Petanque, but not as you know it

By JARED DENNIS jared.dennis@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Petanque purists may not have heard of moves such as the ''belly bump'' of the ''fat boy sandwich'' but all the tricks were coming out yesterday.
It was the final day of Masters Games pairs social competitive petanque and although the title did have ''competitive'' in it, socialising was still high on the agenda.
Two teams playing against each other when Chronicle staff arrived epitomised the good-natured feel to event, the Pink Ladies versus the Fat Boys.
The women's combination was Wanganui sidecar duo Tracy Anderson and Kellie Minnell.
"It's from one extreme to the other," Anderson said.
"That's next weekend," Minnell added, referring to the New Zealand road race championship meet the pair will race in at Manfeild next week.
It was their second go at petanque, playing first in the Masters Games in Wanganui two years ago.
"We're all a bit rusty," Minnell said.
"We decided we might do better today if we didn't drink."
Looking around the venue, there weren't too many others who had made the same decision.
Although, with host Wanganui East Club's petanque slogan "On the piste again", what could you expect?
And the sayings didn't stop there, with one of the Pink Ladies commenting that they "don't mind sharing your balls" after using one of their opponents boules by mistake.
Then there were the Fat Boys themselves, Christchurh's Grant Miller and Auckland's Lyle Lister.
It was the pair's seventh straight Masters Games, making alternate trips to Dunedin and Wanganui.
"Once a year we get our balls out," Miller joked.
"We love the atmosphere, the village and the social side.
"We come down for a good time every year for our annual pilgrimage away."
Along with petanque the Fat Boys were also in the Twilight 400 and the Sports Accuracy Challenge, although were disappointed there was no ten pin bowling this year as that is where they usually pick up most of their medals.
It was obvious they had their combination going on the piste, accounting for the Pink Ladies 13-5 in the first to 13 format.
Their combination off the court was on form too, executing a couple of "belly bumps", when the pair ran and jumped and bumped their trademark bellies together.
After the game one of the Pink Ladies was treated to a ''fat boy sandwich'', when the two stood on each side or her and bounced their stomachs up and down. Quite a treat in any girl's books I am sure.
So with all the good fun being had at the petanque, it shows you just don't have to be a "big tosser'' to enjoy the relaxing sport.