Petanque team targets Asian Champs ahead of games
27 Cambodian petanque delegates left the country on November 10 for Thailand to participate in the 4th Asian Boules Sport Confederation Petanque Championship. The event will run from November 10-14.
The Boules and Petanque Federation of Cambodia, under the leadership of new president Sok Sakan, considers the trip an important opportunity to test the ability of the national team before they compete on their home territory in the 32nd SEA Games. Almost all of the ASEAN teams who are expected in the Kingdom next year will be present in Thailand.
“Our players and their coaching staff have been training full time at the National Stadium since the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. This competition is another important chance to develop their abilities in preparation for other competitions, especially the 2023 SEA Games, which Cambodia will host,” said Sok Sabayna, secretarygeneral of the federation.
Eight men’s, four women’s and eight U-18 players have travelled to Thailand. Accompanying them are three managers and four coaches.
Kin Samnang, deputy-chief of the
delegation, said that the Cambodian athletes, both men, women and youth will compete in shooting and triples events. In the triples, Cambodia will field two teams, after winning gold medal at the third Asian Championships.
Sabayna said that the selection of the current national team was based
on transparency. It was based on monthly assessments and annual qualifiers.
“Our federation has always adhered to these transparent measures. We have organised competitions in specific disciplines as well as reviewed scores from the technical committee and trainers in the selection process.
This is the largest delegation we have ever dispatched to the Asian champs,” he added.
He said that not only will the senior national players able to strengthen their abilities in preparation for next year’s 2023 SEA Games. Perhaps more importantly, this is also a great opportunity for the Cambodian youth players to show their potential to the international community.
Of the eight young men and women sent by the federation, seven have never been abroad, he added. They have all been promoted from the younger ranks. After training, they are encouraged not to worry too much about winning or losing, but to do their best to demonstrate what they can do.
“I told them that obviously winning or losing is a factor, but self-discipline, self-control and representation – as well as gaining valuable experience – from every game, are even more important. The federation is open to recruiting talented players from different provinces to join the national team, so we are excited to see their true potential and see whether they might merit future selection,” Sabayna said.
“Of course, next year’s Cambodian
SEA Games are very important, but the games is not the last step of sports in Cambodia. It is significant, of course, but the development of young players has to be continued, in order to ensure that the Kingdom retains his reputation as a powerhouse of the sport,” he added.
Ouk Yari, coach of the Cambodian national youth team, was not prepared to make a prediction on the likelihood of his young charges claiming medal glory.
“It is true that our youth team won a gold medal in the triple event at the 2019 Asian Championship in Vietnam – but the gold medal winners are not too old to qualify for the youth team, so we have selected an entirely new squad,” he said.
Coach Yari was prepared to say that the youth team had been working very hard, so it was possible they might progress to the medal rounds of the tournament.
“Based on what I have seen at training, we might be able to claim some medals in some disciplines, but I would not like to be any more specific. We are yet to meet perennial rivals Thailand and other strong nations, and we cannot underestimate them,” he said.