Gravesend Pétanque Club will host the SSE Doubles tournament this weekend (10–11 May), Petanque England’s qualifying process to determine England’s representatives for the FIPJP World Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles Championships. These Championships will be held in Rome, Italy, from 18–21 September 2025.
The event in Rome will take place at the Galoppatoio di Villa Borghese, a renowned park in the heart of the city.
This unique tournament format features five competitions running concurrently, which presents challenges for national team selection. Male and female singles matches take place at the same time as the mixed doubles, followed by overlapping rounds of male and female doubles. With only four players per federation allowed to compete, holding separate qualification processes for each format is not feasible, as it might result in more than four players qualifying.
Previously, Petanque England used an aggregated ranking system based on singles and doubles performances to guide selection. This approach balanced the differing skills required for singles play. However, for 2025, the selection will be based solely on performance in the doubles competition. That means the winning male and female doubles teams will form the pool from which representatives for all three disciplines—singles, doubles, and mixed—will be selected.
A total of 22 men’s teams and 7 women’s teams have entered. The men will play four timed Swiss rounds to determine a top eight, who will then progress to an untimed knockout stage each afternoon. The women will compete in a double round-robin format, with each team playing all others twice across the weekend, similar to last month’s SSE Triples in Worthing.
On both days, teams will earn points based on their finishing position, with additional bonus points awarded for match wins.
Women’s Line-up
The seven women’s pairings include the four players set to represent England at the upcoming Women’s World Triples Championship in Sin-le-Noble, France. Sarah Huntley partners with Becky Edwins, while Ella Slade teams up with European Women’s Doubles silver medallist Alex Spillett. These two teams are the early favourites.
Also in contention are Lori Welden and Sabrina Seville—Triples SSE runners-up with Spillett—and promising juniors Tegan Finley and Amy Geddes, who could prove to be surprise contenders. Clare Revill and Nicki Scott are also expected to be competitive.
Men’s Line-up
Unlike the women’s competition, only three of the four players who recently qualified for the 2025 European Triples Championships are taking part—Scott Ashby will be absent. His brother Dean Ashby will partner experienced Kent player Neil Phillips, while Jason White teams up with Rowland Jones.
Other notable pairings include European Doubles bronze medallist Jack Blows with former international Dave Plumhoff, looking to rebound from a disappointing SSE Triples. World Championship teammates Callum Lombard and Jeremy Huntley—both of whom competed in Dijon last year—are also expected to be strong contenders. Callum was part of England’s squad the last time the multi-format World Championships were held, in Denmark.
Sofiane Lachani, who ranked 5th in the men’s singles after Swiss rounds in Denmark but lost in the Top 16 to Belgium, partners with the seasoned Ashley Jamieson. Other strong teams include:
- Phil Bradshaw & Kai Sheffield – dubbed the “Jedi Master and his young Padawan”
- Hakim Dahmani & Mokhtar Benarab – England’s representatives at last year’s European tournament in Martigny
- Sam Blakey & Ben Gallimore – runners-up at the SSE Triples
- Sofiane Mehdi & Antoine Saout
- Sylvestre Mananasy & Ameen Miah
With so many talented teams, surprises are always possible—any duo could break through on the day. The real challenge will be maintaining consistency across both days of play.
Coverage
It promises to be a fascinating weekend of high-stakes pétanque. P365 will provide live coverage on Saturday, with the possibility of additional streaming on Sunday, subject to the availability of volunteer broadcasters.
Look out on our Facebook Group for the live-stream which will be broadcast on P365’s YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss any of the action!
Add Comment