third round was held at Petanchors Pétanque Club, Old-bury on Severn, near
Bristol, in the more fa-miliar conditions we have experienced so far this Spring.
The combined team of Martin Baker (London) Jerome Rousseau, Herve Bavazzano (West Midlands) and Phil Claydon (Chiltern) only dropped one game, winning 17 of 18
played. They headed the leader-board every round.
Kent’s best (Marcus Hickman, Kevin Spil-lett, Alex Bruce and David Blakeley) were only 2 games behind on 15 wins.
Nic Baxter was in 4th place with his part-
ners from Eastern re-gion.
Samantha Littley was in 11th with her part-ners from Southern and East Midlands.
Just outside the top 16, in 17th, was Mar-tin Eggleton, with Kevin and Lee Moss from Anglia.
Standings after Qualifiers 1, 2 and 3 Top 16 (shown in red) will play for the EPA England National team places in the World Championships at
Harrow PC on 8th June
Page 11
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
EPA Singles is a disappointment for Kent Saturday 24th May saw 83 players regis-ter for the EPA Sin-gles competition , held once more at British Sugar, Bury St Ed-munds.
The weather was fine, as forecast, although the expectation was deterioration over the weekend, something that came to be a very accurate prediction.
The 2007 champion, Sof iane Lachani, dropped to eighth and the top four players
fought out a semi-final/final phase with Rachid Hannache (pictured right with Mike Pegg) moving up from 3rd last year to become the EPA Singles Champion, 2008.
The highest placed Kent player was Colin Gibbs (Hartley) in 9th place. Also in the top 30 were Geoff Booth (Fighting Cocks) in 20th with Peter Bryant and Mick Nash (Hartley) in 22nd and 23rd.
Weather impacts EPA Doubles competition True to the forecast, Sun-day 25th May started wet, very wet, at British Sugar in Bury St Ed-munds for the 2008 EPA Doubles com-petition.
Play started for 73 teams in a 5 round Swiss format and the first round c o m p l e t e d a s planned. During round 2, the weather got worse to the point that jacks were float-
ing in almost every game so play was sus-pended until 13:30.
The worst of the weather abated (but
never really stopped) and the competition ended with the top four teams playing off.
Kent player Nic Baxter
reached the final with Sofiane La-chani (Eastern), losing out to Dean Little and Keith Flack of E a s t e r n (pictured left).
Top 30 positions for Kent in-cluded Mick and Joyce Nash (Hartley) 10th, Rob and Geoff Booth (Fighting
Cocks) 11th, Peter and Diane Bryant (Hartley) 18th, Sam Littley (Villager) & Steve Brown (Tovil) 27th.
Page 12
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Plenty of Kent players in EPA Mixed Doubles Monday 26th May saw typical Bank Holi-day weather at Bury St Edmunds as those not washed away on Sunday gathered for the EPA Mixed Dou-bles competition.
Fifty nine teams as-sembled including twelve which were wholly or partially formed of Kent play-ers.
Yet this 20% chance of glory failed to turn into success. No Kent
players made it to the four team play offs and the highest placed team were Irene and
Mike Pegg, National
President of the EPA,
reports on the EPA
website:
A recent communica-
tion from the INSPT
President, Andrew
Lloyd indicates that
this could be the last
year of the Interna-
tional North Sea
Pétanque Tourna-
ment.
Andrew has received
two conflicting emails
from the Netherlands
Federation (NJBB);
one states that they
are considering resign-
ing from the INSPT,
the other that they will
be resigning.
Although Andrew is
waiting for clarification
we have to accept that
it does seem likely that
the NJBB will resign
from future involve-
ment with the Tourna-
ment.
The EPA Management
Committee has of
course been discuss-
ing England's future
involvement with the
INSPT since Sweden,
following Germany's
lead, announced they
were withdrawing their
membership after this
year.
If the NJBB are resign-
ing then we can only
conclude that the
INSPT has served its
purpose and no longer
has a place in the In-
ternational tournament
calendar.
I will be attending the
INSPT committee
meeting in Denmark
held during this year's
tournament and will
report back to our
membership on its out-
come.
This year’s competi-
tion is from 26th June
to 28th June in Copen-
hagen, Denmark and
includes Kris Smith
and Matt Shrimpton,
Alex Bruce and Rob
Cooter from Kent. The
tournament can be fol-
lowed online at:
www.northseapetanque.com
Colin Gibbs (Hartley) in 10th. Other top 30 Kent teams were Scott Ashby (Tovil) 11th with
Sarah Huntley of Chil-tern, Becky Glenn (George) and Steve Brown (Tovil) 17th, Anne and Colin Sen-neck (Hartley) 18th and Samantha Littley (Villager) 21st with G r a h am Ga l t o n (Southern) .
The event was won by Clare Brooks and Royston William from East Midlands region (pictured left with Mike Pegg) who beat Miles Gooda and Debbie El-come in the final.
Is this the end of the North Sea tournament?
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Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
KPL — Summer Season League update The Summer Season has started with the Preliminary and first two rounds of the Cup and Plate competition already out of the way as well as the first six weeks of the league games. Unlike 2007, the weather has been very “Winter League”, so far,.
The divisions are still to take shape but al-ready Division 1 has an unusual look to it with the Fighting Cocks top (must be the addition of Rob Harvey) followed by George 1, Hartley Fal-cons and Vale Tav-ern. Plough and Che-quers 2 are in 5th and P&C1 are in 9th. Maybe the change of venue (see page 18) is having an impact on
the Plough or perhaps it is just too early in the season to be clear.
Recently relegated Vil-lager A head Division 2 from the Wheatsheaf with a close grouping of the next few teams. This looks like being a very open division.
Division 3 has a divide between a group in the top half and a group in the lower half with the bottom four teams all on 7 wins and only 2 wins between the top four teams.
Three teams dominate Division 4, Optimists, Borstal Mudlarks and Duke of Wellington al-though Hartley Hawks have a match in hand.
Tovil Miners are out on
David Baxter reports
that he is having very
positive discussions
with ab fab Flowers of
Walderslade about
sponsoring the Kent
Classic in 2009.
ab fab were sponsors
of the 2008 event and
their own on top of Di-vision 5 on 18 wins with Three Tuns, 442 Club and Bridges all on 13 wins.
Just 2 wins separate the top five teams in Division 6. Ditton Kiln Barners and New Ash Green lead on 14 wins each. Luddesdown Cocks are on 13 wins and Hartley Kites and Duke of Wellington 2 are on 12 wins.
In Division 7, three teams look like fighting it out, White House Presidents, Borstal Sandpipers and White House Bell although the next two teams (Sherwood Oak and
Villager E) have matches in hand. Vil-lager C and D are cur-rently bottom of the pile but there is still plenty of time.
The Cup and Plate are still at an early stage but already Division 2 teams Wheatsheaf, Seal Blues, Lords-wood Moldavians and Crown A are in the Plate.
For full details of KPL Summer League fix-tures and the latest league positions and Cup/Plate results and draws, go to the KPL website at:
www.kentpetanque.org
Ab fab come back for more
certainly helped the
event be a success.
David and ab fab are
looking at ways of ex-
panding the event and
it is likely to be later in
the spring next year; a
weekend in early April
is being considered.
The EPA has an-
nounced the draw for
the Inter-Regionals at
Brean, with an EPA
Combined squad be-
ing formed once again
in Division 2.
As Division 1 runners
up in 2007, Kent will
provide two teams for
that squad.
So, the top 8 teams
plus a junior team
EPA confirms Brean format
from the Regional
Qualifiers will form the
Kent Division 1 squad,
the next four teams
(ranked 9th to 12th)
will form the Kent
Challenge squad and
teams ranked 13th
and 14th will join with
four teams plus jun-
iors from Southern
and two teams from
Northern to become
the EPA Combined
squad.
Page 14
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Please read on, before thinking this doesn’t apply to me – it just might.
Every year the Kent Pétanque Association runs a series of competi-tions to allow players to qualify to represent the County at the EPA Inter-Regional Competition at Brean Sands, Weston-Super-Mare in Septem-ber. The next one is on Sunday 22nd June at Hartley Country Club.
If you have played in pre-vious years, format changes mean you should read on and if you haven’t joined us before there is some exciting news for those who don’t qualify to play at Brean which might just tempt you out.
Format Change: This year we are operat-ing the Swiss system all day, rather than just in the main competition in the afternoon, which means you will play 5 or 6 games during the day, with draws taking place between each round to
ensure that players with the same number of wins are playing against each other. Among the benefits of this change are:
· at every level, play re-mains competi t ive throughout the day
· eliminates “leagues/ pools of death” in the morning
· waiting between games is spread more evenly, both through the day and the teams
Points & Ranking: When play is finished teams will be ranked by wins and points differ-ences, with ranking points being carried forward be-tween competitions to de-termine the 14 teams that qualify for the EPA Inter-Regional competition at Brean Sands in Septem-ber and for this year’s prize fund.
As with last year, the Re-gion will be supporting 4 teams with a payment of £150 per team to attend
either the Dunkerquoise or another major interna-tional competition that the KPA committee will se-lect.. It will be up to those teams who win to decide which competition they wish to attend to allow maximum f lexib i l i ty . Those who went last year, I am sure, enjoyed them-selves and will be trying hard to be in the top 4 again this year.
Nord Maritime:
This year it is the turn of Dunkerque to come to us, and on Saturday 16th Au-gust we will be hosting them at Lordswood Sports and Social Club for a day of friendly - but competi-tive - play, and a convivial lunch.
The Kent squad of 16 teams for this comes from those who have played in the Regional Qualifiers and is generally such a great day it is reason enough to take part.
Chairman’s Cup: For those who enter one or more of the Regional Qualifiers but who do not go to Brean, we are intro-ducing the Chairman’s Cup – a brand new com-petition to be played on Saturday 13th September at Lordswood Sports and Social Club. This event will be free to enter and will have a top prize of £150, so well worth turn-ing out for.
This competition will run alongside the final day of the Kent Junior Pétanque Academy, which will in-clude their award presen-tation, so it will be a great way to support the next generation, too.
So why not come along to try your hand, play against people you may not normally meet and hopefully enjoy a pleasant day’s pétanque in the summer sun.
Annette Eggleton
First Over 60s event held at Hartley On Sunday 4th May, Hartley held its first Over 60s competition. The weather was pleasant but due to the bank holiday weekend with grand-parents entertaining grandchildren or perhaps ashamed to admit their age, only eight couples attended. How-ever we were able to welcome two pairs from Crowborough.
The competition was divided into two leagues of 4 with the top two in each going into the main knockout and the
bottom two into the plate.
Two teams won all their morning games, the DJs (Dennis Peareth & Josie Elvin) and Jemma 2 (Jim and Babs Carr). The second placed team in each morning group proved too strong for the unbeaten pairs and the final competition was between Frogami (Jean-Louis & John Friend) and Cedarmint (Gill Pearson & David Brooks). Frogami won the Main final by a narrow margin.
The plate finals were between the Chefs (Ron & Mags Yates) who had volunteered to provide a BBQ for the expected hordes and the JoLos (John & Lois Adam). The Plate was won by the Chefs, perhaps appropri-ately.
It was a shame that more people didn't turn up and it was considered that we should try again another year but stay avoid a bank holiday. Report: Liz Friend
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Page 15
The day I fannied a World champion... Those Pétanquers of all na-tionalities lucky enough to live in southern France must think they're in heaven.
Within a 20 mile radius of my home village Collioure near Perpignan, you can find a competition to suit you every single day of the year; of course you need to be retired or not working... On any given day you can choose to play in a "mêlée" or a " formée ", dou-bles or triples. You would nor-mally start at 2.30 finishing at about 6.30 in time for your first aperitif. The local newspaper of course would publish details well in advance. This would be in addition to the more formal "national" competitions.
Tuesday is the day when such an event is run in Collioure. It attracts all the top players from the region, including Francois.
Francois is a legend in the area: twice a World Champion and twice a French singles champion in the Seventies. He is also a friendly, pleasant indi-vidual who, in this game, has experienced everything that can be experienced. Never says much during a game (good players seldom do), and never gets upset ... On Tues-day 29th April, I was drawn against him in the first round.
I played with a young lad I had not met before. I asked him what he wanted to do. He said
" shoot ". Having learnt that he plays prop forward in one of the many local rugby teams, I did not make a fuss and opted to point.
Francois did not have a very good game missing 2 out of the 15 boules he shot. But un-usually for him and more im-portantly for the game, he did not get a single carreau. With my shooter as good on the piste as he must be in a killer scrum, that was enough to give us the edge and we won 13-0.
Playing less formidable oppo-nents, we lost the next game 13-2 ! C'est la Pétanque!
Jean-Louis Guiot (Hartley pétanque)
Norma wins another competition — in Spain this time
We have just arrived back home
after 4 days playing pétanque in
Spain. We commenced play on
Tuesday morning at 9am and
finished on Thursday afternoon,
in my case not until gone 7pm as
I got to the final with Barbara
Potter from Hartley Country club.
There were 28 ladies doubles
and 64 men's triples and it was
brilliant weather. More so as Bar-
bara and I won the competition
450 Euros and these enormous
glass vases (see picture). It is
the first time that a British team
has won the competition and we
got wonderful appreciation from
the crowd and the biggest ap-
plause which is really nice.
We felt like film stars as they all
wanted to get a picture taken with
us, think it was the trophies that
they really wanted a picture of as
they are over two foot high! Bar-
bara stepped in at the last minute
as Margaret
from Guern-
sey has had a
operation for
Breast Cancer
and had to go
to London for
a few weeks
for Radio
T h e r a p y .
Poor old Stu-
art won only
two games all
week with his
triples team, he will have to try
harder next year.
Submitted by Norma Parkway (via Jack
Milner). Norma and Stuart Parkway are
ex-Kent players, now living in the South
of France
More from the “Lady of Kent” in the south of France
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
I played in the ladies triples Champion of the Herault competi-tion on the 24
th and
25th May. On the first
day it rained so hard that the terrains got water logged so we had to stop for about 40 minutes. When we commenced play it was on the car park in mud and gravel.
Dreadful conditions but we managed to get to the semi final that was played on 25th from 10.30am.
The weather is most odd for this time of the year, the locals are baffled and the vineyards have never had so much rain.
The boulodrome that
is normally closed for
the Summer was re-
opened for the com-
petition with the
men's doubles. Much
better in the dry and
the terrains were bet-
ter, we got to the final
but unfortunately lost
to a team that I had
beaten last year in the
ladies doubles. Obvi-
ously they had an ex-
tra player for the tri-
ples and she played
extremely well. At-
tached is a picture of
the trophies that we
won as “Vice Champi-
ons”, that's 2nd out of
40 teams. Still we
had a crowd of 200
wa t c h i n g
with 8 offi-
cials from
the Herault
region so it
was big
e v e n t .
Have to do
better next
year.
( E x - K e n t
p l a y e r ,
Norma Park-
way reports
via Jack and
Mo Milner)
Page 16
Kent Singles 13th June
The Kent Singles competition is being held at The George, Meo-pham on the evening of Friday 13th June.
Registration is from 7pm until 7:30 with play to start very shortly after. Steve Golder (pictured left) of Tovil is the current holder
One custom that
Norma came across
in this competition
which she had not ex-
perienced before, oc-
curred in the final. As
she prepared to start
the final match, one of
the officials came
across holding out his
hand. Norma as-
sumed he was being
polite and went to
shake it. He pulled
his hand away and
indicated she should
pass him the jack.
It seems the tradition
is for an official to
throw the first jack in
the final.
Has anyone else
come across this tra-
dition or any other
strange local activities
on the piste? Let The
Gazette know via the
contact details on
page 21.
What was he thinking?
Tovil’s Steve Golder has received confirmation that he has been ac-cepted as a contestant on “Are you Smarter than a 10-year-old?”.
Final details and actual involvement are still to be confirmed but we all wish Steve (pictured right) well.
Are you smart enough, Steve?
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Page 17
KPA Jun io r Pétanque Academy s ta r ted
The KPA Junior Acad-
emy started on Satur-
day 10th May at Tovil.
Unfortunately Ebbsfleet
FC played their FA Tro-
phy football match at
Wembley that day and
Madonna headlined an
event at Mote Park
Maidstone, so the
coaches outnumbered
the juniors. However,
the next event is at the
Villager, Vigo, on Satur-
day 14th June, from
10:30 to 1pm and eve-
ryone is welcome.
Juniors who are not
registered with the EPA
are especially welcome
and, if they enjoy them-
selves they can join for
as little as £3. KPA
Juniors who attend will
each get a special edi-
tion KPA Junior Pétan-
que Academy hoodie
(pictured right).
A mêlée competition will
also be held to select the
Kent Junior Champion
for 2008.
With coaches there from
10:30 even the more
experienced Juniors will
get something out of the
Academy so please en-
courage your children,
g randch i ld ren and
friends to come along on
the 14th June at 10:30 at
the Villager in Vigo.
Espo i r s we lcome
All Espoirs (18-23)should note that they are wel-come at the Academy days for any coaching advice or practice that they may wish to have.
Coaching will be by Kent’s Grade 3 coaches who will help with basic coaching needs.
Espoirs will not be part of the Academy, or receive the Academy top or be in the mêlée.
Despite dwindling jun-
ior numbers (they keep
getting older and there
are not enough new
c h i l d r e n c om i ng
through) the KPA is
committed to concen-
trate on youth in our
game and determined
to offer development
facilities and encour-
agement to our juniors
International Junior competit ions
(and their older Espoir
brothers and sisters).
The Junior Fund is well
supported and will be
used to fund atten-
dance at international
junior competitions
where possible.
Contact is being made
in France, the Nether-
lands, Germany and
the Czech Republic
regarding specific jun-
ior competitions for
later in 2008 and in
2009.
The KPA is consider-
ing holding its own in-
ternational Junior and
Espoir event in 2009.
KPA to help improve top players You don’t see Tiger
Woods or Roger
Federer ignoring
the advice of their
coaches – they
know that however
good you are, a
coach can always
help you get better.
So the KPA is plan-
ning a master-class
for coaching with a
top French coach.
It is never too late to
correct some of those
errors you are mak-
ing. The KPA will an-
nounce further details
in due course via the
website and The Ga-
zette.
It is hoped that our
top players will recog-
nise the value of
regular coaching and
take up the opportu-
nity to improve their
play setting an exam-
ple to the Juniors and
Espoirs.
This is part of the
KPA committee’s
plan to re-establish
Kent as the top UK
region , attracting the
best players
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Something in the water
(or could it be Bob's beer)?
Page 18
Who knows what was in the air nine months ago?? Was it that the Wheatsheaf won a game for a change? (Last season wasn't our best!)....
Anyway - nine months on - we now have two new additions to our future team - Emma and Nigel Mannering are the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy, Luca, and Louise and Steve Higgins are in the same position with the birth of Maisie, their lovely baby girl.
Thank heavens I didn't drink whatever Nigel and Steve drank that night! Congratula-tions to both families!
Lindsay Jardine – Wheatsheaf
Following doubts about the fu-ture of the pistes at the Plough and Chequers and despite re-assurances from the owners, the Plough and Chequers club has decided to move away from its venue because of a lack of support from the pub. For the remainder of this sum-mer season, the “home” league matches will be played on the Lordswood Sports and Social Club pistes. As yet, no long term decision on venue, club formation or name has been made.
As mentioned previously,
Michigan Pétanque Club in the
USA were attempting to beat
the world record for a continu-
ous game of pétanque. Over
the weekend of 23-25th May
they broke the previous record
by almost 8 hours, achieving
constant play (under the
guidelines of the Guinness
Book of Records) of 48 hours.
Surely we Brits can better that!
Enterprising business boulez-
vous.com are organising cor-
porate events around the coun-
try and are looking for associ-
ates to work with them and
earn some extra money at the
same time.
If you are interested, or want to
run a corporate event, go to
http://www.boulez-vous.com/
home.htm for more details.
World Record achieved
Club has moved (1)
Video clips online
A new French website with high quality video content has b e e n s e t u p a t www.petanquepassion.com
It will be charging for some content but the initial free vid-eos on line at the moment, while it is still under construc-tion, are worth having a look.
Also check out pétanque video clips on YouTube.
Club has moved (2)
Due to forthcoming building works, our Club has had to re-locate to a new venue and changed its name from Hilden Park PC to George & Dragon PC Five Oak Green Road Tudeley Kent TN11 0PW
Roland Baumann, Club Secretary
The FIPJP website reports that
“due to recent events in China
[the earthquake], the Chinese
Federation can not ensure the
Women's World Champion-
ships this year. The F.I.P.J.P.
[is] working to find an organizer
who can handle the organiza-
tion of Women's Champion-
ships 2008.”
It is rumoured that Turkey and
France are being considered.
Anyone for boule?
Women’s World’s in doubt
Junior Funds
The Junior Fund was boosted by a donation from the KPA Winter League of their surplus £196.
In addition, the organisers of the raffle at the Hartley Re-gional Qualifier report a dona-tion of £62 to the fund. They thank everyone who took part.
The title of EPA Junior Shoot-
ing Champion moved from
Kent in 2008. Last year’s win-
ner, Phil Jarrett is no longer a
junior and Matt Sylvester from
Southern Region took his
crown.
Kent Junior, Gary Atkinson
(George), came 5th with Alex
Bruce, (Vale Tavern) usually a
sure bet for a high shooting
score, coming 6th this time.
Next came Elliott Fribbens
(George) in equal 14th with
Daniel Rudden (Lordswood),
also 14th, Ben Littley (Villager)
1 6t h, R y a n R u d d e n
(Lordswood) 25th and Josh
Littley (Villager) 27th.
It seems more shooting prac-
tice is required.
Junior Shooters
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Page 19
Jack Milner raised the issue of photographing juniors at the re-cent EPA junior competitions. This is a sensitive area that other sports have addressed.
The following response was re-ceived from Mike Pegg, EPA President.
“We are forced into having a pol-icy of not permitting just anyone to take photographs of juniors/cadets/minors during an EPA event.
We now have a form which in fu-
ture will be sent to parents asking
for their consent to have photos
taken of their child for publicity
purposes.
Having a “statement” or anything
else on an entry form seeking a
parent’s signature to allow photo-
graphs to be taken of their child
would be open to manipulation;
this idea has not been considered
suitable for our use.
Photographing Juniors — the debate You may not be aware but any
newspaper or television camera
man/reporter will have proof of
who they are and will ask if it is
OK to take shots of juniors and in
some cases adults as well.”
The KPA management committee has decided to put notices at KPA competitions advising parents that photographs may be taken during the event so they should advise the organisers if they ob-ject.
World Championships at risk? With the 2008 World champi-
onships being held in Senegal,
the EPA is keeping an eye on
the situation in the country
which has had periods of insta-
bility in the past.
It is recommending keeping up
to date on the Commonwealth
and Foreign Office website
which currently advises “Most
visits to Senegal are trouble-
free”.
Gift Bags please
Lynn Shrimpton is collecting gift
bags as a means of raising
funds for a Breast Cancer char-
ity. Have you received a pre-
sent in one of these attractive
(and expensive) gift bags? Pos-
sibly something sparkling or
sparkly? Well, keep the present
but hand in the bag to Lyn
Shrimpton at the next Regional
as she can turn that bag into
money for charity.
Cadets & Minors
The EPA Cadet and Minor
day has been postponed
from 14th June to 12th July at
Adur Pétanque Club, Lanc-
ing, Sussex.
The aim is to have a “come
and try” all-day family event
from mid-morning.
Cadets are under 14 on 31st
December and Minors are
under 11.
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Page 20
What’s on in June and July?
Your emails are very welcome and we will always publish your thoughts and comments (assuming they are publishable and you wish them to be shared). Please send your emails for publication to [email protected] Letters are also welcome at the address on Page 21.
Amazingly, no letters or emails have been re-ceived for this issue.
Come on, there must be something you want to rant about—the new
Your letters and emails
Organisers - please remember to send reports and pictures to The Gazette
Regional Qualifier for-mat, the cancellation of the Espoirs because of the weather, photo-graphing juniors, the management of the KPA, the fixture con-
gestion, the KPL or-ganisation, the EPA officials, umpiring deci-sions?
Whatever gets your goat, send us a note!
Note — dates and venues can change. Please confirm with organisers before travelling. Also note that EPA events require pre-registration. For the full calendar, go to www.kentpetanque.org/KentPetanqueAssociation/KPAFixMaster.htm
British & International Events
EPA - English National Events
KPA - Kent County Events
Kent Club Events Junior Events
June 2008
Sun 1st KPA County Qualifier 2 Hartley Triples
Sun 8th EPA Triples Championship: Top 16 Harrow PC Triples
Sun 8th NAF Cup Harriers, Tovil WMC Triples
Fri 13th KPA Singles Championship The George, Meopham-Evening Competition Singles
Sat 14th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session The Villager, Vigo Mêlée
Sun 15th Mossy's Doubles Old Sheaf - Mossy's Bar, Chatham Doubles
Sun 22nd KPA County Qualifier 3 Hartley Triples
26th - 28
th North Sea Championship Copenhagen, Denmark Triples
Sun 29th Lordswood Open Triples Lordswood S&SC Triples
July 2008
Sun 6th EPA Home Nations Qualifier Princes Park, Dartford, Kent Triples
Sun 6th Bastille Day Triples The Villager, Vigo Triples
Sat 12th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session Hartley Mêlée
Sun 13th KPA County Qualifier 4 Lordswood S&SC Triples
Sun 20th KPA Doubles Championship George, Meopham Doubles
Sun 27th EPA Ladies Triples (top 8) Harrow PC Triples
Sun 27th Town Trophy Crowborough Doubles
Page 21
Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29
Don’t forget the Chairman’s Cup
It is not too late to join the Regional Qualifier competition.
Although it may be a little difficult to gain one of the top spots with only two qualifiers remaining, remember that 14 go to Brean and the teams who do not qualify for Brean will still be automatically entered into the Chairman’s Cup com-petition at Lordswood on 13
th September (and for free).
With a top prize of £150, it is still worth turning up to the remaining regionals at Hartley (22
nd June) and Lordswood
(13th July).
And some teams will also be selected to represent Kent in the annual Nord Maritime competition on 16
th August (also
at Lordswood).
At the Chairman’s Cup we will also be holding the finals of
the Academy mêlée competition and will be awarding
prizes to our top juniors.
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The views expressed in the KE�T PÉTA�-QUE GAZETTE are those of the editor and contributors only. They do not, neces-
sarily, reflect the views of the Kent Pétan-
que Association, or the English Pétanque
Association
The Kent Pétanque Gazette is edited by:
Martyn Fribbens
Any items for inclusion should be sent to:
The Editor, Kent Pétanque Gazette, 16
Old Downs, Hartley, Longfield, Kent
DA3 7AA
Tel : 01474 707280
E-mail : [email protected]
The feedback the KPA received
from the Danish visitors to the ab
fab Flowers Kent Classic at Det-
ling was “excellent competition,
top quality teams, challenging ter-
rains and well organised. Can it
be made into a 2 day competition
next year?”
The KPA is looking at possibly
holding an informal doubles com-
petition on the Saturday next year,
starting after lunch. This will de-
pend on enough officials being
Detling feedback from Denmark
Kent Members 2008
As at 31st May 2008 the member-
ship for 2008 saw 696 adults reg-
istered together with just 19 jun-
iors, located in 39 clubs. This is
over 50 down on last year.