8th National de la Ville de Caen

With the calendar year drawing to a close, November sees some of the last major pétanque events of the year played out. The city of Caen hosted its 8th “National de la Ville de Caen”, with over 500 teams and 2000 players from mostly Northern France converging on the city.

With the tournament being open to holders of any FIPJP license, the competition saw the inclusion of a handful of teams from the south of England who made the journey across the channel.

We caught up with one of those teams, Scott Ashby, Dean Ashby & Jason White on the Saturday afternoon. After a tough morning in the poules section of the tournament losing out narrowly to 12 and 11, they found themselves in the B section of the knockout stage. Whilst a couple of convincing victories (13-1 & 13-5) followed to make some good progress, it ultimately wasn't to be for the English team. A 13-8 defeat in the last 32 put an end to their hopes of conquest.

The event itself was held inside Caen exposition hall. Concrete floors were covered in a layer of gravel with boarded and strung out lanes turning the whole venue into a temporary boulodrome. Proving that with a little imagination and some forward planning, pétanque really can be played just about anywhere. Although indoors, it was still a cold and hazy experience with players wrapped up warm, but still displaying their club colours.

In addition to the tournament, there was a good showing from some of the biggest brands in the sport. The Obut truck was in town with their excellent range of products, including their fancy new trainers. With Famille Rocher and Philippe Quintais also represented, selling their custom branded clothing gear.

An excellent weekend of some fierce and high level pétanque, came to a climactic end with the meeting of Malagasy internationals and the team of Dylan Rocher, Philippe Quintais and Marc Perez in the final. In a match that truly could have gone either way, team Rocher came out eventual winners in a thrilling contest ending 13-8.