Melbourne team wins petanque tournament

A perfect weekend greeted good numbers for the 23rd Annual Coonawarra Vignerons Classic Clash Petanque Tournament held over the weekend of February 8 and 9, which again was hailed a huge success by all who attended.

The tournament provided some fierce interstate rivalry between South Australian, Victorian, New South Wales and Local teams over the two days of the competition.

The Coonawarra Petanque Club has becoming recognised for holding one of the biggest and best ‘Triples’ tournaments in Australia, and with the help of the Coonawarra Grape & Wine Association and other local sponsors, teams vied for over $6000 in cash and prizes, and Championship honours.

The extremely successful weekend had 190 players entered, with 59 teams in the competition, creating a great atmosphere and some spirited ‘clashes’ over the two days.

Regular visitor to the tournament Deborah Hicks, from Avoca, said this is such a great weekend at Coonawarra with the friendly atmosphere, the surrounds and standard of the competitors all being brilliant. “It is a fun, but very competitive event,” she said.

On Saturday, teams played six qualifying rounds to determine the best teams to go into the Top 16 for the Principale and Consulante competition. Several teams won all six games, putting them in an ideal spot for the rankings the next day. The local team Mark Heyn, Simon Fennel and Jean-Jaques Lale did very well to finish in 14th place.

On Sunday, the games got a bit more serious, with the final rounds of the tournament showing an exceptionally high standard of play.

In front of a crowd of more than 150 spectators, two Melbourne teams played off in the grand final, with several of the players having represented Australia in many international competitions, it was a very tight and close fought game, displaying some great petanque skills with a final score of 13 – 10 and the Championship going to Vincent Bulone, Yili Han,and Chantrea Oum.

The best local results of the weekend came from Mark Heyn, Simon Fennel and Jean-Jaques Lale who maintained their 14th place and then Grant Hetherington, Nathan Reeves and Rob Drysdale finishing a respectable 21st outright.

Coonawarra Petanque Club president Guy Detot said it was great to see the so many people come to this event.

“The whole weekend has been beautiful with some exceptional petanque being played,” Guy said. “Over the past 23 years, our club has created a truly special event which has been tremendous for the whole region.”