Mixed success at the Tokyo Midtown Cup

HSPC fielded one team (Bob, Rajan and Steve) at the Tokyo Midtown Cup on Sunday, April 15.

In the morning session, Bob played all 3 singles matches winning one, and Rajan and Steve played the 3 doubles matches winning two.

In the afternoon two matches of triples HSPC won both games which placed us tied for 3rd. Thus we had to have a one round play-off between us and the other tied team, which they won with the very last ball leaving us to place 4th out of 27 teams in all.

First thru third received trophies and some other small prize items.

Not a bad performance considering we were 5 wins and 3 losses match wise.

One of the 3 teams from Myoshoji Park (MPC) took 2nd.

Congratulations MPC. We'll toast your success down the park.

2-to-1

The park has been very crowded of late with hanami lovers enjoying the blooming cherry trees.

After a school fundraiser on Saturday, Mike and I managed to stagger (literally) down to the park and Raj and I teamed up for a game of doubles against Bob and Mike. We jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and this is when it got interesting, so to speak.

Bob challenged us to a 2-beers-to-1 bet that they would beat us. "You're on," we replied and despite getting it to 9-1 we fell in a huge hole and choked.

We eventually lost 13-9, I believe, but don't quote me; it was all a bad dream...

'Ya gotta go 3-0 in the morning boys'

HSPC put together two teams for the 9th Kanto Petanque League Cup, held under stinging sunshine at the Akasaka Junior High School ground on Sunday March 6.

The event marked the debut of our team T-shirts, which initially were a good omen as both teams -- HSPC-A (Bob, Raj and Bill) and HSPC-B (Steve, Greg and Francis) -- went through the morning with impressive 3-0 records.

Prior to the big day, Albert from Aoyama Petanque had kindly reminded us of the need to go undefeated in the morning if we wanted to advance to the championship round in the afternoon, a sharp reminder of a previous hiccup when our team failed to advance despite having a solid 2-1 record.

Ironically, this time Albert's team (Aoyama Petanque 2, comprising of Adrian, Albert and Bernard) lost one morning match (6-5, called game) and were crossing their fingers that they would go through to the finals.

Surprise, surprise, they advanced with a superior point differential than their opponents.

The Aoyama Petanque guys made the most of their opportunity and went on to win the event convincingly after HSPC's two teams lost their first afternoon games to different clubs, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

Congratulations Aoyama Petanque.

MPC win 'Champions League' final

A very healthy turnout at the park on Saturday, including many friends from MPC.

After a few mixed rounds within the clubs we played a "Champions League" format with two teams facing off from MPC and two from HSPC. The respective winners advanced to meet in the final.

Bob, Raj and Yutaka took on Steve, Michael and Greg and in a well-fought game Bob's team emerged victorious (11-10) after he threw a superb long-distance knockout to get the winning point with his team's last ball.

In the final against MPC, the HSPC guys led early but MPC rallied for the win.

Congratulations MPC.

Going out on a limb ...

Another balmy weekend saw a large turnout at Myoshoji on Saturday with several members from MPC dropping by for a few rounds. Discussions focused on the upcoming tournament and our new team shirts that Kawamura san has kindly designed.

All the talk of tree cones (the six-pack of beers may have helped …) inspired Steve to climb to the top of our clubhouse, the 8-meter tall Himalaya cedar tree, in search of a few fresh cones to model the design on. After a few tense moments swaying in the canopy, Steve descended with a chest full of treasure.

Sunday was marked by chilly winds and the return of lost son Albert, now of Aoyama fame. It was great to shoot the breeze, and share a few knock-outs, with the lanky legend over a couple of carafes.