Wednesday, April 10, 2013

5th Annual Heart Of Texas Petanque Open Doublette



5th Annual Heart Of Texas Petanque Open Doublette

The Heart of Texas Petanque Club held its 5th Annual HOT Petanque Open on Saturday April 6th 2013. 32 teams from coast to coast descended on Austin to compete for cash & prizes and the honor of having your name engraved on the HOT Open Trophy. Teams from Maine, California, New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado, Canada & France were represented, as well as Texas with teams from Dallas, San Antonio and Austin.
 

The day started chilly with an overcast sky. After 3 qualifying games in group play, the field was split into concours and consolante. By afternoon the sun was out but the wind had picked up, blowing dirt around and making it harder to focus. The final once again pitted Heart of Texas against Dallas Petanque. After falling behind 0-6 to the strong Dallas team, the Heart of Texans battled back, eventually pulling ahead 9-8. In the final round, with Dallas out of boules and Heart's 12th point on the ground, Heart of Texas has 2 boules left to win the game. With the last boule, the jack is pushed back (yikes)...... to HOT's own boules (whew) making 2 points, and winning the match. When all was said and done, a great time was had by all.
 

The following day, Zaytouna Lounge hosted their monthly petanque tournament to coincide with the HOT OPEN weekend. 24 teams, many from the previous day, showed up to compete. After 5 qualifying rounds, 8 teams moved on to the 1/4 finals. At the end of the day, another team from Heart of Texas won the day over a talented San Antonio team.

Its wonderful to see the level of play rising here in the Lone Star State. Y'all should come see us now, y'hear?


HOT Petanque Open results:
First place: Christophe Chambers / Rick Armstrong  (Austin)
Second place: Richard Fernandez / Patrick Blanco  (Dallas)

Third place: Greg Schryver / Lucas McClure  (Austin)

Consolante:
First place: Michel Costa / Nicolas Bienvenu    (San Antonio)
Second place: Tommy Wood / Michael Kaufman  (Austin)
Third place: Amy Bienvenu / Francis Perrin    (San Antonio)

Zaytouna Tourney results:
First Place: Amine Najah and Arsene Dupin  (Austin)
Second place: Nicolas Bienvenu and Michel Costa   (San Antonio)
Third place: Bill Baker and Cesar Maksoud  (Dallas)


(Photos courtesy Arsene Dupin)

2013 HOT Petanque Tournament participants

Trophy Table
The Hangar in action
HOT Petanque Open Winners: Christophe & Rick
2nd Place:  Patrick & Richard
3rd Place: Greg & Lucas
Consolante Winners:  Michel & Nicolas
Consolante 2nd Place:  Tommy & Michael
Consolante 3rd Place: Francis & Amy
Zaytouna Lounge
third round action
Zaytouna Winners:  Amine & Arsene
2nd Place: Nicolas & Michel
3rd Place: Cesar & Bill