A SEXTET of Jersey Pétanque players joined some world-class talent last weekend in an international tournament in Hungary.
The Balaton Festival saw the Caesarean players join teams from 13 other nations, including some national teams, who took to the court over a four day tournament.
Although not officially representing Jersey Pétanque, Callum Stewart, Ross Payne, Geoff Buffetrille, Paul Bell, Neil Selby and Laurent Pellaton flew the Island flag with pride during their games – which they played to an impressive standard considering the fierce competition and 36ºC heat they were met with.
Originally invited to Belaton after an impressive second place win at the London Open in June, Callum told the JEP that he was asked to bring a team to Hungary, which also welcomed seven-time World Pétanque champion Bruno Le Boursicaud and pétanque influencer Tanguy Penin. It was quite the high-profile event in the pétanque sphere to say the least.
Nevertheless, the Jersey six outdid themselves, highlighted with a third place finish overall and Ross Payne placing seventh out of 84 players after all his matches.
“It was a very good standard and it was good for us to test ourselves and play against better players,” Jersey player Stewart said.
“Two highlights for us were me, Laurent and Geoff coming third overall in the triples, which was really good for us considering the top two teams were essentially professionals.”
Though only in its third year, the scale and attractive prize money on offer, entices high quality teams to the Balaton, who the Jersey team enjoyed “testing their skills” against.
“Most of the people who travelled over there were quite experienced in the pétanque world,” Stewart continued.
“In the third/fourth play-off for the triples, we managed to beat National Hungarian team 13-7.
“They’re competing in the World Championships in France this year so I don’t think they expected to be beaten by three people from Jersey.”
But this success is something the Jersey pétanque community is used to with the Home Nations win earlier this summer against an unbeaten English squad who carried their title for 24 years.
So quality is in no short supply in Jersey, however, Stewart added that due to the small pool of players in Jersey, playing overseas was refreshing as it can be “hard to judge” whether they can continue performing to a high standard on the Island.
“Considering that we all play against the same people in Jersey all the time, it’s quite hard to judge how you are going to do against more experienced players,” he added.
“European players can travel freely to play in competitions, so it’s harder for us in Jersey to get over to play against quality players.
“We don’t get many chances to get off the Island and play so it was good to test our skills.”
There is precious rest for the team however, with the upcoming inter-insular against Guernsey on 26 October, which Stewart hopes they can continue to perform well in.
He concluded: “We’re playing well at the moment and we just need to keep doing so at a high standard, but obviously with winter coming in and Jersey not having any indoor facilities, it’s hard to keep training up.
“But we’re playing well and that’s all that matters.”
