Dial up - English Petanque Association

EPA Junior Qualifier
The first round of the EPA Junior Qualifiers was held
at Adur PC on 19 th April. The entry was low, with just
5 teams but given the current economic climate this
was not totally unexpected. However what the event
lacked in quantity it was more than made up for in
quality.
Spectator John Edmondson (East Midlands)
commented on the TalkingBoule web site:
“The members that made up those teams were of
exceptional quality, from their standard of play, their
attitude towards other players and their desire to
win.”
“I don’t normally like watching games as I'd rather
be playing, but I sat there from 8.45am until 6pm and
didn’t miss a boule. These Juniors can easily give
many a senior player a run for their money. If that’s
the standard that’s coming through then our sport is
in good hands for the future.”
The new format being used this year, in line with that
being used for International events, was that each
team had to consist of 4 players. The format was a
snake with each match consisting of a triple and a
single match taking place followed by 2 doubles
matches.
The juniors seemed to enjoy the new format
commenting that it "mixed it up" and "you get a
chance to show off your skills in singles and
doubles".
Below are the standings after the first event:
Posn Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4
1 Max Samual Ross James Reece
O'Rourke Blakey
Gould
2 Emma Amy Emma Georgie
Longstaff Huntley Stockbridge Wright
3 Sam Callum Mike Priest Martin
Thatcher Lombard
Brooks
4 Ben Josh Littley Alex Bruce Gary
Littley
Atkinson
5 Rachel Joshua Philip Paul
Massey Tombleson Hamilton Fernley
The second event will be held at Lordswood on 14 th
June with the third and final event at British Sugar,
Bury-St-Edmunds on 14 th July.
EPA Espoir Qualifier
The first round of the EPA Espoir (Under 23)
Qualifiers was due to be held alongside the Junior
event at Adur PC on 19 th April. Sadly this had to be
cancelled due to a lack of entries.
5
The EPA Ladies International Qualifying Series for
2009 ‘coched off’ at Thurmaston on 26 th April.
Twenty teams took part which was a 17.5% increase
on the corresponding event last year and saw 10
regions represented.
The only undefeated team on the day, with 5 wins,
were the team of Angie Jamieson, Vanessa Webb and
Deborah Elcome (Kent/Eastern/Southern). While two
teams – Chris Best, Angie Gaughan & Claire Bicknell
(Northern) and Viv Middleton-Sams, Clare Courtney
& Wendy Ridehalgh (Eastern) - finished on 4 wins
apiece.
The second qualifier took place at Harrow on 22 nd
May. This saw a reduced entry of 15 teams and a
marked change in the weather with constant showers
throughout the day.
Once again the team of Jamieson, Webb and Elcome
remained undefeated to finish as No.1 seeds. With
their 4 wins on the day Southern’s Liz Farrow, Julie
Beckett and Roz Silvester finished in clear second
place. Seven teams finished the series on six wins
each with the Eastern team of Middleton-Sams,
Courtney & Ridehalgh just missing out on the Top 8.
The top 8 teams from this series of qualifiers (listed
below) will now play a one day event on 21 st June
(venue to be announced) to decide which team will be
invited to represent the English Pétanque Association
at the 2009 Women’s World Championship. The
format for the EPA’s Women’s Top 8 will be
“Rolling Barrage” followed by Knock out rounds.
Ladies Top 8:
Posn Team Members
1 A.Jamieson, V.Webb, D.Elcome
2 L.Farrow, J, Beckett, R.Silvester
3 C.Best, A.Gaughan, C.Bicknell
4 E.Jones, S.Fane, L.Ciano, P.Treend
5 V.Marshall, V.Lloyd, T. Beadsmore, K.James
6 F.Golder, S.King, L.Shrimpton, B.Sharratt
7 L.Edmondson, E.Longstaff, K.Brooks, K.Lachani
8 M.Huntley, S.Huntley, A.Huntley J.Cooter