All five national championship events are to be held at the Dunedin City Petanque Club, beginning tomorrow and running until Monday.
The championships are being run under Red light restrictions.
Entries were limited and given out on a first-come basis for each grade to fit beneath the 100-person gathering limit.
While thresholds had been reached, that was quickly changing, as competitors were pulling out every day with Covid-19 or as household contacts.
Despite that, Dunedin City Petanque Club president Stefany Frost said plenty of excitement remained.
That excitement was amplified, as Dunedin had been set to host the open singles and doubles events last year, but they were postponed due to Covid-19.
"It’s very exciting," Frost said.
"There’s lots of people coming in. Obviously we’ve had to restrict numbers so we keep under the 100 people, which is also a little bit gutting. But it is how it is.
"So we’re very excited. It’s the first time for a couple of years because of Covid."
A strong local contingent had made up much of the youth field, although that had since been ravaged by Covid-19 cases.
In the open and senior grades, Frost said about 70% of entrants were from out of town, coming from as far away as Northland.
It was the first time a youth singles competition had been held and the first youth doubles since 2015.
That made for an age range from 11 to 80.
Georgio Vakauta (Auckland), who has won nine of the past 20 open singles titles, will be among the favourites again.
He has also won nine open doubles titles.
Defending singles champion Andre Noel (Rotorua) will also be a strong contender.
Michael Rocks (Wellington) and David Lippard (Auckland) are among the other names to watch, while local contenders include Nick Jegousse (Invercargill) and Phillip Lyall (Dunedin).
Among the top women are Joanne Lippard (Auckland), Annick le Guen (Kapiti) and Sharon Canon (Hawke’s Bay), all who have represented New Zealand internationally, while Marilyn Bunce (Alexandra) and Nadine Simpson (Dunedin) are local hopes.
The championships begin tomorrow with the youth singles.
