Pattaya staged the 5th Petanque Insurance Cup without the French players who started the tournament as the Thai government wouldn’t allow them to enter the country to participate.
Somya Boonphan, chairman of Thai-French Road Cup Petanque Club, kicked off the Dec. 5 competition at the Khao Rai Sai Sam field featuring Thai and the few local expat athletes remaining in the city.
Somya said most of the club’s French and European members who had returned home during the coronavirus pandemic couldn’t come back to Thailand, either due to government restrictions or because they couldn’t afford the cost of the trip and two weeks of alternative state quarantine.
The tournament, which Somya admitted was quiet this year, offered total prizes worth 30,000 baht.
The Kla Rayong Durian Racing Team won the General Doubles category with the Tong Ngan Ngan 1 Team finishing second, Tong Ngan Ngan 3 Team third and Jae Kui Team fourth. They won prize money of 12,000, 4,000, 2,000 and 2,000 baht, respectively.
The Sing Pra Rod 1 Team took the 6,000-baht first-place prize in the mixed doubles category with Patsorn, the Sing Pra Rod 5 Team and Chai OK Team finishing second through fourth with prize money of 1,000-3,000 baht each.
