Petanque America Open 2009

http://petanqueamericaopen.blogspot.com/2009/11/vincent-canto-1960-2009.html

I hope many of you read Petanque America's blog on a regular basis as I do. For those of you who may have missed it, there was a great story recently about a man who made such a significant contribution to the sport of petanque that Philippe Boets, owner of Petanque America, decided that the world needed to hear about it. Please take a moment to follow the link above to a truly heartwarming story.

Now for the amazing part-- Shirley and I were honored on Sunday night to meet Stephanie Canto in person at the awards presentation program in Amelia Island, Florida, subsequent to the day's playing of the 2009 Petanque America Open. After which, we were surprised to be named the first annual recipients of the Vincent Canto award! Thank you so much, Philippe. And, even more important, thank you, Stephanie, for being so gracious to us. We don't pretend to come close to living up to the achievements of Vincent, for whom the award is named, but we were certainly honored to be named the first-ever recipients.

And now, a few bits of news of those you know. CarolinaPetanque was well represented at the tournament. Participating :


Terry & Sue, Tom & Carol, Augustine & Mark, Juan & Cameron, Bob & Donna, Kirk, Khalid, Steve and Trey, Bob & Josh, and Gary & Shirley. Making a total of ten teams with a Carolina connection.

Everyone played well and made us proud. After Saturday's play, Khalid ( with Joseph Hassoune from La Boule New Yorkaise), Augustine & Mark, Steve & Trey, and Shirley & myself all found ourselves advancing to the Concours bracket. This consisted of the top two teams from each pool and a couple of wild card teams. There were 32 teams in the Concours. The rest of the field, nearly 60 teams, made up the Consolante.

The first round of Concours play on Sunday determined whether teams remained in the Concours or fell to the Concours Consolante.

The first round of Consolante play slotted winners into Consolante A and losers into Consolante B. Thus, with the final brackets now set, single elimination play began.

I am happy to report that Khalid & Josef made it to the semi-finals in Concours Consolante and finished third in that bracket. And Bob & Josh finished fourth in Consolante B. Two Carolina teams "in the money" ! Great job, guys.

It was an absolutely fabulous week and I'm sure everyone joins me in thanking Philippe for making it all happen. Oh, and a special thanks to Christophe Chambers for a superb job as tournament director.

Don't forget to check the link in the top right hand corner for Shirley's pictures. They will give you an idea of the flavor of the tournament, but you really had to be there!


Finally, congratulations to Claudy Weibel and Xavier Thibaud, the Champions. You can't believe how well players at their level play until you see it for yourself. It's certainly not the same game that we play at the local club level and it's spectacular to see.