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.