He dreamed of it and, last night, he did it. Khaled Lakhal, accompanied by his two companions Laurent N’Guyen Van and Richard Bettoni, who had already tasted final victory in 2006, won the 2013 Europétanque against the dream team Quintais/Suchaud/Lacroix. An accomplishment for a great champion already crowned as World Champion and French Champion.
“I am over the moon, it’s my year!” beams Khaled as he turns to the large crowd chanting his name. The former tenant of the DUC is happy, and it’s a pleasure to see. It’s true that the journey was long and fraught with challenges for the winning triplet, but this victory in the final against one of the best triplets in the world is the culmination of a well-managed Europétanque from start to finish.
And as expected, the match was not the easiest against the dream team. The first rounds were quite evenly matched, with both formations finding themselves tied after 4 rounds (4-4). And it’s the 5th round that marked the first hurdle for the Quintais/Suchaud/Lacroix triplet. Two unusual misses by Quintais and a perfect play from the other side with two successful shots by N’Guyen Van resulted in a harsh 4-0, leaving the dream team trailing 8-4.
The machine then kicked back into gear with more precise throws from Philippe Quintais, Philippe Suchaud, and Henri Lacroix, and little by little, they chipped away at the points to move ahead of their opponents for the evening (8-9). It seemed the steamroller was in motion on the champions’ side, but the persistence of the underdogs can’t be underestimated, as they immediately took control again to lead 12-9 and placed themselves a point away from final victory.
The last round was symptomatic of this final, with a dream team in significant difficulty trying to recover by aiming for the target, but nothing worked last night, and the three attempts ultimately yielded nothing, offering a well-deserved victory to a triplet, though an unexpected one, that greatly merits this hard-won title after three days of battle.
The 2013 Europétanque is over, eagerly awaiting 2014…
