League and tournaments from around the local regions, as well as the country as a whole, were largely on hold as players converged on Exeter over the Spring Bank Holiday for the Petanque National Titles weekend, writes Chris Bigmore.
The weather just about held good as leading players in the sport joined some local competitors for the event held at the Isca Centre, Exeter Arena. Martin Eggleton, national president of the English Petanque Association thanked the Devon Region for hosting the championships again and, along with Isca Petanque Club and the many volunteers, for staging a successful tournament.
All titles had the same format of seeded groups followed by a knockout stage in gold, silver, bronze and pewter contests (dependent on numbers). The standard of competition was high with some exciting and closely fought matches, though in the end there were no great shocks. The titles were mostly won by England internationals and Chiltern region dominated the prizes by having at least one champion for all titles except the mens singles, won by Dean Seville – who along with womens champion Sarah Huntley successfully defended their crowns. Sarah Huntley also retained the mixed doubles title with Jack Blows.
Players from the Devon, Kernow and Great Western regions put up a good show against some very tough opposition and featured further down the honours list.
The ‘title’ for best in the West must go to Great Western’s Clive de Silva who won the Silver Plate in the men’s singles with a fine performance, and Chris Spray also deserves mention for achieving runner up spot in the Silver Plate for both the women’s singles and doubles competitions.
Full Honours List
Mens Singles – 76 Entrants
GOLD Winner: Dean Seville Runner Up: Stuart Floyd
GOLD - PLATE Winner: Sean Prendergast Runner Up: Jeff Hoey
SILVER Winner: David Franco-Cruz Runner Up: Stephen Daykin
SILVER - Plate Winner: Clive d Silva Runner Up: Rob de Haan
BRONZE Winner: Martin Hughes Runner Up: Lee Redfern
BRONZE – PLATE Winner: Stuart Picton Runner Up: Ben Fowler
Womens Singles – 36 Entrants
GOLD Winner: Sarah Huntley Runner Up: Emma Longstaff
GOLD – PLATE Winner: Samantha Thatcher Runner up: Steph Moulden
SILVER Winner: Claire White Runner Up: Karen Lombard
SILVER – PLATE Winner: Janice Keemer-Richards Runner up: Christine Spray
Mens Doubles – 45 teams
GOLD Winners: Adrian Emson & Jeremy Huntley Runners Up: Callum Lombard & Stuart Floyd
GOLD – PLATE Winners: Jack Blows & Dave Plumhoff Runners Up: Ray Gatenby & Martin Wallace
SILVER Winners: Mark Robertshaw & Stephen Daykin Runners Up: Jeff Hoey & Daniel Shevlin
SILVER – PLATE Winners: Steve Golder & Tim Raine Runners Up: Paul Abbey & Mark Prangnell
BRONZE Winners: Niall Warn & Lewis Fletcher Runners Up: Michael Quaia & Theodore Diecket
BRONZE – PLATE Winners: Stuart Picton & Serge Raja Runners Up: Costa Drakatos & Stuart Brown
Womens Doubles – 26 Teams
GOLD Winners: Samantha Thatcher & Christina Norris Runners Up: Tracy Spillett & Alex Spillet
GOLD – PLATE Winners: Angela Gaughan & Pat Rowlands Runners Up: Myrn Huntley & Syri Noble
SILVER Winners: Hannah Griffin & Carol Woodward Runners Up: Teresa Bingham & Luisa D’Esposito
SILVER – PLATE Winners: Iulia Belu & Chris O’Rourke Runners Up: Christine Spray & Steph Moulden
Mixed Doubles – 59 Teams
GOLD Winners: Sarah Huntley & Jack Blows Runners Up: Scott Ashby & Emma Longstaff
GOLD – PLATE Winners: Sean Prendergast & Pat Rowlands Runners Up: Rachel Shaw & Dave Plumhoff
SILVER Winners: Ross Jones & Christina Norris Runners Up: Syri Noble & Jeremy Huntley
SILVER – PLATE Winners: Jamie Lewis & Sarah Cole Runners Up: Claire White & Monty Quaia
BRONZE Winners: Karen Lombard & Stephen Lombard Runner Up: Ray Gatenby & Caroline Hoy
BRONZE – PLATE Winners: Lisa Edmondson & Jason White Runners Up: Glenn Floyd & Elianne Davies
PEWTER Winners: Neill Rank & Chris Best Runners Up: Cary Bush & Mary Bradridge
PEWTER – PLATE Winners: Lee Redfern & Diane Redfern Runners Up: Chris Bigmore & Sue Lawrence.
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