Johor would witness the world champions of petanque compete in the upcoming Johor International Petanque Men’s and Women’s Double Open Championship 2022 organised by the Johor Boules Sports Association through the Johor State Sports Council, scheduled to take place on 27th to 28th August 2022 at two venues, namely the MBJB Petanque Arena, Taman Tampoi Utama and the Petanque Arena, Impian Emas, Taman Impian Emas, Johor Bahru.
According to Dato’ Haji On bin Jabbar@Ja’afar, Deputy State Secretary (Sports, Youth and Volunteers), “As of 8th August 2022, a total of 834 participants have officially registered to participate in this tournament which was joined by participants from Malaysia, Korea South, Denmark, Brunei, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Philippines, Nepal, Zambia, India, France and New Macedonia.”
He added that the international tournament for the sport of petanque was the first to be organised in the state of Johor, targeting 900 participants and will be recorded in the Malaysia Book of Record for the category with the most participation in a petanque game.
Among petanque stars who will participate in this tournament are the mixed double world champion of the 2022 World Petanque Championship from Thailand, Nantawan Fueangsanit and Sarawut Sriboonpeng; the Malaysian athletes who won the silver medal at the 2022 World Petanque Championship namely Nur Ain Syuhada Mohd Asri and Nur Thahira Tasnim Abdul Aziz and the men’s doubles bronze medalist at the Vietnam SEA Games 2021 namely Mohd Arif bin Kana and Mohammed Syazwan bin Mohammed Sani.
This event also has the largest prize pool of any Petanque tournament ever held in Malaysia, with a total prize of RM28,000 and will feature two categories: Men’s and Women’s groups (2 members per team).
In addition to the national athletes, the primary objective of this tournament is to engage with the state teams to train for SUKMA XX MSN 2022, as well as enticing petanque enthusiasts from home and abroad.
This competition can also be utilised as a practice ground for Malaysian petanque players to gain experience playing against foreign teams.
In addition, the staging of this international event will serve as a warm-up for Johor, which will host the Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in 2024.
Johor International Petanque Men’s and Women’s Double Open Championship is said to be added to the calendar of the Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (FIPJP) as an annual tournament once proven successful.
“Implicitly, the tournament will increase the prestige of petanque and pique the interest of youth, especially in Johor to participate in the sport thus producing potential and talented players to be promoted to a higher level.”
“The participation of local and foreign athletes at this tournament can serve to enhance the economy of the state of Johor, promoting the state of Johor on the international scene,” said Dato’ Haji On bin Jabbar@Ja’afar as he conclude the press conference.
Registration for this tournament is still open until the 23rd of August 2022 at 12 noon.
