Boules is a precision sport in which the objective is to throw or roll metal balls as close as possible to a small target ball. Originating in France, the balls are called 'Boules'.

Pétanque and Lyonnaise are two disciplines of Boules sport that will be featured in The World Games 2022 with women's events only.

Pétanque is played from a stationary position, from inside a circle where the athletes stand with both feet on the ground. At The World Games 2022, Pétanque will host one Classic Competition (Doubles) and one Precision Shooting (Singles) competition.

In the Classic Event, the objective is to score more points than the opponent by having boules closer to the target ball than the opponent.

In the Precision Shooting event, the objective is to score more points in the twenty tries than the opponent.

Precision Shooting

- Eight athletes compete in two qualification rounds. The second round of qualification starts with the athletes having achieved the lowest score in the first round. Results of both rounds are added to determine the qualification ranking.

- Best four athletes proceed to semi-finals.

- Losing semi-finalists compete for Bronze. Winning semi-finalists compete for Gold and Silver.

Pétanque Classic

- Two groups of four teams play a single round-robin format.

- The two best teams from each group qualify for crossed semi-finals.

- Losing semi-finalists compete for Bronze. Winning semi-finalists compete for Gold and Silver.

Classic Doubles

The team that wins the coin toss gets to place the circle. The starting athlete will first throw the jack to a distance of 6-10 meters and afterwards throw the first own boule. The opponent then gets a turn to land the boule closer, by either landing the boule closer to the jack or by knocking away the opponent's boule further.

From that point on, the team with the boule that is closest to the jack is said to ‘have the point’. The team that does not have the point throws the next boule until it either gains the point or runs out of boules. Afterwards, the other team will throw the rest of their boules. All athletes have three balls. Teams may decide in which order their athletes throw their balls.

At the end of a play, the team with the boule closest to the jack wins the end. A team scores as many points as boules are closer to the jack than the closest boule of the opposing team.

The winning team will start the next end by placing a circle around the jack. The next round will start from that point by throwing the jack in the opposite direction to a distance of 6-10 meters.

The game ends when one team gets to 13 points. Games may end earlier if a pre-defined time has passed.

Precision Shooting

Each shooter must perform a complete series of twenty shots. Five shots are taken, one for each discipline, for all four distances. Athletes have a maximum time of 15 minutes. Points are awarded for every try, either zero, one, three or five.

In case of a perfect tie, a barrage is organized. Each player shoots only one boule for each discipline (five in total) from the circle located at 7 meters. If still tied, this procedure is repeated but stopped when one of the players scores more points than the other on a target.

In Pétanque Classic, the most common strategy for players throwing the first boule is to aim the boule directly at the jack, so that it will stop right in front of it, or near to it. This is done to prevent your opponent from throwing a boule nearer to the jack, as your boule would act as an obstacle in your opponent’s path.

In the event that all your boules are near to the jack, and you have one last boule to throw, while your opponent still has several, it is advisable to throw your last remaining boule so that it is farther away from the jack. While it sounds contradictory, this strategy is good as it ensures that your opponent will not risk shooting too near to the jack, or even at the jack, as it might cause their boule to drive the jack nearer to your boule instead. Your last boule should therefore be thrown not only farther away, but also beyond the jack, instead of in front of it.

Sometimes, the game can proceed to the point that the jack is completely surrounded by the opponent’s boules. In this case, the only strategy available to the player would be to throw the boule directly at the jack, in hopes that it will drive the jack further away from the opponent’s boules. This is also advantageous as hitting the jack would put the boule in closer proximity to it, hence the player would have a point.

One referee will oversee the competition. Referees have the authority to disqualify any player or team for the competition refusing to comply with their decisions.

Classic Doubles

Once the jack is thrown, each player has the maximum duration of one minute to play their boule. This short period starts from the moment when the previous boule or jack stops or, if it is necessary to measure a point, from the moment the latter has been carried out.

If the jack has not been thrown in accordance with the rules, the opposing  team will place the jack in a valid position on the terrain. They may also move the circle  back, in accordance with the conditions defined in the rules, if the first team’s positioning  of the circle did not allow the jack to be thrown the maximum distance.

The measuring of a point is the responsibility of the player who last played or by one of their team-mates. The opponents always have the right to measure after one of these players. Measuring must be done with appropriate instruments, such as calipers.

Precision Shooting

For a shot to be valid, the impact of it must be inside the circle where the targets and obstacles are positioned.

Classic Doubles

- A team/player scores as many points as boules are closer to the jack than the closest boule of the opposing team.

Precision Shooting

The following number of points are awarded, depending on if a target boule or target jack have to be hit.

5 points:
- The target boule is hit correctly and completely leaves the circle, but the shooter's boule remains - for disciplines with obstacles, without touching them.
- The target jack leaves the circle after being correctly hit.

3 points:
- The target boule is hit correctly and both it and the shooter's boule completely leave the circle - for disciplines with obstacles, without touching them.
- The target jack (discipline 5) is hit correctly, but does not leave the circle.

1 point:
- The target boule is hit correctly, but it does not leave the circle.
- For disciplines 2 and 4, the obstacle is touched by the shooting boule rebounding from the target boule, whatever the position of the target boule, the jack, obstacle boule or the shooting boule. The point will only be awarded if the impact of the player's boule is beyond the obstacle that is in front of the target boule.
- For discipline 3, after the target boule has been hit, the shooting boule hits an obstacle boule that remains in the circle.

0 points:

- Missed boule
- Missed jack
- Impact of the thrown boule is before the obstacle jack (disciplines 2 and 4)
- Target boule and obstacle boule leave the circle (discipline 3)

For non-observation of the rules during a game, the players incur the following penalties:
1) Warning, which is officially marked by an umpire presenting a yellow card to the player at fault. However, a yellow card for exceeding the time limit will be imposed on all the players of the offending team. If one of these players has already been given a yellow card, they will be penalised by disqualification of the boule played or to be played.
2) Disqualification of the boule played or to be played, which is officially marked by an umpire presenting an orange card to the player at fault.
3) Exclusion of the responsible player for the game, which is officially marked by an umpire presenting a red card to the player at fault.
4) Disqualification of the team responsible.
5) Disqualification of the two teams in case of complicity. The warning is a sanction and can only be given after an infringement of the rules. Giving
information to players or requesting they should respect the rules at the start of a competition or of a match is not to be considered as a warning.

Classic - Doubles Men

1. Team ITA
2. Team THA
3. Team ESP

Classic - Doubles Women

1. Team THA
2. Team BEL
3. Team FRA

Precision Shooting - Single Men

1. Henri LACROIX (FRA)
2. Thanakorn SANGKAEW (THA)
3. Diego RIZZI (ITA)

Precision Shooting - Single Women

1. Caroline BOURRIAUD (FRA)
2. Nantawan FUEANGSANIT (THA)
3. Guijin CHAO (CHN)

Precision Shooting - Doubles Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team THA
3. Team BEL

Precision Shooting - Doubles Women

1. Team FRA
2. Team THA
3. Team CAN

Precision Shooting - Doubles Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team BEL
3. Team THA

Precision Shooting - Doubles Women

1. Team THA
2. Team FRA
3. Team ISR

Triples Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team MAD
3. Team BEL

Triples Women

1. Team FRA
2. Team THA
3. Team GER

Precision Shooting - Doubles Women

1. Team ESP
2. Team BEL
3. Team MAD

Triples Men

1. Team ITA
2. Team ESP
3. Team BEL

Precision Shooting - Doubles Women

1. Team BEL
2. Team FRA
3. Team ESP

Triples Men

1. Team ESP
2. Team ITA
3. Team FRA

Precision Shooting - Doubles Women

1. Team FRA
2. Team SWE
3. Team GER

Triples Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team BEL
3. Team DEN

Precision Shooting - Doubles Women

1. Team BEL
2. Team GBR
3. Team ESP

Triples Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team ALG
3. Team LUX

Triples Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team ITA
3. Team MON

• Nancy BARZIN(BEL): 2. in TWG2017, 2. in TWG2001
• Nadege BAUSSIAN(FRA): 2. in TWG2009
• Phantipha WONGCHUVEJ(THA): 1. in TWG2017, 2. in TWG2013, 2. in TWG2005
• Caroline BOURRIAUD(FRA): 1. in TWG2017, 3. in TWG2017
• Nantawan FUEANGSANIT(THA): 1. in TWG2017, 2. in TWG2017

Boules is a precision sport in which the objective is to throw or roll metal balls as close as possible to a small target ball. Originating in France, the balls are called 'Boules'.

Lyonnaise differs from Pétanque, as the athletes competing take a run-up before releasing the boules. Lyonnaise will host Precision Shooting and Progressive Shooting (both Singles) events at The World Games 2022.

In Precision Shooting, athletes go turn by turn and try to hit boules in typical match constellations. It requires skilfulness, concentration and self-control.

In Progressive Shooting, athletes compete at the same time, as they run from one end to hit the jack at the other end over a period of five minutes. Athletes do not only require great aim to hit the target on the move, but also require great stamina to keep running from one end to the other.

Pétanque and Lyonnaise are two disciplines of Boules sport that will be featured in The World Games 2022 with women's events only.

The objective is to outscore the opponent by hitting more boules.

- Eight athletes compete in two qualification rounds. The second round of qualification starts with the athletes having achieved the lowest score in the first round. Results of both rounds are added to determine the qualification ranking.

- Best four athletes proceed to semi-finals.

- Losing semi-finalists compete for Bronze. Winning semi-finalists compete for Gold and Silver.

In both events, athletes need to throw their boules to target boules on a carpet, at a distance varying from 13.05 m to 17.05 m. Athletes may take a short run and even run up after releasing the boule.

Precision Shooting

In Precision, athletes go turn by turn and aim to hit the jack. Athletes have one try each for the eleven targets. After pair number of tries, the distance is increased by 80 cm.

Some figures are more complex, as the targets alter in size or are hidden by an obstacle that may not be moved. Depending on the complexity and distance, one to five points are awarded for the different constellations. The maximum score is 37 points.

The winner is the person with the most points at the end of the last round.

Progressive Shooting

In Progressive, athletes compete at the same time without stopping, as they run from one end and aim to hit the jack at the other end. When they arrive at the other side, they take another boule from a post and aim to hit the jack on the opposite side.

The first jack is 13.05 m away from the release line. It can be moved to six different distances, after each successful hit it moves by 80 cm. If the jack is not hit, the distance remains unchanged.
Once the final distance is reached at 17.05 m, the distance will decrease again by 80 cm per distance. This procedure is repeated until the time is up.

All athletes compete over five minutes in each round, and the individual with the highest score at the end wins.

One referee will oversee the competition.

The boules may not land more than 50 cm away from the target boule or jack to be a valid try.

The scoring order of the different tries is as explained in the Lyonnaise Precision Shooting Scoring document and is summarised below.

13.05 m: 1 - 2

13.85 m: 5 - 3

14.65 m: 4 - 4

15.45 m: 3 - 4

16.25 m: 3 - 3

17.05 m: 5

Total: 37 points available

Precision Shooting - Single Men

1. Nicolas PRETTO (ARG)
2. Cubela PERO (CRO)
3. Gregory CHIRAT (FRA)

Precision Shooting - Single Women

1. Xiaomin GUO (CHN)
2. Suzy MARIE (FRA)
3. Laura SKOBERNE (SLO)

Progressive Shooting - Single Men

1. Guillaume ABELFO (FRA)
2. Anze PETRIC (SLO)
3. Panpan LI (CHN)

Progressive Shooting - Single Women

1. Barbara BARTHET (FRA)
2. Yang WANG (CHN)
3. Serena TRAVERSA (ITA)

Precision Throw Men

1. Luigi GRATTAPAGLIA (ITA)
2. Yixin ZHANG (CHN)
3. Thomas ALLIER (FRA)

Precision Throw Women

1. Iva VLAHEK (CRO)
2. Gaelle MILLET (FRA)
3. Romina BOLATTI (ARG)

Progressive Throw Men

1. Mauro ROGGERO (ITA)
2. Guillaume ABELFO (FRA)
3. Tomislav KOLOBARIC (CRO)

Progressive Throw Women

1. Xiping CHENG (CHN)
2. Barbara BARTHET (FRA)
3. Giorgia REBORA (ITA)

Precision Throw Men

1. Gianfranco SANTORO (CRO)
2. Emanuele FERRERO (ITA)
3. Markica DODIG (BIH)

Precision Throw Women

1. Ying YANG (CHN)
2. Magali JOUVE (FRA)
3. Paola MANDOLA (ITA)

Progressive Throw Men

1. Ales BORCNIK (SLO)
2. Alessandro LONGO (ITA)
3. Sebastien MOURGUES (FRA)

Progressive Throw Women

1. Xiping CHENG (CHN)
2. Laurence ESSERTEL (FRA)
3. Chiara SOLIGON (ITA)

Precision Throw Men

1. Markica DODIG (BIH)
2. Sandro GULJA (CRO)
3. Frederic ASCENSI (FRA)

Precision Throw Women

1. Fatiha TARGAHOUI (MAR)
2. Corine MAUGIRON (FRA)
3. Tanja GOBO (CRO)

Progressive Throw Men

1. Mauro BUNINO (ITA)
2. Fabien JARNET (FRA)
3. Jasmin CAUSEVIC (SLO)

Progressive Throw Women

1. Ilenia PASIN (ITA)
2. Mei WANG (CHN)
3. Magali JOUVE (FRA)

Progressive Throw Men

1. Team FRA
2. Team ITA
3. Team SLO

Progressive Throw Women

1. Team FRA
2. Team ITA
3. Team SLO

• Petra PIVK(SLO): 3. in TWG2001
• Sabrina POLITO MOLINA(CHI): 4. in TWG2017
• Melisa POLITO MOLINA(CHI): 8. in TWG2017