« Les jours se suivent mais ne se ressemblent pas. »
Roughly translated this means “Days go by, yet each one is different.”
Unlike previous days, yesterday was a rather odd event for me. I arrived at the field around 8:30 am, and while trying to pay the entry fee to the tournament, I suddenly realized that I had left my wallet at home. This should have told me right away that the stars were out of alignment.
The command bunker by the way, was manned by our bionic president Christine Cragg and lieutenant Mike O’Leary.
The day was a little overcast and the field rather on the damp side; experienced players know that playing on a spongy field can be rather unforgiving. If you are not mindful, your boule will bounce and jump over its target… and as predicted it happened quite a few times.
If you want to win, you absolutely need to know how to “plomber”.
Eighteen (18) select doubles signed up for the tournament, some heavyweight among them.
Around 9:30 Christine gave us the customary briefing: 3 timed games in the morning and Concours and Consolante in the afternoon.
My battle plan was as usual, to play the best I could in the morning, end up in the Consolante in the afternoon and spend the rest of day recording the action. I am realistic enough to know that I don’t stand a chance playing against the Big Boys in the Concours.
My teammate by the way, was renown pointer Tamara Simeonovna (also known as my better half). As luck would have it, Tamara played too well (we won 2 games – 13/7 and 13/7 – out of 3) and we ended up in the Concours.
After lunch, we donned our bulletproof vests again and looked for our opponents. They turned out to be Kevin Evoy and Christophe Sarafian, two tough customers who would eventually end up in the Finals. While not really wishing to remain in the Concours, we also did not want to give away the game. We battled hard, and until the end, the outcome remained in the balance. Kevin and Christophe finally won 13/10, but had to fight hard to subdue us.
OK, I was then free to indulge in another of my favorite pastime, photography. When shooting tournaments, I usually carry two cameras. One small one for proximity shots, and another heavier, more sophisticated apparel for discreet long-distance shots.
I pulled out Big Bertha out of my bag and I suddenly realized that the battery was dead… and that I forgot to pack a spare. I would have to continue shooting with Sneaky Pete, not my favorite option for action shots.
The games went on all afternoon and we finally reached the Concours Finals.
In this decisive game, Peter Mathis and Dave Lanter faced Christophe Sarafian and Kevin Evoy, a fairly even matched game.
Again, while playing on a wet field, it is essential to know how to “plomber” and both Peter and Christophe were good at it.
Peter proved to be a more versatile player than his opponents. He could point, shoot and “plomber” whenever the situation demanded it, while his opponents could not.
Christophe also did a very good job, but Kevin proved erratic.
After a rather uneventful match, Peter and Dave finally defeated Christophe and Kevin 13/5.
Concours
1st place: Peter Mathis and Dave Lanter
2nd place: Christophe Sarafian and Kevin Evoy
3rd place: Wolfie Kurz and Wetzel
Consolante
1st place: Maryanne Curley and Sandra Shirkey
2nd place: Noel Marcovecchio and Brigitte Davantes
Alain
PS: Pether Mathis gave back his prize money to the club. A classy move. Thank you champ!
Feel free to download any of my pictures, but when posting any of them on social media, please include photo credit (Photos by Alain Efron). Thank you.