International flavour for petanque tournament

The clashing of steel balls, screams of excitement, and sometimes despair, and the popping of corks echoed around the Coonawarra Park earlier this month, with more than 230 people attending the Coonawarra Vignerons Classic Clash Petanque Tournament.

Coonawarra Petanque Club held its 22nd annual Triples Tournament, which was played in almost ideal conditions over the two days, and with the help of the Coonawarra Vignerons Association and other local sponsors, 61 teams were vying for more than $6000 in cash and prizes.

The interstate rivalry between South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales was further enhanced this year with teams from Thailand and New Zealand competing, adding an international flair to the event.

‘We always enjoy coming to Coonawarra for this weekend, the friendly atmosphere and standard of the competitors is excellent. It is a fun, but very competitive event,” Gary Buckingham, from Apollo Bay, a regular visitor to the tournament, said.

The final of the tournament was a quick affair, with Team Thailand who had shown great form all weekend, outclassing another of their compatriot teams 13 – 1. T

he skills and accuracy of the game were certainly displayed in this match, with one of the winners already being a two times World Champion player.

Local team of Guy Detot, Brian Wagner and Andrew Jackman had a very good weekend and were placed a very commendable 12th outright for the tournament.

The whole weekend was hailed as a huge success and has become recognised as one of the biggest and best tournaments in Australia.

“It was really beautiful to see so many people coming along to supporting the event, with many of our visitors already saying they will be back next year,” Coonawarra Petanque Club president Guy Detot said.

The French game of petanque is a similar bowling game to the English Lawn Bowls or the Italian version called Bocce, and was introduced to Australia mainly by French expatriates.

It has now been recognised enthusiastically by people of all ages and origins, with the beauty in the simplicity of the rules and that it can be played almost anywhere for a bit of fun.