Johor sees record sign-ups for petanque open championships

Deputy state secretary (Sports, Youths and Volunteers) Datuk On Jabbar @ Ja'afar (second right) throwing a steel ball after the Johor International Petanque Men's and Women's Double Open Championships 2022 press conference as part of the gimmick of the championship pre-launch.

ISKANDAR PUTERI: A total of 900 athletes are expected to participate in the Johor International Petanque Men's and Women's Double Open Championships 2022 later this month, says Datuk On Jabbar.

The deputy state secretary (Sports, Youths and Volunteers) added that the event will make it into Malaysia’s Book of Records for the highest number of participants in petanque.

“As of Monday (Aug 8), a total of 834 participants have registered for the coming championship, which will be held on Aug 27 and 28.

“A total of 626 local athletes will also participate,” he said during a press conference at Pinetree Hotel here on Monday (Aug 8).

Besides Malaysia, the other participating countries are Singapore, South Korea, Brunei, Cambodia, Thailand, Denmark, Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines, Nepal, Zambia, India, France, and New Macedonia.

“The championship will offer a prize worth RM28,000.

“Our main objective is to give exposure to local athletes who are currently making preparations for the coming Malaysia Games (Sukma) from Sept 29 to Oct 8 in Kuala Lumpur,” he added.

Petanque is a boule/ball sport, in the same category as bocce, lawn bowls and crown green bowling. Players score points by throwing or rolling their boules closer to the target ball than their opponents, or knocking opposing boules away from the target.