ISKANDAR PUTERI: Fifteen countries will participate in the Johor International Petanque Men’s and Women’s Double Open Championships 2022 on Aug 27 and 28.
Deputy Johor State Secretary (Sports, Youth and Volunteers) Datuk On Jabbar said 900 local and foreign participants from countries such as South Korea, Denmark, Thailand, France, Australia, Singapore, Zambia and New Macedonia are expected to join the tournament.
He said national players Nur Ain Syuhada Mohd Asri and Nur Thahira Tasnim Abdul Aziz who won the silver in the Petanque World Championships in Karslunde, Denmark in May as well as Mohd Arif Kana and Mohamed Syahzwan Mohamed Sani who took the bronze medal at the Hanoi SEA Games would be taking part.
On said Thai athletes, Nantawan Fueangsanit and Sarawut Sriboonpeng who are the champions in the Petanque World Championships in Karslunde, Denmark have also confirmed their participation.
“The tournament will be held for the first time in Johor and also in Malaysia and as of today (Aug 8), 834 participants had registered.
“Registration for the tournament is still open until Aug 23, so we welcome more petanque enthusiasts to join especially among local players,” he said in a media conference here today.
On said so far, 626 local participants had registered involving 203 men’s teams and 110 women’s teams.
He said the championships would be contested in the men’s and women’s categories with two in each team, and would be held at MBJB Petanque Arena at Taman Tampoi Utama and the Petanque Arena at Impian Emas, Johor Bahru.
According to On, the championships would assist Johor athletes in Malaysia Games (Sukma) which will be held in Kuala Lumpur next month as well as the pre-preparation for Johor Sukma in 2024.
“The tournament has also been entered in the International Federation of Petanque (FIPJP) as an annual event,” he said.
Apart from that, the championship is also targeting to record the biggest participation in petanque in the Malaysia Books of Records. - Bernama
