Pentangue makes a comeback

comeback

By Patrick Decloitre

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C Vna C olan,eS

... with coconut trees, very far from arsei es an its amous a- ler e, regu ar oumamen s a e p ace.

This game, played with iron balls, was first mtroduced by the French in the times opheFreneh-Bntish Condominium of the New Hebrides. And it has become a hit erF ’ a er a on g P cno 0 a sence.

The purpose for each team of two or more players is to get their balls nearest to e coc onne , us scoring the points.

Last year, two petanque leagues were created, one in die capital, one m northern an o is an . ''S'- 1 ct ’ 1 are are now some three hundred people affiliated to the na lona pre anque e era ion, w ic was created only two weeks ago its president o er ranmer, a ocal businessman, ex P ai ? S l , r .

But it is not only for tournaments that people play: everyday, in the capital and

its surrounding villages, as well as outer islands of the island state, over ten clubs haVe f ° rmed “ d » lay re * ularly ’ .

Famous pentaque aficiaondas include the Prime Minister Maxime Car|ot the Minister of Finance, Willie Jimmy, who formed his own club and hosts friends at his home for a weekend or the Secret General of ruli Union of Moderate Parties, Petre Malsungai. the capital . s seafront park> a tanque ground has been included ever since it was c o nceived last year, a sign that authorities reco g n i ze and encourage this new craze £ V ery weekend, clubs are comti Xrannier ex lains „ A( f|rs , we did „, t rea||y in it [j Ll [ no w, it’s obvious there are more and more p|ayers wha ,. s rea , |y surpnsing> ni .

Vanuatu people are even keener than the French residing here, who play at home amongst friends. We don’t see them here”

And yet, in this archipelago, pentanque has been thro h had times Qn the wake of independence in 1980> new State of

Vanuatu, which remained under a predom inantly English-speaking rule and culture for OVCT deve " years ’ s P° rt - stro "B ly associated with France, practically disap peared “Before independence, in the seventies, a lot of French people here were playing ntan bul it F wa F sn ., that bi Before one wou|d with friends ( J in 1989, a club started again, then the Vietnamese community of Port Vila reformed their teams and since then, it’s soaring again,” Trannier says, Bui there is a difference: French are no longer seen playing petanque in these reg ular meeti n all ® f th J are in . Vanuatu m en, womet and teenagers.

The pre-independence cultural signifi cance is no ong er there either: in this dual French-English system which still bears the linguistics stigmas of the Condominium days, not only French speaking locals play, Anglophones, as they here / ar ' tasbn g F this convivia i and relaxing game . a

Pentague is a multiracial game. Everybody is crazy about it.