Tana is a sprawling, dirty city of a million and half people. Most live in homes built on the eighteen hills and steep cliffs that wind their way around a central bowl. Regular monsoon seasons mean that few people live in the bowl, which is given over to small farming, and — the photos will show — a bit of Pétanque! We spent parts of each day touring local markets and seeing the city. Although the vast majority of Malgache are unfailingly polite and pacific, foreigners can move around at night only by taxi or hired car. We hired a car for each of our days in Tana, at 20 Euros per day, a fortune or a bargain depending on where you were born. For a selection of Martha Lewis' favorite photos of Tana.
I played Thursday and Friday afternoon at the most important Pétanque club in Madagascar, the Club Bouliste de Tana, or the CBT. The CBT, next to the main football stadium is an oasis; it is sheltered, quiet, clean, and lit for night games; it has benches for spectators, which are always full, and a welcoming bar. It feels like one of the serious, "professional" Marseille clubs. I showed up unannounced, but felt entirely at home. Everyone asked for news of our friend, Héry Rakotoarivony, a member of La Boule New Yorkaise. Héry is well respected by the elite players at the CBT, having been one himself. Both days, we played for money. I was partnered with one of Héry's old companions, Tota, a terrific shooter. (No one uses last names in daily life in Madagascar — people first called me Mr. Alec, out of respect or just unfamiliarity, but now it's just Alec, or l'Américain). I won 2,000 Ariary the first day. The next day, Tota and I came out even against two of Héry's old partners, Honorice (2006 national champion, Veterans Triples) and Malek (we played for 5,000 Ariary a head, which is 2 Euros). For Martha Lewis' photos from the CBT.
The "Grand Open de la Boule New Yorkaise," as the Ligue decided to call our tournament, was set for the weekend of August 19-20, at the Pétanque courts of the university. The event featured three two-day competitions: Open Triples, Women's Doubles, and a Veteran's (over-45) Triples. The courts were all red clay, some soft, some hard-packed with rocks, the latter making all good pointers look bad. The tournament began Saturday afternoon, in four-team pools, half the teams advancing. As it is winter in Madagascar, the sun goes down before 6 p.m., and so some of the pools did not complete until Sunday morning, with those matches continuing at 8.30 a.m. There followed single elimination games through to the final. I did not want to play, but was literally coerced into doing so. Our shooting proved to be a weak point, and we lost in the quarter-finals.
The tournament was perfectly-organized and everyone had a great time. The games were accompanied by Malgache pop music, which meant lots of singing and dancing on the platform overlooking the courts. My only disappointment was that the reigning triples champions, including one of the great all-around players in the world, Jean-Jackie, could not play, the national federation requiring them to "train" for the World Championships over the weekend. The semi-finals and finals were spectacular, and two of the best teams in Madagascar met in the quarter-finals. In the major tournament, the Open Triples, the team of Lalaina-Lanto-Patrick beat Sylvio-Kissar-Tiaray in the final. The Women's Doubles was won by Tatie and Héry, who beat Paulette and Saholy, after a slow start. Since Tatie is the first shooter on the Malgache Women's World Championship team, I'll be able to say hello again in September. In the Veterans' competition, Riva, Claude, and Arthur defeated Adrien, Felix, and Sunut.
Before each final, I made the usual speeches, and either Martha or I threw out the first bouchon, which the teams actually played. All finalists received a bouchon (a rare commodity) and La Boule New Yorkaise pins, which — to my surprise - players proudly put on immediately. The pins are big status symbols in the Malgache Pétanque world today! Winning teams received a trophy we purchased on Friday, La Boule New Yorkaise t-shirts (the great prize, given Madagascar's t-short culture), FPUSA patches, and cash money for the top six team in each event. Virtually every player, the Ligue, and even spectators lined up to thank us for the tournament, and urged us to make it an annual event. Afterwards, Ligue officials, the winning players, and various hangers-on trundled off to one of Honorice's hotely (a kind of snack bar-restaurant), of which he owns a chain. We found a nice spread already laid out. Florid speeches were proferred; toasts were raised; people got drunk. For a selection of Martha Lewis' photos of the Grand Open..
