The Marseillaise à pétanque 2025: Round of 32 Quintais vs Gharbi

France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

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The round of 32 at the 2025 Marseillaise à Pétanque, matching Philippe Quintais’s side against Jean-Michel Gharbi’s, unfolds in a charged atmosphere on the packed main court of Parc Borély. From the outset, Quintais and his partners push an attacking style, stringing together carreaux and quickly jumping ahead 5–1. Gharbi, true to his meticulous pointing game, slows the pace, recenters the jack, and drags his trio back to 5–4 with two flawlessly managed defensive ends.

The match pivots midway through. In a spectacular end, Quintais lands a decisive full-iron carreau that opens the door to a three-point haul, moving the score to 8–4. Gharbi answers at once: capitalizing on a brief lull from the opposing shooter, he knocks out two boules and posts a four-point end to level things at 8–8. Spectators hold their breath, aware they are witnessing a top-flight tactical duel where every throw can swing the outcome.

Tension ratchets higher when Quintais, now at point, drops a short jack at 7.20 m. His team masters the distance and grabs two more points. Trailing 10–8, Gharbi and company go all-in: a missed shot followed by an unlucky ricochet leaves an open end, yet Quintais can’t finish. Gharbi seizes the chance, ties it at 10–10, and whips the Marseille crowd—torn between admiration and hometown fervor—into a frenzy.

The closing phase is pure modern pétanque: pinpoint pointing, repeated full-iron hits, and millimeter-perfect reads of the terrain. In the penultimate end, Quintais nails a carreau on the spot, carving out two extra points. Up 12–10, Gharbi’s triplet throws everything into one last stand. After two successive annulled jacks, the decisive third end sees Quintais place a first boule ten centimeters from the goal; despite two shooting attempts, Gharbi leaves the winning boule. Quintais rolls in a backup boule and seals the 13–10 qualification to thunderous applause.

This round-of-32 victory reaffirms Philippe Quintais’s experience and composure—he is often dubbed “the Mozart of pétanque.” It propels him into the last 16 of the 2025 Marseillaise à Pétanque, while Gharbi’s team—long dominant on the secondary courts—bows out with heads held high after a clash that will stand as one of the tournament’s technical peaks

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