Round 3 was hosted by the Gawler club in fine conditions. The November sun was blazing, so the ample provision of shelters was most appreciated, but the air temperature was not too uncomfortable. Twenty-three teams participated, which was the best attendance at Gawler since 2008.

This season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive we have seen for some time. On this occasion, for the second time in a row, five different clubs were represented in the top five finishing positions.

Taking out the bronze medals were Dave Ward, Tory McBride & Lionel Pujol, from Eastern Suburbs. Having won a League round in each of the last four seasons, this team was perfectly poised to extend that remarkable record into a fifth year, but, at the end of the day, weren’t quite able to seal the deal. (Three rounds down and three to go). In the silver medal position was the local team of Dave McKinnon, Glenis Head & Stan Wilson. It’s the second medal for Glenis so far this season, but for Dave it was the first of his pétanquing career. Congratulations. Nevertheless, there was only one undefeated team on the day and that was the reigning state champion combination of Ralph Foster, Brian Tuckfield & Anthony Pietsch, taking some Interclub gold up to ‘them thar Hills’ for the first time in over five years.

These results have given the premiership table quite a shake-up. Gawler doubled their points tally for the season and moved up to sixth place, with a healthy advantage over FAB. Prospect also scored well and climbed two places to fourth, leaving Novar Gardens squeezed in between with a very slender margin on both sides. At the top of the table, a severely depleted ESP squad did enough to maintain their prime position, but they lost ground against their three nearest rivals. Of these, the biggest winner of Round 3 was Adelaide Hills, who have stormed into second place ahead of Club d’Adelaide and are now positioned closer to first than to third. All in all, the remainder of this season promises to be most intriguing.

Thanks to all who attended, to the umpires, and to the small but dedicated Gawler crew who took good care of us on the day.

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The renaissance of SA pétanque continued in Round 2 with a population explosion. Undeterred by the threat of showers (which fortunately stayed away for the most part), a staggering turn-out of 87 players took to the pistes at Novar Gardens. That’s 15 more than in Round 1, which in turn had the most we’d seen for over a decade.

Five different clubs were represented in the top five positions, but the winning team was the highly-credentialled and experienced trio of Selina Dally, Wendy Bensen & Maurice Belz, from ESP. No surprises there. However, also on the podium were some of the newer entrants to the field and potential stars of the future. In second place, and all taking home their first League medal, were Mike Read, Ashton Claridge & Mal Bedsonfrom the Adelaide Hills club. Bronze went to the Novar Gardens team of Jonathan Giddings, Bruce Lucas & Jean-Luc Gonnet, with Bruce also registering a personal best. Congratulations and well done to all.

Selina, Maurice, Wendy	Mike, Ashton, Mal	Bruce, Jonathan, Jean-Luc

This was one of those rounds where the pattern of results did not fit what we would normally expect. In particular, we had a very unusual situation in Pool A where five of the fourteen teams won all three of their preliminary games, with only one of the others winning more than one. This created a few apparent anomalies in the final rankings, such as one team that won all five of their games but couldn’t climb up to a medal-winning position because their morning points tally was ‘only’ +19.

In terms of the championship, the lesson was that there’s safety in numbers. Despite the fact that each club can only claim the points from their two best-placed teams, it was the three clubs with five or more teams that picked up the biggest hauls ‒ Eastern Suburbs cemented their place at the top of the table, while Adelaide Hills and Novar Gardens were the big movers. The latter two have climbed up into third and fourth place, respectively, at the expense of FAB and Gawler, while Adelaide (2nd), Prospect (6th) and Port Noarlunga (8th) all maintained their first-round positions.

Thanks to the well-organised Novar Gardens crew for hosting the day.Continue reading→

Here is the Player Ranking for the 2018-19 year,

SAPL Player Rankings 2018-19 (complete List)

In fine and mild conditions, the 2019/20 season got off to a roaring start with twenty‑four teams in attendance. This turn-out has not been matched since 2012 and the last time we’ve had more than that was in 2008. What makes it all the more remarkable is that this happened at a time of year when quite a number of regular players from various clubs are absent. Host clubs be warned — we might be in for some big crowds this year!

As is customary for the first round, the day began with the presentation of medals for the most outstanding players of the season just completed. Congratulations to Wendy Bensen for winning the Best Player award, and to Alexi Alexi (Best Male Player); Susan Krieg and Mark Reardon (Best New Players); and Tory McBride, Lionel Pujol & Dave Ward (Best Veterans). Wendy is the first woman to win the overall award, making it the first time the medal for ‘best player of the other gender’ has been for the ‘best male’.

At the end of the day, there was another set of medals to present. The gold ones went to the only undefeated team, the very experienced Adelaide trio, Jean-Paul Bouyer, Louis Oltarczy & Alain Rousse. They appear to have recaptured some of the form that saw them dominating the competition a couple of years ago.

Gold Team – Jean-Paul Bouyer, Alain Rousse & Louis Oltarczy

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The January round  of the Interclub competition fortunately fell during a brief lull between two prolonged periods of severe hot weather. In fact, it was almost chilly in the morning at Stirling as players arrived. However, it didn’t take long for the fierce summer sun to have an impact. The air temperature was not extreme by any means (29C maximum, believe it or not), but in the sun it felt hotter than that.

Round 4 honours went to the most enduring team in the competition. Tory McBride, Lionel Pujol & Dave Ward have played together as a set combination for many years and have been consistent performers. This victory makes them the first trio to win a League gold medal in each of four consecutive seasons. The silver medallists were Grant Ashmeade, Gavin Scott & Brett Williams. 

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