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A teacher is bidding to make the grade on the world stage.
Becky Edwins, of Gravesend’s Bat and Ball Petanque Club, is part of the England quartet which will compete at the Women’s World Championship.
The competition had been scheduled to take place in Thailand but will instead be held at Santa Susanna, Spain, from Friday until Sunday after being delayed due to the coronavirus health crisis.
Four-time national champion Edwins is part of England’s squad alongside Sarah Huntley, Hannah Griffin and Rachel Kelly, while their coach is Matt Blyton. They will play triples matches with one missing out each game.
Edwins, who lives in Gravesend, said: “I’m hugely excited to head to the World Championship.
“It’s the first time I have been selected, so it’s very exciting.
“I have been working towards it (qualifying) for a few years, really. You play in different formats to rise up the rankings.
“From England, there will be a team of four of us going and, obviously, our coach.
“In terms of across the world, I think around 40 teams are competing.”
Over the Friday and the Saturday, England will play five matches which will determine the best 16 which will then be involved in a straight knock-out competition for the world title.
Petanque uses metal balls which are thrown to land as near as possible to a target ball - the jack.
Explaining her preferred position in a game of petanque, the assistant headteacher at Hillview School for Girls in Tonbridge said: “I’m a pointer so that’s first in the team.
"My objective, really, to start with is to get the ball as close as possible to the jack to make it as hard as possible for the opposition.”
She has been playing the sport since 2013 and, now 36, says she is quite old to be heading into her first World Championship where the likes of Thailand and the USA will also feature.
Edwins became a national women’s singles champion in 2018 before winning three more titles - in the national women’s singles, national women’s doubles and national mixed doubles - last year.
She plays matches at least twice a week and trains in Meopham, as well as at Gravesend Rugby Club and her husband, Tim, is also involved in the sport.
She said: “Most people think of petanque as an old person’s sport when they see people playing in it.
“But, in reality, you have got really good junior teams playing.
"So I’m relatively old to be going to my first World Championship.”
