Saturday 25th March saw our 6th IWD event, hosted at the ever popular and friendly Worthing Petanque Club. We had sixteen doubles teams entered with players from clubs across the region which included Adur, Clymping, Cobbetts, Fareham, Handcross, Oxshott, Portchester, Shedfield, Southampton City, Southsea, River Hamble and Worthing.
The weather turned out to be better than the forecast and apart from a short sprinkling of rain showers, much of the day remained dry with the occasional appearance from the sun.
Hilary, as always had all the pre-competition paperwork ready and with the teams randomly picking their numbers it was a neat 4 leagues of 4 and play was underway pretty much by 10am.
The diverse ability of players, (from complete beginners to those with several decades of experience) meant some matches were over much sooner than others and many teams enjoying a nice long break for lunch.
The hardest fought battle and last to finish in the morning leagues was between Ann & Barbara (Oxshott) and Janet & Carrie (Cobbetts). Both teams had already clocked up 2 wins so it was a crucial match to determine their seeding for the afternoon knockouts. Janet & Carrie took the match and were seeded Number 2 with 3 wins +20. Top seed were Worthing’s very own Angela Brooks & Kerry Thompson with a whopping 3 wins +31.
Afternoon knockouts kicked off slightly later than planned with the Top 8 teams in the Gold and the next 8 in the Silver.
|
Gold |
Silver |
|
Angela Brooks & Kerry Thompson |
Frankie Bennett & Maureen Lee |
|
Janet Dalton & Carrie Litchfield |
Trudy Bishop & Wendy Hall |
|
Hassi Leverett & Karen Lombard |
Lesley McMurdie & Mary Ethrington |
|
Chris Peat & Hilary Dalmasso |
Karen Bull & Anita Ricards |
|
Ann Pickering & Barbara Beevers |
Gill Hooten & Betty Taylor |
|
Sue Park & Brenda Steptoe |
Marilyn Wannell & Betty Lane |
|
Sandra Goodwin & Tracey Ford |
Jackie Corp & Linda Hayward |
|
Jackie Gair & Mary Cane |
Kim & Mary Davis-Gray |
The competitions began with the same friendly nature but there was a heightened degree of intensity with some serious boules in play and teams fighting for every point to secure their position.
Sandra & Tracey put in a sterling performance as they knocked out Janet & Carrie and went on to play in the Gold Semi-final against Hassi & Karen. For her first ever full day competition, Tracey’s pointing was exemplary under Sandra’s guidance. The duo were impressive and attracted several spectators as they led 10-4 against the reigning champions! The atmosphere was tense as Hassi & Karen began their comeback and just three ends later won the match at 13-12.
The final didn’t start till after 5pm and once again turned out to be a nail-biting match between Number 1 seeds Angela & Kerry and Hassi & Karen. At 9-11 down, there was an opportunity for Hassi and Karen to take the match with 12 on the ground and one boule to come – the pressure point fell slightly short and in the next end, Angela’s final shot secured the two points and a well deserved win as we drew the long day to a close at 6.45pm!
Congratulations to all the winners. The day was played in the true spirit of celebrating International Women’s Day with lots of friendly banter and laughter. A nice addition this year was the background music creating a great vibe. It was also lovely to see so many men spectating, cheering and making sure their home teams stayed hydrated.
Special thanks to Hilary for her inimitable calm disposition throughout the day, to Martin, Bob and the Worthing Team for preparing the terrains and extending a warm welcome, to Dave Kilshaw who (having worked all night) spent the whole day measuring, providing guidance and even took time out at lunchtime to coach some of the new ladies and to Paul Leverett for helping set up all the prizes and being our photographer for the day.
Finally, thank you to all the wonderful ladies who continue to support our annual IWD event and encourage, motivate and inspire new players.
… till next year 🥂🥂🥂
Full Results of the IWD 2023 Doubles:
Gold
Winners: Angela Brooks & Kerry Thompson
Runners-up: Hassi Leverett & Karen Lombard
Semi-Finalists: Ann Pickering & Barbara Beevers
Semi-Finalists: Sandra Goodwin & Tracey Ford
Consolage: Christine Peat & Hilary Dalmasso
Runners-up: Janet Dalton & Carrie Litchfield
Silver
Winners: Karen Bull & Anita Ricards
Runners-up: Jackie Corp & Linda Hayward
Semi-Finalists: Frankie Bennett & Maureen Lee
Semi-Finalists: Lesley McMurdie & Mary Ethrington
Consolage: Gill Hooten & Betty Taylor
Runners-up: Trudy Bishop & Wendy Hall