The Boule d’Or pétanque players reacted with a triple victory at home, in the last round of the national championship. Ensures their retention in the Elite
For sixteen years, the Boule d’Or has been part of the national elite, the sixteen clubs that make up the cream of French petanque. He even happened to qualify for the “Big Eight” and win the event. But this year it is rather to the downside that the club’s directors have dealt with the first two confrontations. However, the story had started well in Saint-Yrieix, in Charente where the first weekend of the event took place. La Boule d’Or beat Ax-les-Thermes, one of the favorites on the coast. But the next day, the team lost 16 to 20 against Ain’s Pont-de-Vaud. The story took a bad turn during the second race weekend, in Bassens, Gironde. Gérard Cabirol, who supervised the Gaillacois, is not making excuses for the two defeats, but points out that the smooth pitches were not suitable for players who like the “reached”. On Sunday evening there were two more defeats on the clock, against Rouffiac, a perhaps underrated Lozère team, and against Angoulème, who appeared as one of the group leaders. The last weekend, at the boulodrome de Bouzinac, in Gaillac, would therefore be decisive for survival in the Elite.
The decisive collective good
But the esprit de corps and focus that may have been lacking in one or more of the previous games has emerged at the perfect time. La Boule d’Or beat third-placed Isle and second-placed Bassens before packing in a masterful third victory against Champdeniers, winning four H2Hs and three braces. La Boule d’Or thus secured her retention in the Elite and finished fifth in a very tight group. However, this victory was marred by the retirement of two players who did not show the team spirit which was the cement and best asset of the Boule d’Or for sixteen years. “They excluded themselves, to the point that we had to play at the end of the day with six players. We’re sorry, but we don’t keep them. Their voluntary departure also united the rest of the group” indicated the president Jean-Pierre Buffel. The founding principle of the club is intangible: everyone is precious, but no one is indispensable. The weekend’s big winners gathered around a table to celebrate retention. Sharing the dishes as they had shared the doubts and the victory.
