Learning to play pétanque, a special sport for Vietnamese athletes

Pétanque is one of the 40 sports competed at the 31st SEA Games. At the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese pétanque team participated in 8 competitions, from May 13rd to 19th.

Pétanque is one of the 40 sports competed at the 31st SEA Games

Each playing team consists of one, two or three players.

With a team of 1 or 2 players, each player holds 3 boules. For a team of 3, each holds 2 boules.

Pétanque are usually held on a clay court or a gravel court.

The court size for national and international matches is 4 meters wide and 15 meters long; for other matches, the court must not be less than 12 meters long and 3 meters wide.

After the draw, a team or an athlete is given a small point ball to throw first.

Players must stand in a circle with a diameter of 35 to 50 cm and 1 meter away from the end line and the goal line.

After a player throws a target ball forward, the other player has the first task of rolling or throwing his boules so that it is close to the target ball.

If that boule is rolled or thrown closest to the target ball, that team is considered to win the match. 

Athletes who cannot determine the position of the ball can ask the referee to lend a ruler to measure the position.

The remaining player is responsible for pushing the opponent's boules to another place.

Each player is given 3 boules to roll.

After rolling 3 balls, whoever has their boules closest to the target ball is recognized as the winner

Matches are played until a team gets 13 points.

At the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese pétanque team participated in 8 competitions, from May 13rd to 19th.

Up to this point, the team has won 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal and 3 bronze medals for the Vietnamese sporting delegation./.

VNA