Raj, Steve and Bernard win Tokyo Midtown Cup

It was an early rise and late shine on Sunday, September 16th, for HSPC members Steve and Rajan and guest Bernard.

After an initial setback in the opening game, the lads focused or getting through to the afternoon. An 11-3 defeat of the Samurais got things back on track, and with confidence restored, HSPC dominated NDB-5 11-1 in their third morning game to advance.

With 90 minutes for lunch on a sizzling day, the boys made the wise decision to replenish vital fluids and were joined by Ale-bert and Mike.


A few swigs of medicinal ale at trendy Tokyo Midtown recharged the tanks and HSPC soared through the afternoon competition, blanking NPD-4 11-0 in the final to seal a well-deserved victory.

Congratulations guys!

HSPC, Aoyama share spoils as Tokyo Petanque League gets underway

HSPC traveled to Aoyama on Saturday for the opening round of the Tokyo Petanque League. With many players away, working or on the injured list HSPC could only field one team but Bob and Greg earned a valuable draw for the club.

The rocky terrain was difficult to adjust to and getting close to the bit proved a real challenge. HSPC trailed in most games but rallied well and managed to salvage three important wins.

Full results can be seen at http://tokyoleague.petanque.cc/

Next up HSPC plays Okubo at home in September after the teams agreed to delay August's scheduled game.

Charlie back on his feet, sort of ...

After slipping and breaking his ankle, Charlie made a welcome return to Myoshoji Park on Sunday following a five-day stay in hospital to have his leg operated on.

With one hand on his crutches, and his foot wrapped in a bag, Charlie joined Bob and Greg for a game of three-way killer and performed very admirably, making several trademark clutch throws to earn the point.

His effort has earned him a nomination for HSPC Man of the Year!

We wish him a speedy recovery.

A big hello to Don in San Diego

Don, thanks for the feedback on our site. More regular updates to follow after a brief lull. Humble apologies.

Greg

PS The "sand bags" are all polished and await your return!

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.