Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29 June 2008 KENT … · mates, Philip Jarrett and Charles Fribbens ... days in 2008 so far, the sec- ... tion and wine in the Plate competition

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

Page 2

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.


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


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

Page 5


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

Page 6


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

Page 7


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

Page 8


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


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


9 Janet Davenport Mark Cooter Corinne Cooter 22 3 12


11= Colin Senneck Joyce Nash Mick Nash 18.5 3 9

11= David Baxter Margaret Bradley Linda Bradley 18.5 3 9


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

Page 9


Kent Regional Qualifier standings after 1 &2 Pos Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Q1 Q2 Total


2 Keith Atkinson Gary Atkinson Kevin Atkinson Rowland Jones 30 30 60


4 Colin Senneck Joyce Nash Mick Nash 35 18.5 53.5


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


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

Page 10


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


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


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?

Page 13


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


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


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


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?


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


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


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.


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


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.

Embroidery Depot

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Embroidery Depot are able to supply and machine embroider a wide range of polo shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, rugby shirts, fleece, jackets, caps, bags, towels, flags and other garments, sew or iron-on badges.

• Pétanque Clothing

• Work wear

• Corporate wear

• Sports wear

• Equestrian/Pets

• Gifts

• Logo Digitising £25

• Online Catalogue

• No job is too small

Embroidery Depot supplier

and embroiderer of your logos

onto a wide range of clothing

and gift ideas.

15% off your

pétanque

orders

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.

Documents

Kent Pétanque Gazette Issue 29 June 2008 KENT … · mates, Philip Jarrett and Charles Fribbens ... days in 2008 so far, the sec- ... tion and wine in the Plate competition