Competitions

Eleven-Thirteen: The Final France Could Not Close

In Loutraki, the French women reached the European triplette final, led a comeback for the ages, and lost 11-13 to Belgium. Henri Roche on a week that started with Fannys and ended two points short — and on the young team that saved the trip with gold.

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Two Hundred: Waters Makes History in Chicago

Anna Leigh Waters won her 200th PPA title at the Chicago Cup — and swept all three golds on the same Sunday. Tanya Ruiz on a milestone weekend, a surprise men's finalist, and the doubles team nobody can beat.

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Semifinal Saturday

Three days of pool play in San Clemente are done, and the brackets are set. Today the season's last finalists get decided. Dana Whitfield on what Friday settled and what Saturday will answer.

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Two Fannys, Zero Points

In Loutraki, the French women opened the European championships with two 13-0s and not a single point conceded. Gégé Lacroix on what a perfect start is worth — and what it isn't.

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The Triplette

Three players, two boules each, one job apiece — except the middle guy, who gets two. Ray Delgado on the triplette, pétanque's hardest formation to get right.

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Gold in Kuala Lumpur, Finals in San Clemente

Noé Khlif flew to Malaysia unplanned and came home with PPA gold and silver. Meanwhile the PPA Tour Finals opened in California. A very French week in American pickleball.

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The Quiet Discipline

While the triplette gets the crowds, Europe's best shooters stand alone in a circle today in Loutraki for precision-shooting qualifying. Tommy Becker on the loneliest, purest test in pétanque.

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Greece, Thursday

The senior women's European pétanque championships start Thursday in Loutraki. France arrives with a rebuilt team, a new selector, and everything to prove.

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The 15-Year-Old Who Shot 59

Dawson Herlemann, 15, scored 59 in precision-shooting qualifying at the European juniors in Loutraki, Greece — one of the best scores in the discipline's history. Then he won his quarterfinal and semifinal, and took the silver medal in the final, losing 47-58 to Italy's Nicolo Dagati.

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Club Night

Every Saturday, in towns all over France, the boulodrome fills up for the concours — the weekly club tournament that is half competition, half neighborhood reunion. In America, the equivalent ritual is the ladder night. Same hunger, different scoreboard.

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The American Paddle in the French Gym

Pickleball crossed the Atlantic in a tennis bag and landed in the French salle polyvalente: the French Tennis Federation took charge of the sport in January, licensees number in the thousands, and village tennis clubs from Châtillon to Aucamville are converting courts. France is learning the dink — reluctantly, then all at once.

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The US Open of Pétanque

In Manhattan's parks, La Boule New Yorkaise has turned a French village pastime into a New York institution — and with the US Open of Pétanque coming to town on October 10–11, the season is heading for its loudest weekend yet.

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