Volunteer Arms Petanque Cup goes to visiting competitor

Competitors, including internationalists, battled it out at Dunbar’s Lauderdale Park at the end of last month.

The competition, which was organised by Dunbar Community Petanque, was held in an open melee format, where a random draw takes place for each round.

To determine the winner, there were five rounds of 40-minute games.

A spokesperson for the club said: “There were 33 competitors, including a few seasoned internationalists, several of whom were from other pétanque clubs.

Stuart McLean, alongside Stuart McCombie, was edged into second place (Image: Contributed)

“This meant that the competition was fierce.

“Three players finished the day with five wins.

“Final placings had to be based on points difference.

“This is an excellent format, as it makes every shot and every end count.”

Kathleen Rankin and Stuart McLean finished on the podium in third and second but were edged out by Istvan Poka, who travelled home to Ayr with the trophy, provided by Sue and Donald Wright of the Volunteer Arms.

Kathleen Rankin finished on the podium during the event in Dunbar's Lauderdale Park (Image: Contributed)

The spokesperson added: “A special mention for Sylvain Borsi, who travelled from London.

“Sylvain played at the top level for many years.

“As a member of the Dunbar club, he plays on his frequent visits to Dunbar.

“He presented the Dunbar club with a set of personalised Intégrale boules to be raffled.

“Although no longer in business, la Boule Intégrale, were the world’s premier boule maker since the mid-1920s.

“Sylvain’s boules are 30 years old but unused.”

Istvan will soon be on his travels again as he represents Scotland – alongside Dunbar’s Stuart McCombie and Craig Harris – at the Home Nations, featuring England, Ireland and Wales alongside Scotland.