|
Sunday 10 September
Well, it was great to meet up
with the team at the Atomic (now 121 Cafe) for
breakfast before heading off to the airport.
Thanks to David and Joanne for hosting us
overnight and joining us for breakfast, along
with Rolinka and Clem. Alan and Anita came to
see us off and to wish us all the best.
We flew with Emirates via
Brisbane and Singapore, just transit stops, and
on to Dubai for a one night stopover, arriving
in
Dubai
at around 7am Monday morning.
Monday 11
Dubai was very hot – 44C. The
outside of the airport building had jets of
water spraying out to keep people who were
waiting to be collected from collapsing in the
heat. Much like the vegetable spray in the
supermarket!
Had breakfast at the hotel and
some of the team had a swim then went for a
walk, and took a boat ride on the river up to
the older part of the city where the gold souk
is.
Later in the afternoon, about
4pm, we were all picked up in four wheel drive
vehicles to head off for our ‘Dinner in the
Desert’ experience. This started with a crazy
form of something called dune bashing, where
they let the tyres down and then drive up and
down and around the dunes as fast as possible!
There were about ten vehicles in our party.
Next was camel riding, which
Sharon and Dirk showed the rest of us how to do!
Dirk and Christian dressed in
Arab robes and had some rather dubious looking
photos taken and some of us had henna tattoos
painted on our arms. Dinner followed, after
which there was a display of dancing and the
usual effort to get others up to dance. The only
person to have a go ( it was still very hot) was
yours truly – probably a truly awful sight!
Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be any
photographic evidence.
Tuesday 12
Some of the team got up and went
on a river cruise before heading back to the
airport to fly on to
Paris.
Arrived in Paris around 8-30pm, and after
checking in, we all headed off for dinner and
then bed.
Wednesday 13
Christian came to the hotel to
meet up with the team (he was staying with his
parents) and to take us back to near his
parent’s apartment, where there is a sports shop
with petanque equipment for sale. Some of the
team purchased new boules and other Petanque
gear and then it was back to his parents for an
aperitif and lunch in a favourite local Italian
restaurant, where we were joined by Christian’s
parents, brother and nephews.
After lunch the team went to a
nearby carpark where they practised for several
hours. We then adjourned (Camelia and I a bit
earlier as we were in need of coffee) to a
nearby café/bar with a Petanque terrain out the
back. The men’s team discussed the team for the
weekend tournament and also the shooting
competition. Dirk and Murray played pool with
some locals and the team had some games out the
back before heading off back to the hotel.
Thursday 14
This was a free day until later
in the afternoon when we all went down the road
for a practice by the Seine. Rather a
picturesque setting with river boats, people
walking, a couple practising their ballroom
dancing and a band playing. Needless to say,
the weather was lovely and warm.
Friday 15
Up early and off to the train at
6-15am to Grenoble. Three hours on the TGV,
then checked into our hotel and off to a
reception and lunch followed by three exhibition
games at the Eybens Club. This was played in
the carpark of the Hewlett Packard company. The
terrain was strung up for over 120 pistes! The
invited countries were France, Thailand and New
Zealand, plus teams from the Eybens Club.
The terrain was very tricky, ranging from damp
clay/lime at one end and large stones, clumps of
grass and moss at the other.
Men’s first game was lost against
an Eybens club team. Their second was won
against France 12-0, (time limit) although the
French team insisted they got a point! Game
three against Thailand, lost 13-0.
The women had a win against an
Eybens team and lost to France and Thailand.
The evening was a dinner/dance
put on by the club where all the players were
given a trophy and three bottles of wine! The
men did a pretty reasonable haka before we
retired back to the hotel.
Saturday 16
Christian, Dirk and Ian played
together for the weekend and Michael joined up
with a couple of local French players.
Men lost their first game and
were down 2-6 in their second when everyone
stopped for the two hour lunch break. They then
took a bit long to get going again after an
unaccustomed break and a rather large lunch, and
lost.
Women played in a doubles event,
Barbara playing with Laurel and Sharon with
Liz. Both teams lost their first two games and
were out of the competition.
Men played in the first
consolation event, won their first game and lost
the second.
Sunday 17
In the second consolation
Barbara, Laurel and Sharon played as a triple to
get some more playing time together. They lost
to a French/Thailand combination in their first
game and lost to a local team in the second.
Dirk played with two of the
Finland team (shooter and coach). They won
their first game and then lost to Armenia.
Christian, Ian and Michael won
against a local team, had a bye in their second
and lost the third to Armenia. That was the end
of it for New Zealand.
This tournament was wonderfully
catered, and as lunch was a two hour event, it
was a great chance to have a chat with players
and officials from other countries.
Attended the presentation and,
with Christian as interpreter, made a speech
thanking the Eybens Club and presented their
president with a gift from New Zealand.
Monday 18
Christian had managed to get in
touch with his contact at Renault who very
generously provided us with a van for the whole
week, right through to the next Monday, for
free. As this was the only day we had to look
at the area around Grenoble, Christian took us
for a wonderful drive up into the surrounding
hills and through little villages. Stopped at
Monestier de Clermont for lunch, and ate
outside on a lovely warm sunny day.
Had a brief visit to the Seyssins
Club at the end of the day and a few games
outside with members of the club plus the Czech
team.
Tuesday 19
Drove into town in the morning as
this was the first opportunity for Dirk to do
his washing! It was also an opportunity for
people to take the gondola to the Bastille and
have a look at the city.
Before the team registered for
the World Champs in the afternoon I stepped
outside the PNZ directive regarding registering
as the fourth player. I did this based on what
I thought were purely precautionary lines, after
a discussion with the whole team regarding the
impact on the women’s team in the event of
injury or illness. The team had not been
informed by the PNZ executive that in the event
of illness or injury to a player, they were to
withdraw. The women were sure that they would
prefer to continue playing in the unlikely event
that one of them was unable to play, and the
whole team were in support of me making a call
to the executive to ask that I register as a
player.
This call was made in front of
the team and the response was “that it was the
sensible thing to do”. Approval to register as a
player was given after I closely questioned the
consequences of me going against a PNZ executive
decision. I was assured that I was to
proceed according to the wishes of the team and
that is exactly what I did and was registered as
player/chef de mission.
In the event, exactly what I was
hoping for happened, everyone stayed fit and
well and I never needed to play a boule in the
Palais des Sports de Grenoble.
The question has been asked as to
why we did not send a fourth women player and
the answer to that is that we did not have
anyone available who had produced results of any
significance at the regional or national level,
nor did we have anyone who had any previous
experience in representing New Zealand.
At 2pm we went to the Palais des
Sports to register the team – we were the fifth
team to register – thank you Graeme for your
good advice to register early.
We were expected at the Seyssins
Club later in the afternoon for practice on
their indoor terrain, followed by a reception.
Wednesday 20
Packed and shifted out of the
hotel we had shared with the French team and
into the hotel for the duration of the World
Championships, a very modern place half an hour
out of
Grenoble.
Back to the Palais des Sports for
the Opening Ceremony. The team marched in
according to their height. I carried in the
country name and Sharon the New Zealand flag.
After all the countries had marched in, the draw
took place to determine which pool each country
was in.
The Women’s shooting competition
started about 8:45pm. Sharon scored 14 points.
The Men’s shooting followed and Michael scored
15 points.
We arrived back at the hotel just
after midnight.
Thursday 21
Each country has a pigeonhole
where the organisers put information, results
and suchlike. We had a results sheet for the
shooting at the end of the previous evening
showing that Sharon was in the repercharge the
next morning. Unfortunately when we arrived in
the morning we found that the information was
incorrect. As this affected a number of
countries we all received a written apology from
the organisers.
Michael left the hotel early on
the bus to attend the delegate’s meeting. The
meeting is in French with English translation.
The meeting started at 9am and finished at
12:30pm.
It was wonderful to have the van
to get to the Palais des Sportes and back at the
end of the day although our first arrival was
not without incident. There was a very strong
security presence all through the tournament and
this included where Christian dropped us off
before going to find a park. We were always in
a hurry to get out and let him get away before
the guard hurried us up and this may account for
what happened. People had bags in the back, and
Ian was reaching in for the last bag when, with
the doors still open, Christian took off very
suddenly with Ian half in and half out. Ian
manages to escape being dragged off and the last
sight is of Christian driving off with the doors
flapping, completely oblivious to the drama!
Of course, there were other times
when our map readers lead us into unknown
territory, but my lips are sealed!
The team practised in the grounds
of the Palais des Sports, had lunch, and then
everyone was allowed inside at 2:30pm.
The men played five rounds of the
pool today, finishing around 11pm. Malaysia -
won 13-6 Luxembourg - lost 8-13 Tahiti –
fought back after being 1-10 down only to lose
10-13. Next round was a bye, followed by Benin
- lost 2-13.
Friday 22
First game for the men was
against Japan who lost all their games yesterday
and then thrashed us horribly, 1-13. They then
went on to beat Tahiti to qualify, after which
they beat Thailand!! Played France 2 and lost
in six ends and were then into the Coupe des
Nations, having finished 6/7 in the pool.
The women started with a win
against Monaco 13-10, Thailand - lost 11-13
after being in a winning position. France 2 -
lost 2-13, Portugal - lost 5-13 and Algeria -
lost 2-13. They too then went into the Coupe des
Nations, having finished 5/6 in their pool.
The men’s first game was against
Singapore, a loss 3-13. Next was a bye and as
Seychelles beat Singapore we played Singapore
again and won 13-12. This qualified us for the
second round. This game finished after
midnight.
The President’s dinner took place
on this evening, however New Zealand did not
attend as our teams were playing and this
definitely took precedence.
Saturday 23
First game against Morocco for
the men and New Zealand was never really in this
game. Lost 3-13. Next up were Slovakia and this
game was dominated by New Zealand winning 13-1.
A good battle against Monaco but a loss
nevertheless, 8-13 and the end of the tournament
for the men.
Our women played
Germany
first up and played very well to win 13-6. Next
were Malaysia and they outplayed our team. Lost
3-13. We then played Germany again and after a
few nail biting moments, won 13-12, qualifying
for the next round.
The women then played Estonia and
had every/several chance/chances to win this
game but lost 12-13. The end for the women.
This was the first time we had a
women’s team, and I feel we were more
competitive than some people may have thought.
However, the last game against Estonia, which
finished at 1:30am, was the most disappointing
of the tournament and highlighted some of the
areas we need to look at for the future of the
women’s game.
Sunday 24
Back to the Palais des Sports for
lunch and to watch the semi-finals and finals.
Wonderful games to watch, with so much tension
and excitement.
Maybe the most lasting memory for
me of the World Championships would be the
Women’s shooting semi final between France and
England when, with the most amazing display of
shooting I may ever be privileged to see, France
shot 61 for a new record, on the way shooting
all four cochonnet. France went on to take the
title in the final with another awesome
performance over Thailand.
Back to the hotel to change for
the Presentation dinner. A lovely meal, lots of
shirt swapping and a special end to a wonderful,
exhausting, exciting adventure.
A big thank you to the team, I
could not have had a better group of people to
travel with. Everyone did their best, worked
together as a team, men and women together. No
one lost their luggage, missed a connection, got
sick, got drunk, had a fight or fell off a
camel/water taxi!
Thanks must also go to Murray
Johnston and Camelia Petrus for their help and
support.
Finally, a special mention must
be made of Christian, who worked tirelessly for
all of us to get the best deals he could for the
team, both before we left the country and on
tour. He negotiated a van, drove the van,
arranged sponsorship for the team with the
Eybens Club, arranged for us to practise at the
Seyssins Club, communicated for us and
translated for us. Thank you Christian, you
were the most wonderful support for me and I
will always remember and appreciate how much
effort you made to make this trip to the World
Championships a very positive experience.
Finally, it should be made clear
that the manager for the 2006 World
Championships team was not funded by Petanque
New
Zealand.
|
