Two Whitnash Windmill Petanque ladies qualified this year to represent England in the World Petanque Championships, which were held in Spain in November 2021. The squad, comprising only four ladies in the country, was determined through qualifying competitions throughout the 2021 season, where HANNAH GRIFFIN and RACHEL KELLY succeeded in this qualification process to form fifty percent of the England team.
Whitnash Windmill Petanque Club is very proud of this magnificent achievement, which was well deserved and earned through hard work, determination and constant training over many months. Five timed games were played which determined which countries progressed to the main World Champs and which would enter the Nations Cup. The English ladies played exceptionally well to win 2 out of the 5 games, winning 13-6 against Andorra and 13-3 against Austria, but losing against Belgium (13-5), Sweden (10-4) and also in a very tight match against Denmark (10-9) which could have gone either way. A third win would have put them through to the main event but their narrow loss meant they progressed to the Nations Cup. There they beat Slovakia in the first round (13-3) but unfortunately they were unable to retain their excellent form and they lost to Canada in the Quarter finals (13-2) where a win would have secured them a bronze medal.
However, the girls played extremely well throughout the competition, on what were very challenging pistes (playing lanes) and did themselves, the Whitnash Petanque Club, WSSC and the country proud.
WELL DONE HANNAH AND RACHEL
