Senegal over by boule

When competitors at the 2008 World Petanque Championships arrived in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, the head of the local federation greeted them with ambitious words. 

"I am delighted to welcome you to the country known for its "Teranga" hospitality: without doubt, this tournament will help to strengthen friendship and peace between people of the whole world," said Gassam Ezzedine. 

It was difficult to fathom how the 44th edition of a sport commonly known as "boules" was going to aid world peace until the first day of team action started on Thursday. 

For playing side-by-side in the "boulodrome" specially installed for these championships were players from Israel and Lebanon, happily chatting away with the countries' history of troubles as distant a thought as they could be. 
"It's the first time Lebanon are ever playing at the tournament and the players are very nice people," says Israel's Tal Alkobi, a veteran of eight world championships. 

"It's a good thing - we all want peace and not war." 

Instead, any fighting is left to the boulodrome, where a record 53 nations are competing, as sub-Saharan Africa hosts the championships for the first time. 

Created in the early 1900s by Frenchman Jules le Noir in southern France, petanque is traditionally played by amateurs beside the sea, especially by those countries living in the Mediterranean. 

Yet the world championship, which dates back to 1959, is serious sport for its competitors. 

"Since we want to enter the Olympic Games, we have to abide by the Olympic Charter, which means various drugs are forbidden while we also have alcohol testing at any time," says Robert Pierre, an organiser for the United States' team. 

'Mentally strong' 

Such matters seem incongruous as the sound of clacking metal balls permeates the picturesque setting in one of Dakar's finest bays. 

Further evidence of the intense competition is provided by the French team, who have travelled with a team psychologist. 


"The psychologist is necessary if we are to work well," says Zvonko Radnic, playing for a team which has won the last seven titles. 
"Everybody thinks that petanque is just a game but to reach a certain level and do well in the latter stages, you have to be mentally strong." 

Perhaps unsurprisingly given this attitude and their role as founders of petanque - not to mention claiming three-quarters of the world's 600,000 registered players - the French dominate the tournament. 

Not only are many of their former colonies competing in Dakar but they also boast 24 world team titles, dwarfing the four won by second-placed Switzerland. 

Serious competition 

Yet the competition is stiffer with this year's record number of entrants, ranging from the very big - China and Russia - to the very small - Armenia, Djibouti and San Marino (while the team from French Polynesia needed three days to make the trip). 


"Petanque is the most popular sport in my country, even beating football," says Madagascar's Jacky Dinmamode. 
"Last year, we were vice-champion, losing to France, but this year we're here to be champions - the dream of everyone who plays petanque." 

Madagascar have previously won both the team title (in 1999) and the single's tournament (at last year's championships in Thailand), but they will also face serious competition from their determined hosts - who are chasing a maiden title. 

"I've been training around 11 hours each day for this competition," says 25-year-old Francis Ndiaye, Senegal's best player. 

"I started playing when I was seven, learning the game from my grandfather who began playing with the French colonialists and who would teach me petanque in the evenings." 

Now Ndiaye is aiming to put one over on Senegal's former rulers in Sunday's final - a success that would be triumphantly received in a year when Senegal's beloved football and Olympic teams have spectacularly underperformed.

Saxat från: http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2008/11/sports-senegal-bowled-over-by-boules.html

Hur mycket det stämmer vet jag inte..men intressant att se att Fara tränat 11h om dagen för detta..och att Frankrike har en egen psykolog med sig tävlingen.

Imorgon är det fotografering till årsmagasinet, ska bli intressant o roligt. 

/Success_Star