The 17th World Championships of Women’s and Junior Petanque kick off on Tuesday at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, the first global competition hosted by Cambodia, with the competition running until Sunday.

Competitors from 48 countries will take part in the women’s competition, with 30 countries represented in the junior championship.

The Kingdom’s women’s petanque squad has been competing at the top level for the last decade, winning three precision shooting world gold medals among a host of other honours.

Ouk Sreymom and Ke Leng most recently won women’s doubles gold medals at the Trophee l’Equipe de Pétanque in Tours, France in October last year.

In preparation for the tournament, the government has made significant changes at Olympic Stadium, adding a new petanque court for the championship, a beautiful array of seating and ample toilet facilities to accommodate the thousands of locals and foreigners expected to attend the event.