A strong start. As the provisional leader of the rankings following the Saint-Étienne stage, the ‘Étoiles du Sud’ team—composed of Décines club players Yves Sedrick Rakotoarisoa and Jean François Daniel Rakotondrainibe, alongside Senegalese player N’Diaye Fara—secured a victory in the first pool match of the 5th stage of the Masters de Pétanque yesterday evening in Santa Susanna, Spain. This is the only stage held outside of France.
The African trio defeated the team led by Doerr, which included vice-world champion Christian Randriantseheno and Magny, with a score of 13-4 in nine ends.
Racle’s team initially led 2-0 before being pushed back to 2-10. Yves sealed the game with a winning ‘carreau’ while already having two balls on the ground and two in hand, with the Étoiles du Sud leading 10-4.
The African selection will face the other Group A winner, the Bonetto team, this morning in the second pool match. The defending champions defeated the local team 13-4 without much difficulty. Meanwhile, Racle’s team will face the Catalan selection in the play-offs. The second pool matches and play-offs are scheduled for this morning, with the semi-finals and final taking place in the late afternoon.
The Étoiles du Sud, winners of the first stage, currently hold the lead with 33 points, ahead of the Bonetto team (31 points) and the Rocher team (27 points).
Captured & Published at: 2026-08-05 06:24:20 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/08/masters-de-petanque-etape-5-lequipe-de.html