Celebrating BGC Success!

We’ve got some fantastic news to share from the Bath Grand Cru Petanque Club!

Congratulations to Fe Lye (BGC) who, alongside playing partner Phil Bradshaw, won the GWR Mixed Doubles on September 21st at Royal Wootton Bassett Pétanque Club. In a thrilling final, they narrowly defeated John Randall (also of BGC) and Lesley Eastlake with a tight 13–12 win. A brilliant achievement in a closely fought match — well done to all four finalists!

Earlier in the season, Thierry Sarkissian and Oussema Hamdaoui did us proud by winning the GWR Doubles 2025 title - an impressive win that earned them the honour of representing the region at the Pétanque England Champion of Champions event.

This past weekend, they headed to Mansfield Pétanque Club to take on the best teams from across the country. They did incredibly well — going undefeated in the group stage, winning their quarter-final, and defeating a strong Chiltern team in the semi-final.

While the final didn’t go their way — losing out to Kent’s Jason and Geoff — we couldn’t be prouder of their performance and the way they represented the club and the region.

Well done to all — amazing achievements!

Pulteney Arms Boules League

🏆 Pulteney Arms Boules League Final – Match Report

Congratulations to Shamboules (Mike & Fiona) on their hard-fought victory in this year's Pulteney Arms Boules League Final, overcoming Loveaboules (Chris & Alice) in a closely contested series, two games to one.

Both teams played with fantastic spirit and skill throughout the final. Loveaboules showed great resilience, bouncing back strongly in the second game after a tough opener to level the match and set up a tense decider.

The final game was a nail-biter in the early stages, with little separating the two sides. However, Shamboules gradually built up a lead, playing with calm consistency and tactical precision. In the end, their steady pressure paid off as they chipped away at the scoreboard to secure a well-deserved victory.

A huge thank you to Dave Ramplin, who once again organised the league with care and dedication on behalf of the Bath Grand Cru Pétanque Club.

Well played to all who took part – and especially to our 2025 champions, Shamboules!

PE EuroCup Trophy Champions!

Having successfully negotiated the earlier rounds of this national knockout competition and finishing as runner up in the semi-final group, the Bath Grand Cru team travelled to Worthing, Sussex on 17th August to compete for the trophy against the other 3 runners up teams (Leicester, Campetanque and The Anglesey Arms) ie club teams ranked 5 to 8 in the country.

As expected, all matches proved to be truly competitive with teams including highly skilled and experienced players. The pressure was on to make effective use of every boule played.

Under the captaincy and leadership of Dave Ramplin, the Grand Cru team was well motivated and ready for this day. The first match saw off the challenge from Leicester with a convincing 4-1 win.

Next, with the players feeling the confidence of that success, it was the Campetanque team which was dispatched with equal efficiency… another 4-1 win.

The final match was the decider. Both Grand Cru and The Anglesey Arms had arrived at this stage having achieved 2 wins from their 2 matches. Whichever team was to win would be champions.

This match was to be “a nail biter.” Anglesey took the first win in the opening triples, and were on top in the other. It was at a crucial time when astute captaincy and a timely substitution made the change which turned that game to gain a narrow win. So, the score was 1-1 after the initial first round of triples games.

That left the 3 pairs games to determine the winner. In one of these, the Grand Cru pair of Dave Ramplin and Oussema Hamdaoui managed to get on top from early on and reach the 13 points required for victory. In the remaining two games both Grand Cru teams were behind. Was the trophy slipping away?

It was then that Thierry Sarkissian and Fe Lye, playing against the opposition’s strongest and most experienced mixed pair, turned the game and match around. They pointed and shot so consistently accurately, making astute tactical decisions, and managed to gain that decisive win and the 3-2 overall match score.

The trophy was again with Bath Grand Cru, last won in 2021.

Club Captain Chris Garratt said, “The most pleasing aspect of this notable win for our club was the way the players approached the games and how each and every member of the squad showed such consistent and excellent form throughout each game. There were definitely no easy wins, and nor did we win because of poor play or mistakes by the opponents. The Grand Cru players rose to the occasion and were victorious due to a performance of real excellence, high level of individual skills and sound teamwork. Well played all!”

It was so gratifying to regain this trophy, with the team pleased to dedicate their triumph to Andy Briggs who passed away from cancer earlier this year, a top club player who had been a member of the previous winning team in 2021.

(Squad: Dave Ramplin (capt), Sam Ramplin, Fe Lye, Oussema Hamdaoui, Steve Smith, Thierry Sarkisssian, Mark Gay, John Randall, Chris Garratt)

PE EuroCup & Cup Finals

Bath Grand Cru make the PE Cup Finals!!

After a standout performance in the group heat qualifiers, reaching the top 16 teams in the country, The Bath Grand Cru powered through to the semi-finals at Wallingford Pétanque Club on Sunday 29th June. Finishing as group runners-up, we’ve now earned our spot in the highly anticipated PE Cup Final — set to take place at Worthing Pétanque Club on Sunday 16th August. The stage is set, and we're ready to bring the heat!

The PE EuroCup is an annual competition designed to identify the top four club teams in England, who then compete in a final to determine which team will represent the country at the Confédération Européenne de Pétanque (CEP) EuroCup.

PE-affiliated clubs begin the competition by facing off against others in their local regions in a knockout format. For each match, clubs field a squad of players who compete in a series of Singles, Doubles, and Triples games.

From the fourth round onwards, fixtures are drawn on a national level. The top four ranked teams advance to the semi-finals, with the final match determining which club will earn the honour of representing Petanque England in the prestigious Europe-wide CEP EuroCup.

Clubs that finish as runners-up in each semi-final enter the PE Cup, while teams eliminated in the first and second rounds of the main competition go on to compete for the Plate.

Bath Boules

The Bath Grand Cru Petanque Club is always pleased to support the grand Bath Boules weekend.  We provide the referees for the tournament, advising on the rules, tactics and etiquette for participants, in a relaxed way. 

The Bath Grand Cru Pétanque Club is also proud to be a corporate member of the Aix-en-Provence Twinning Association, and we were delighted to be invited to represent the twinning association on Saturday. This was made possible thanks to a generously offered place at this year’s event—part of the community inclusivity championed by the event organisers, MediaClash.

Sporting their new pink caps, the victorious team helped raise the profile of the Bath-Aix Twinning Association throughout the day, adding a splash of colour and camaraderie to the occasion!

Pétanque has long been one of the strongest and most enduring elements of the Bath-Aix twinning connection. Numerous visits to Aix by Bath’s Grand Cru Club have reinforced this bond, with les Boulistes de Grande Bretagne often welcomed like celebrities!

On the boules for charity

The annual four-day Bath Boules event, a much-loved city tradition that has raised over £500,000 for local charities across more than 30 years, proved a great success once again this year. Held in the iconic Queen Square, the event welcomed over 60 teams for a lively celebration of sport, community, and fundraising.

On Thursday evening, the Tournoi Amicale took place — a friendly competition between representatives from Bath’s twin cities: Aix-en-Provence, Alkmaar, and Braunschweig. The event was organised and hosted by the Bath Grand Cru Pétanque Club, who also provided coaching and support to participants before the games began.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Bath, Dr Bharat Pankhania and his wife Alison, visited Queen Square during the event and enjoyed watching the friendly international matches in action — highlighting the social and cultural connections fostered through pétanque.