Officials from the Cambodia Boules and Petanque Federation (CBPF) have organised trials between the existing team members and athletes from the capital and provinces. They will use the trials to select the strongest possible team for the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2023, which Cambodia will host.

Ung Kimsrun, technical officer of the CBPF and a representative of the organising committee, said the qualifiers will be conducted in a transparent and non-partisan manner. He informed the management of all clubs in Cambodia to send their strongest athletes to compete for a chance to qualify for the national team.

“In January, we will select the players who will compete at the SEA Games. The Kingdom’s strongest athletes are invited to try out for a place in the national team.

“The federation is always transparent and the selection will not be biased. We will judge players based on their performance. We aim to select only the strongest players, as we are not simply preparing for the games, but for the future development of the sport.

“The federation promises to keep the standard of Boules and Petanque in Cambodia as high as possible, to make sure that the sport will not go backwards but will always go forward,” said Kimsrun.

Following the results of the 2022 Petanque Cup, which marked the 30th anniversary of the CBPF and ran from December 23 to 25, Kimsrun said the athletes from the capital and provinces may be able to beat the national team in the triples category.

“In previous competitions, most provincial players did not want to face the national team, as they expected to lose. At this year’s cup, they were able to eliminate them. I think the previous aura of invincibility of the national team has been shattered because of the hard work and intensive training the provincial athletes have been undergoing. This is a source of pride, and testament to the development of boules and petanque in Cambodia,” he added.

Sar Sokha, who recently resigned as CBPF chief and became its honorary president, said he was also surprised at the provincial team’s victory.

He urged national team members to accept the fact that if they are eliminated from the national team in the January qualifiers, it would be because they are no longer the best athletes.

“We do not expect the national team to lose to provincial competitors. I feel sympathy for the national team who were eliminated, but they must accept that if they are not strong they will be replaced,” he said.

Sokha – who is also secretary of state at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport – said the federation must give the emerging talents of the Kingdom’s younger players a chance to succeed the older players to guarantee the sport’s success in the future.