Spectacular action is guaranteed when three French players with 19 world titles between them are hosted by the Masterton Petanque Club at their Queen Elizabeth Park headquarters next Tuesday. Phillipe Quintais, Phillipe Suchaud and Bruno Rocher will arrive here fresh from contesting the New Zealand championships in Auckland this weekend andthe local sporting fraternity will have ample opportunity to see first hand just why they are so revered in petanque circles. The records of Quintais, Suchaud and Rocher speak for themselves. Quintais has 10 world titles to his credit, Suchaud eight and Rocher one while Rocher has also won two world junior titles. And if that's not proof enough of their abilities then how about the fact that of the 600,000 petanque players registered in 75 countries France has 400,000 of them and these three are the cream of the crop there While their visit to the Wairarapa is a brief one Quintais, Suchaud and Rocher will face a hectic schedule. After attending a mayoral reception at the Masterton Town Hall on Tuesday morning they will participate in a melee tourney which will run from 1pm to 5pm. This is a drawn event which means that the 30 individuals mainly from Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Wairarapa who have already entered will likely have the chance to play either with or against them. At the conclusion of this tourney will come what should be the highlight of the day when Quintais, Suchaud and Rocher participate in a shooting demonstration, which will involve them having to remove boules placed in designated positions. Quintais has two world shooting titles to his credit and Masterton Petanque Club official Graeme Morris, a former CEO for Petanque New Zealand who has seen him in action during his travels as manager of national teams, describes his skill in this discipline as "absolutely amazing". "He can virtually make the boule talk & it's quite spectacular to watch," Morris said. A barbeque dinner for players and officials will follow the shooting demonstration and then in the early evening local players will be given a final chance to try their luck against the French players, who will be accompanied to Masterton by the technical director of the French Petanque Federation Victor Nalif in a visit largely made possible through the sponsorship of Trust House.
