This year’s State Doubles Championships were held at Club d’Adelaide. The weather conditions followed a pattern that has become strangely familiar this season. It was wet on Saturday with a forecast of more significant rain on Sunday. But it turned out to be a lovely, mostly sunny day until a few showers came in the evening soon after we were finished.

This year’s SA Mixed Doubles Championship was held at Prospect. After several late withdrawals we were left with 24 teams.

It would seem that the pétanque gods have done a good deal with the weather gods. In a scenario remarkably similar to the Interclub event held three weeks earlier, there was a rather grim weather forecast for up to 15mm of rain but it turned out to be a quite pleasant sunny day. On both occasions, the rain stopped at about 3am with not another drop until just after 5pm.

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.

This year’s State Singles Championships were held on a sunny and uncomfortably hot day. If the weather forecast had been accurate, the event would have been called off. But it wasn’t. Consequently, the conditions were trying for all concerned and several players had to withdraw during the course of the day. Those who lasted the distance all deserve a medal. There will no doubt be a review of the SAPL Hot Weather Policy at the next committee meeting.

This year’s State Doubles Championships were held at Club d’Adelaide in glorious spring conditions. It was not the largest turn-out we’ve had for this event but it was certainly one of the strongest fields we’ve seen.