No sport is more emblematic of the South of France than petanque. But did you know that in the South of France, the same rules are used to play with square balls? Shooting and pointing with these wooden blocks is not an easy task: it is a sport in its own right and has its own world championship in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
There's something of a contradiction in the name of square bowls. And yet, this sport exists and is well named!
This Game also called 'square ball petanque' follows the same rules as classic petanque, with the difference that the balls are replaced by solid wood cubes of about ten centimeters on each side. The cochonnet itself, called a titchon, is not round but cubic.
This hobby is mostly practiced in the South of France and in Belgium, preferably in the steep alleys of certain Villages or neighborhoods, such as the Haut de Cagnes in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
Square balls are not easily tamed! It takes a lot of skill or carelessness to pull and point with these 'balls' that aren't balls and don't go round...
The trajectory of the cubes is very random. Not easy in these conditions to approach the goal and score the 13 points necessary to win!
Since chance is involved, everyone can try their luck to relax and have fun.
Why are petanque balls always round? In the district of Hauts de Cagnes in Cagnes-sur-Mer, the inhabitants have long since swapped the classic boules for square ones.
This commune of the Alpes-Maritimes is even a mecca for the discipline, since it has been hosting the world championship of square boules every summer since 1980.
The 41st edition will be held in Haut de Cagnes, in the rise of the Bourgade, from 20 to 21 August 2022. The affair is taken seriously, but not too seriously because this story of square ball is enough to make you go crazy...
Author Audrey on 02 May 2023
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