"All of the elite players are here. It's hot. It's the end of the Pétanque season. We play 20 out of 24 hours a day and, when it's over, we all look like zombies."
— Marco Foyot
Each event is single elimination; the entry fee is 5 Euros per player; one-week licenses are available for the unlicensed; the draws are random, with set courts. Plays proceeds virtually non-stop, but for an obligatory break for dinner and fireworks. In 2006, the Singles tournament attracted 2,444 players, the Doubles 1,447 teams, and the Triples more than 1,170. There were 297 Women's Doubles teams, and 167 Women's triples. Prize money accumulates — players are paid ever increasing amounts from 1/512 final in Singles, the 1/64 final in Doubles, and the 1/256 finals in Triples. The total payout for the open tournaments in 2006 was 12,175 Euros, with approximately 1,500 Euros going to each winning player. Women's events have a smaller payout, due to smaller numbers of entries.
Each evening during the competition a series of "consolation" tournaments, called Mondialitos, are also organized. The Mondialitos are high-quality and well-financed tournaments involving 128 teams; during any given evening, there may be as many as four Mondialitos underway at the same time, for those who just can't get enough. Virtually all of the competitors have lost in the first two rounds of the major open championships. Many female teams prepare for their upcoming competitions through playing in these tournaments.
Here is the basic schedule, which has changed only slightly in recent years (to reduce the number of Singles players, the Singles begins in the morning):
Many players compete in all three of the major events. Those who win more than a few games will hardly get any sleep. As the schedule shows, for each major competition, games proceed until only 16 teams remain. The round of 32 (1/16 finals) — which is the critical climax of the first stage — is typically completed around 4 or 5am This year, the Quintais-Lacroix-Suchaud championship team won its last triples match of the night (morning) just after 4.30am Their 1/8 final then started less than four hours later. I made it to the 1/32 finals this year (round of 64) in Doubles, which we completed after midnight. Jean Luc Robert and Quintais have been the most sleep-deprived. In 1996, they won titles as a team in both doubles and triples (Passo and Farré did the same in 1992). Quintais won two of the three majors finals in 1995, 1996, and 1997. Amazingly, in 1999, Robert played in all three major finals: he won the Singles, but lost in the last game of the Doubles and Triples, playing with Quintais. From Saturday morning until Tuesday night, Robert got less than ten hours sleep. Needless to say, fatigue can help to determine who wins and loses in Millau.
It is usually hot in Millau in August (if cloudy and cold this year), but as the reader will now understand, many of the games occur after sundown. The Park is beautifully lit at night, like a giant bazaar or Christmas fair. After one has been eliminated, nothing can be more wonderous for the avid fan than strolling the Park, at 2am, under the lights. For 100 meters along the central corridor to the Carré, one moves from court to court, as the world's greatest players battle on. And, unlike the NBA, it's all free.
