The Cambodian teams tallied 11 medals: 3 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze at the Southeast Asian Petanque Championship 2015, which ended Saturday at the Olympic Stadium. KT Photo: Soth Sophary

PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – The Southeast Asian Petanque Championship 2015 ended Saturday with partipation of 91 athletes from seven countries in the sport’s second annual event. Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron welcomed the event to the Kingdom saying it has “created closer friendly relations among Petanque players in Southeast Asian countries.”

The two-day tournament at the Olympic Stadium was attended by athletes from Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, as well as host Cambodia.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, president of the Cambodian Boules and Petanque Federation joined the opening ceremony on Friday and encouraged the competitors.

Thirty-one Cambodian players were in contention against their regional competitors in six events; men’s triples, women’s triples, junior’s triples, men’s shooting, women’s shooting, and junior’s shooting.

The Cambodian efforts brought the teams’ medal tally to 11 at the tournament’s end: 3 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze. Singapore captured 5 medals, while Laos followed with 4. Indonesia and Brunei failed to secure a podium place.

Ke Leng, perhaps the most high-profile Cambodian Petanque player at the event, found little resistance on her way to a gold medal for the Cambodian side.

Petanque, one of Europe’s most popular outdoor games, originated in the south of France in the early 1900s. The aim of the game is to roll a number of hollow steel balls – called boules – as close as possible to a small wooden target ball. Players take turns, and the team that ends up nearest to the target ball when all balls are played is declared the winner.

The first Southeast Asian Petanque Championship was held in Laos last year, and next year’s event is expected to be hosted by Singapore.