Of men, women and boules

“If you’re losing, just be a man; be a man and lose as a man.” Marat Safin

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Pétanque is a game that is usually played in formations of 2 or 3 players per team.
In “singles” events though, for better or for worse, you are on your own.
If you lose you have nobody to blame but yourself and you might discover (surprise) that you are not as hot as you thought you were.
For some, it can be a sobering experience.

sugarbabyBut no matter what, Lady Luck has to smile on you.
If she is grumpy, boules will behave unpredictably. At the last second they might veer to the right or to the left and miss the intended target by a wide margin.
On the other hand, if the Bitch Lady fancies you, no matter how badly you play you will come ahead.

Mental preparation is very important.
Personally, before a big tournament I lay flowers, food and perfume on the Lady’s altar.
I also shave my head, burn incense and assume the Lotus Position.
It is said that it enhances concentration, increases motivation, boosts confidence and heightens sexual desire (do I need this before a game?). Never mind…
And then I intone a powerful mantra: “the pox on my opponents, the pox on my opponents…”
If I lose (perish the thought), I would like to think that I have done everything to win.

The biggest thing I learned from losing? Winning’s better. Ted Turner

But I am digressing…

In last Sunday’s tournament the men competitors were as follows:

  1. Alain Efron, 2. Bee Moua, 3. Ed Porto, 4. Brendan Cohen, 5. Phominik Lee, 6. Yor Lee, 7. Henry Wessel, 8. Noel Marcovechio, 9. Kevin Evoy, 10. Patrick Vaslet, 11. Philippe Arnaud, 12. Paul Yang, 13. Wolfie Kurz, 14. Jean Claude Etallaz, 15. Mickey Coughlin, 16. Paul Moua, 17. Pao Ly, 18. Bleys Rose, 19. Louis Toulon, 20. Brian Williams, 21. Chan Xiong, 22. J.M. Poulnot, 23. Jer Thao, 24. Peter Mathis, 25. Alan Bauermeister.

On the women side we had:

1.Teri Sirico, 2. Holly Sammons, 3. Marie-Anne Curley, 4. Chia Vang, 5. Brigitte Moran, 6. Christine Cragg, 7. Shannon Bowman, 8. Sabine Mattei, 9. Carolina Jones, 10. Lisa Vaughn.

Three games were played in the morning to separate the hot shots from the small fry. The “hot shots” qualified for the Concours and the small fry played in the Consolante.

My personal tragedy odyssey: on my first game I was pounded to the ground 1/13 by Mickey Coughlin, the ogre of the Redwood Empire. Very inauspicious beginning.
On my second game I faced a friendly fellow named Paul Moua and I managed to win 13/4.
On my third game, I faced tenacious Bleys Rose and finally managed to subjugate(?) him 13/10.
I  managed to qualify for the Concours.

In the afternoon I came across Wolfie Kurz and it was a tight game until the end where he was leading 10/9.
At this time, the game could have swung both ways.
On my last hand, I pointed very poorly and Wolfie took advantage of me. He beat me 13/9.
I was out of the tournament.

It was time to put Sneaky Pete and Big bertha to work.

On the men side, in the semi-finals:
Paul Yang beat Mickey Coughlin 13/4
Louis Toulon beat Peter Mathis 13/8

In the men’s’ final, Louis Toulon faced Paul Yang.
It was a great match and the final score was in doubt until the very end of the set.

Louis Toulon (a veteran player) held his own against Paul, a gifted and very nice fellow.
Both players played extremely well and the crowd roared its approval.
Paul Yang finally won by a score of 13/11.

IMG_8344

Great match. A pleasure to watch.

The women’s finals were also extremely exciting.
Holly Sammons faced Chia Vang (Paul’s wife) and the game was also extremely close.
Holly finally managed to clutch the title by a score of 13/11.

In the Concours:

1st place: Paul Yang
2nd place: Louis Toulon
3rd place: Kevin Evoy

In the Consolante:

1st place: Patrick Vaslet
2nd place: Alan Bauermeister
3rd place: Brendan Cohen

On the Women’s side:

Concours:

1st place: Holly sammons
2nd place Chia Vang
3rd place: Carolina Jones

Consolante:

1st place; Lisa Vaughn
2nd place: Christine Cragg

It was a great day of pétanque. Those who didn’t show up missed a great tournament.

Enjoy the pictures.

Alain

PS: On a more serious note:

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