Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
however, the national football and rugby teams have yet to make a splash on the interna-
tional stage.
Where Malagasies punch above their weight is in the rather niche sport of
pétanque
, a
form of boule (played with metal balls on dirt ground). A French import, it's become a case
of the student outdoing (or certainly equalling) the master: Madagascar won the Pétanque
World Championship in 1999, it was vice-world champion in 2010 and Africa champion in
2011 (it will represent Africa at the world championship in France in 2012). Madagascar
has also won numerous international opens, so don't be surprised to see the game played
up and down the country, on the beach, in village squares or wherever there is a flat enough
bit of ground.
