We had thought Rochdale’s chances of reaching the Pétanque England Euro Cup Semi-Finals were over when both of our teams were knocked out in earlier rounds. However, by a fortunate twist, we were given a place after another qualifying team withdrew — and we gladly stepped up!
A squad of eight players from Rochdale Pétanque travelled to the picturesque town of Wallingford to compete in the Semi-Finals.
The squad consisted of: Ian, Christine, Dave, Linda, Mike, Francois, Debbie & Darren
The Semi-Final featured 16 teams: 12 that had qualified through earlier rounds, and four seeded teams from last year’s competition. These teams were split into four groups, each led by one of the seeded teams. Rochdale were placed in Group B alongside London 2 and Campetanque, with River Hamble — one of the top-seeded sides — leading the group.
The format was a round-robin: each team played two triples and three doubles against the other three teams. The standard was extremely high, with many players having represented England in international competition. To make things even tougher, the weather was scorching — temperatures reached 32°C!
Despite this being our first time at a competition of this calibre, we held our own against some of the best teams in the country. The games were fiercely contested, and our squad showed great resilience and determination.
A standout performance came from Ian and Francior, who secured two doubles wins — including a brilliant victory against River Hamble. At one point Rochdale led 12–2, capitalising on a string of missed shots by their opponents. But the River Hamble shooter soon found his rhythm, closing the gap quickly. Just when it looked like the momentum might swing, Francior delivered a superb shot to remove their nearest scoring boule, and Ian followed it up by pointing directly onto the coche to seal the win. A fantastic performance — well done Ian & Francois!
While we only recorded a couple of wins overall, the scores don’t reflect how well the entire squad played. Most of our games were close, with many scores around the 7–12 mark, and several matches lasting up to 90 minutes. We fought hard for every point, and our opponents certainly had to work to beat us — we can be proud that we represented Rochdale with spirit and skill.
It was a long, challenging, but incredibly rewarding day. The experience has shown us just how far we’ve come — and how much more we could achieve with a bit more training and match experience.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and we’re already looking forward to the next challenge!
For more Photos of the day Click Here
