Petanque is one of the popular outdoor sports of boules (or balls) where players throw a larger ball towards a smaller target, which is a mini ball called the cochonnet or the bouchon.
Teams can comprise two players or three and each get a total of six balls to make a play.
Players have to have their feet grounded within a throwing circle or the rond. They first roll down the smaller target ball and then hurl the boule towards it — the closer they get the more points to be won. Much of the technique in Petanque involves decisions to toss the boule or roll it down, sometimes imparting some side spin or back spin.
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If you have a flair for the game you could produce the perfect shot, the carreau where the shooter’s ball knocks away the target boule and snugly occupies its place. A player is also considered to be in reasonably good form if his boule can knock away an opponent’s and yet remain close to the target — called the palais. In the tournament hosted in Puducherry, the team that made it first to 15 points was declared winner and qualified for the next round. The final two teams emerged from a series of rounds.