Unlike the recent Singles, the weather for the State Triples Championship was nigh on perfect for a day of petanque. However, with the very dry conditions we’ve had this summer, the ground was rock hard and the ESP terrain was even more challenging than usual. Nevertheless, there were plenty of players up to the challenge.
At the end of the day, it came down to the only two teams to have gone undefeated through five rounds of games. Deb Rodda, Selina Dally & Haejung Jang, well into their preparation for the upcoming TransTasman competition in NZ, were vying to become just the second all-female team to win this event. However, that was not to be. They got very close, after some memorable victories in the prelim rounds, but had to leave with the runners-up trophies after coming up against an irresistible force in the grand final.
That ‘irresistible force’ came in the form of Ray Drummond, Lionel Pujol & Dominique Pierre, the new state champions. This trio swept all before them and capped it off with a resounding win in the final. Special congratulations go to Ray, who has been in top form for quite some time now, on winning his first state championship. This is also Lionel’s first win in this event – another feather in his cap. As for Dominique, it will make his trophy cabinet look very neat and tidy. Dom now has exactly two State Open titles in each of Singles, Doubles & Triples, along with two in the Mixed Doubles. He is just the second person to achieve this double quadrella.*
Congratulations to all the winners, including the consolation divisions. Thanks to Brett Williams for once again taking on the umpiring duties and to the Eastern Suburbs club for hosting the event.
*[ It may not have been mentioned at the time, but the first to complete the double quadrella was Van Nguyen, when he won the State Doubles last October. At present, Van has also won exactly two of each. ]
Download the full scores (PDF): Scores-2024-25-State-Triples.pdf