Events
The Home Nations Petanque Competition 2018

Details

The Jersey Pétanque Association is proud to host the most prestigious pétanque event ever held in the Channel Islands. The cream of British pétanque players from England, Scotland and Wales will be joining their counterparts from Jersey in a four-way tournament over two days on the weekend of August 4th/5th. England has won the competition every year since its inception in the year 2000 but this is the first time they’ve defended their title in Jersey.

Hosting the Home Nations tournament in August is the biggest event in the 30-plus year history of playing pétanque in Jersey. It’s a huge financial and organisational undertaking for the Jersey Pétanque Association mindful of the need to showcase the Island as a top-flight sporting destination. Around a hundred people will be visiting the island staying at four local hotels.

To accommodate all those attending the event, extra stands will be in place and a marquee will be erected to provide extra space. Competitors will be given lunches with a unique Jersey flavour. On the menu will be Jersey Bean Crock, Jersey Royals and Jersey Wonders, all served between 12.30-2pm on both days. There will be a licensed bar offering refreshments to all-comers and there will be a special scoring cabin in place to enable journalists to update the progress of the event.

Each of the three visiting nations will be bringing 24 players plus reserves, supporters and administrators to Jersey for the competition on the terrains of Jersey Pétanque Club at Les Quennevais. They’ll take part in a series of triples matches (three players on each team). Spectators will also be welcome and they won’t be charged to attend

It’s the third year Jersey has been invited to take part in the competition. Island players made their mark in Scotland in 2016 tying for third place with Wales behind Scotland and England. Last year at Hayling Island in Hampshire the Jersey squad came second to England. With home advantage and the fact that there’ll be a bigger pool of players to select from (some of the senior players weren’t able to travel to England last summer) Jersey will never have a better chance to end England’s dominance.

However JPA chairman Andy Limbrick knows it’s going to be a tall order. “Much of the credit for our success last year must go to our new approach to tackling major competitions with a more professional selection process and a rigorous training programme for the players chosen to compete at the top level,” he said.

“However what Team Jersey had going for them last year in England were camaraderie and a spirit of mutual support that was the envy of the other nations. But we’re only too well aware how strong the English team will be – they’re not going to give up their 17-year winning streak easily. And Scotland and Wales will be thirsting for revenge after we finished ahead of them last year.”

The best performing Jersey trio both in England and in Scotland the previous year were Andrew Bellamy-Burt, Alan Oliveria and Callum Stewart. Last year they won nine out of their twelve games. Their defeats all came against English threesomes. Andrew said: “We had some really close games against the English teams and it was really frustrating to lose out each time, but playing on our home terrain may just give us an edge.”

Each day’s play will begin at 9am and is expected to continue until well into the evening. It’s difficult at this stage to estimate when the final result will be known on the Sunday evening. The prize-giving ceremony will take place immediately afterwards. The finish time below is not necessarily accurate.

Sports: Petanque

Level: Experienced