Ayumi Goma - Shooter / Team Captain | Petanque Player Profile

Ayumi Goma of Aoyama Pétanque in Tokyo is Japan's most decorated recent pétanque competitor, with a career that spans the 2016 Asian Beach Games through to a 2026 Sport Boules doubles gold medal for Japan. We could not independently verify her birth year, birthplace, or boules brand, so this profile sticks to what is documented in tournament records and federation coverage.

Asian Beach Games Bronze

Goma's breakthrough international result came at the 2016 Asian Beach Games in Danang, Vietnam, where she won bronze in women's singles - Japan's only pétanque medal at those Games. The result established her as the country's leading female competitor heading into the following World Championship cycle.

Player Captain at the 2017 World Championship

Japan's pétanque federation, the JPBF, sent its women's team to the 2017 Women Pétanque World Championship, held 8-12 November in Kaihua, Zhejiang Province, China, with Goma serving as Player Captain. Under her leadership, Japan finished among the tournament's best-8 teams, tied for 5th place overall - the best result any Japanese team has recorded at a World Championship. In the individual shooting competition held alongside the team event, Goma scored 30 points in the first round and 21 in the second, finishing 13th. The Japan Pétanque and Boules Federation subsequently honored her with its Excellent Player Award, citing both her Asian Beach Games medal and her leadership of the team in China.

Continued International Selection

In August 2023, Goma was part of Japan's women's triples squad at the Asian Pétanque Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (17-20 August), where the team won two and lost two matches in the qualifying round to finish 6th of 16 and advance to the knockout stage, before losing 9-13 to Cambodia in the first knockout round and 4-13 to Malaysia in the Nations Cup consolation round. She went on to represent Japan again at the 2023 Women's and Junior World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand later that same year. Her selection has remained consistent in the years since: at the national team's pointing and shooting trials, held over two days in Chiryu, Aichi Prefecture in March 2026, she placed first in both disciplines for a fifth consecutive time, earning her spot on Japan's squad for that year's international competitions.

Crossover into Sport Boules

Goma's 2026 season extended beyond pétanque. In August 2026 she was selected for Japan's national Sport Boules team - a related boules discipline contested under the Asia-Oceania Sport Boules Confederation rather than pétanque's own governing body, FIPJP - and competed at the 2026 Asia Oceania Sport Boules Championships, hosted by Bocce Australia in Myrtleford, Victoria (21-23 August). Partnered with fellow Japanese player Y. Kubota, she won the women's doubles gold medal, defeating an Australian pairing, Silva Piotto and Melissa Roberts, in a closely contested final after the Australians had beaten China's Chenyi Wang and Qing Yang 11-7 in the semi-final. It was one of several strong Japanese results at the Championships, held across Singles, Doubles, Combined, Precision Throw, Progressive Throw, Rapid Relay, and Mixed Rapid Relay disciplines.

Club and Playing Position

Goma plays for Aoyama Pétanque, which meets every Saturday afternoon at Aoyama Park in Tokyo's Minato-ku, near Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda Line, and is one of seven clubs affiliated with the Tokyo Pétanque Boules Federation. At the 2017 World Championship she competed in the shooting or middle (milieu) position for Japan in every match, consistent with her role as the team's designated shooter alongside her captaincy duties.