French Championships Mixed Triplette Nice & Jeu Provençal Blaye-les-Mines 2026

🏆 French Mixed Triplette Championship — Nice (06)

The French Riviera hosts this year the French Mixed Triplette seniors Championship. Nice, a city historically linked to the southern traditions of the game of boules, offers a strong symbolic setting for this competition, in which each triplette must include at least one female player.

Competition format

The 128 teams entered are split into 32 pools of 4. Each team plays 3 games in the pool stage. The top finishers in each pool, along with the best runners-up, advance to the direct knockout phase. The format guarantees a minimum of 3 games for all qualified teams.

The pool composition was set by an official FFPJP draw. Among the well-represented regions are the Var (83), the Alpes-Maritimes (06), the Dordogne (24), and several committees from the Paris region.

Teams to watch in the Mixed Triplette: SUCHAUD Axelle – SUCHAUD Philippe – RANDRIAMANANTANY Lahatra (CD Puy-de-Dôme 63), with champion Axelle Suchaud, daughter of the legendary Philippe Suchaud, in the same triplette as her father. A team used to national podiums. Also worth following: the VAR 83 teams, often a strong presence at the French Championships.

The mixed format demands a particular tactical complementarity: the pointer, the milieu and the shooter must adapt to the varied profiles of their opponents. It is one of the most spectacular events because it blends high-level female players with the best male players from each region.

A few pools to follow

Pool 4 looks strong, with the triplettes from the Var (83) and the Puy-de-Dôme (63). Pool 7, meanwhile, brings together teams from the Moselle (57), the Gard (30) and the Rhône (69) — all regions that regularly produce champions. Pool 11 includes a Corsican team (2A) and a side from Nouvelle-Aquitaine, two heartlands of the great pétanque tradition.

⚜️ French Jeu Provençal Triplette Championship — Blaye-les-Mines (81)

In Blaye-les-Mines, in the Tarn, it is Jeu Provençal that takes centre stage. A sister discipline of pétanque, JP stands out for its run-up: the player is allowed to take up to three steps before throwing the boule. The boules used are also different, larger and slightly lighter.

Pétanque vs Jeu Provençal: the key differences

The French JP Triplette Championship brings together the best players of this discipline, often from the regions of the South-East and Occitanie, where JP remains a thriving practice. For this 2026 edition, more than 128 teams represent their respective committees on the Blaye-les-Mines courts.

Historical reminder: Jeu Provençal is considered the direct ancestor of pétanque. It was Jules Lenoir who, in 1910 in La Ciotat, is said to have "invented" pétanque by playing with his feet fixed to the ground, because of his joint pain — giving birth to "pé tanco" (feet tied, in Provençal).

🌟 Youth Championships — Minime, Cadet and Junior Triplette

Blaye-les-Mines also hosts this weekend the national championships for the youth categories : Minime Triplette, Cadet Triplette and Junior Triplette. These competitions, organised alongside the adult JP, are an essential pool of talent for the future of French pétanque.

FFPJP youth categories

Minime: born between 2011 and 2013 (approximately). The first major national competition for the youngest licensed players.
Cadet: born between 2008 and 2010. An intermediate category, often the most spectacular due to the quality of play of the participants.
Junior: born between 2005 and 2007. The juniors play at the level closest to senior, and several of them also take part in the adult championships.

These championships are decisive for the selection of the teams that will represent France in the youth international competitions of the FIPJP and the CEP (European Pétanque Confederation).

📅 Official 2026 season calendar

These June championships are part of a particularly busy FFPJP calendar for the summer of 2026:

• Late June 2026 — Mixed Triplet (Nice 06) + JP & Youth Triplet (Blaye-les-Mines 81)
• 25-26 July 2026 — Men's Senior Individual (Bergerac 24)
• 19-20 August 2026 — Veterans Triplette (Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente 16)
• 22-23 August 2026 — Promotion Triplette (Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente 16)
• 29-30 August 2026 — Senior Men’s Doublet & Women’s Individual (Saint Florentin 89)
• 4-6 September 2026 — Jeu Provençal Doublette (Briançon 05)

If you live near Nice or the Tarn, go and support your local representatives! Attending a French Championship live is an unforgettable experience: the intensity of the games, the precision of the shooters, the silence that settles before each throw... Nothing beats being on the terrain to improve and draw inspiration from the best.

❓ Frequently asked questions

The 2026 French Mixed Triplette Championship takes place in Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes (06). The competition brings together 128 mixed teams from all over metropolitan France and the overseas territories (DOM-TOM).

Jeu Provençal is played with a run-up (3 steps), unlike pétanque, which requires the feet to be together and stationary. JP boules are larger and lighter. The 2026 French JP Triplette Championship takes place in Blaye-les-Mines, in the Tarn (81).

In the Mixed Triplette in Nice, 128 teams compete in 32 pools. In the Jeu Provençal Triplette in Blaye-les-Mines, more than 128 teams also take part. The Youth championships bring together several hundred additional teams across the Minime, Cadet and Junior categories.

Qualification goes through the departmental and then regional championships. Depending on the number of licensed players in each committee, one or more teams qualify to represent their department or their league at the national level.

The results are updated in real time on the official website championnats-ffpjp.com. The FFPJP also broadcasts some finals live on its official YouTube channel (@ffpjpofficiel).

Want to master the official rules?

All the FFPJP rules explained simply — to play without disputes and improve quickly.