HSPC stumbled to our first loss this year in the Tokyo Petanque League, falling 6 games to 4 to Aoyama at our new home ground on Saturday, May 15.
It was a good learning curve for many guys. The first game when Francis knocked Albert/Ogawa out to get six points to lift the score to 11-5 was immense and we looked set to see the game out and go 2-0 up, instead Albert and Ogawa crawled back and we lost.
After Raj and Bill surprisingly lost two games early, we were suddenly trailing 1-4 and we had to make some tough decisions. Hold some of the more experienced pairings back for a finale that might not eventuate or throw caution to the wind and try to get back into the game. We rallied well getting back to 4-5 but that last win proved elusive. Hey, those are the breaks.
Congratulations Aoyama.
Thanks to everyone for bringing down plenty of food and drinks on Saturday and to those who helped mark the courts. Next time we need a tent peg for that hard ground.
Previously, HSPC had defeated Hiratsuka Beach Petanque 7-3 on April 24.
Full league results can be seen here.
