The 41st World Championships of Petanque took place in Brussels, Belgium, September 21-25, 2005. France 1, coached by Philippe Quintais, claimed the title, although it lost twice in the first round (against Belgium 2 and the Ivory Coast). Philippe Suchaud won his sixth title, Henri Lacroix his fourth, and the youngsters, Julien Lamour and Simon Cortes, took their first. The victory brings France’s championship total to twenty-two.
The Belgians proved to be warm and generous hosts for a tournament that was flawlessly organized. Despite having only 16 courts for fifty teams, the event proceeded on schedule. There is neither scandal nor protest to report. Lots of (incredibly good) beer was sold and consumed. The Belgians filled the stands with noise and song, loudly supporting their two teams, but always with impeccable sportsmanship. (France, as defending champion, and Belgium, as host nation, fielded two teams.)
The Belgians were delirious when, in round 1, Belgium 2, world champions in 2000, defeated France 1, 13-10. In the final, however, France 1 took its revenge all too easily, 15-6. The scoreline: 0-4, 2-4, 2-5, 3-5, 3-6, 3-8, 3-9, 6-9, 6-11, 6-13, 6-14, 6-15.
This article is organized around the photos of Martha Lewis, whose work can also be seen online at all featured articles in this web site. Martha focused on some of the major teams, especially Belgium, France, and Italy, on a few important games of Team USA, and also on happenings around and outside of the arena. (Official results and more pictures are online at: http://www.fipjp.com/~brussels2005.)
The first set of photos focuses on the parade of nations, mostly from behind the scenes. There are some special ones: of the French teams, saying hello to Martha (whom they have known for many years now), while awaiting the parade; the Belgian team drinking beer in the outside pub; and Mauritius on the steps of the football stadium nearby. Cambodia’s second appearance at the Championships made our shooter, Ti, very happy. Armenia made its inaugural showing at the event, with a team of Armenians from Marseille doing the pointing and shooting. Pick-up games could be found outside, on the grass, in the parking lots and paths. And Martha found Quintais and his team off by themselves, playing cards. For Photos of First Day.
That evening, we visited the old Gothic city center of Brussels. We saw the famous little boy peeing, which Nghia especially enjoyed, some art deco design, and we tried to get Gérard drunk. For Photos of Old Brussels.
