[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":329},["ShallowReactive",2],{"player-en-david-riviera":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"achievements":6,"affiliate":13,"birthPlace":14,"birthYear":15,"body":16,"boules":14,"boulesModel":14,"club":72,"description":291,"extension":292,"faq":293,"flag":309,"fullName":52,"height":14,"image":310,"lastUpdated":311,"meta":312,"nationality":313,"navigation":314,"nickname":14,"path":315,"role":316,"seo":317,"socialLinks":14,"stem":318,"tags":319,"worldTitles":14,"__hash__":328},"players\u002Fplayers\u002Fen\u002Fdavid-riviera.md","David Riviera - Mondial La Marseillaise Champion | Player Profile",[7,8,9,10,11,12],"Winner, Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque (2023), with Mickaël Bonetto and Mayron Baudino","Masters de Pétanque champion (2021), with Christian Fazzino and Mickaël Bonetto","National Top 1000 winner, Mende (2025), with David \"Ligan\" Doerr and Michel Hatchadourian","French Vice-Champion, Doublette (Bergerac, 2022), with Mickaël Bonetto","French Vice-Champion, Triplette (Fréjus, 2019), with Mickaël Bonetto and Jérémy Fernandez","Masters de Pétanque runner-up in the season standings (2025), captain of Équipe Riviera",false,null,1976,{"type":17,"value":18,"toc":277},"minimark",[19,24,93,97,128,132,139,147,151,166,170,186,190,204,208,219,223,226,230,270,274],[20,21,23],"h2",{"id":22},"david-riviera-quick-facts","David Riviera - Quick Facts",[25,26,27,38],"table",{},[28,29,30],"thead",{},[31,32,33,36],"tr",{},[34,35],"th",{},[34,37],{},[39,40,41,53,63,73,83],"tbody",{},[31,42,43,50],{},[44,45,46],"td",{},[47,48,49],"strong",{},"Full name",[44,51,52],{},"David Riviera",[31,54,55,60],{},[44,56,57],{},[47,58,59],{},"Born",[44,61,62],{},"2 May 1976 (age 50)",[31,64,65,70],{},[44,66,67],{},[47,68,69],{},"Club",[44,71,72],{},"La Boule Aixoise (Bouches-du-Rhône)",[31,74,75,80],{},[44,76,77],{},[47,78,79],{},"Position",[44,81,82],{},"Pointeur",[31,84,85,90],{},[44,86,87],{},[47,88,89],{},"Best result",[44,91,92],{},"Winner, Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque (2023)",[20,94,96],{"id":95},"a-veteran-pointeur-on-the-riviera","A Veteran Pointeur on the Riviera",[98,99,100,101,104,105,112,113,119,120,123,124,127],"p",{},"David Riviera is a French pétanque pointeur whose career has run largely along the Côte d'Azur and into the Bouches-du-Rhône, anchoring the front end of some of the region's strongest club triplettes for two decades. He spent roughly ten years at ",[47,102,103],{},"C.A.S.E. Nice"," - the same club that has also fielded ",[47,106,107],{},[108,109,111],"a",{"href":110},"\u002Fplayers\u002Fmickael-bonetto","Mickaël Bonetto"," and ",[47,114,115],{},[108,116,118],{"href":117},"\u002Fplayers\u002Fmayron-baudino","Mayron Baudino"," at various points - before a one-season move to ",[47,121,122],{},"La Boule Tropézienne"," in Saint-Tropez for 2024, where he took over as the club's lead pointeur, telling Sportmag simply, \"La Boule Tropézienne, un super club !\" (\"La Boule Tropézienne, a great club!\"). In February 2025 he returned closer to his old stomping ground, joining ",[47,125,126],{},"La Boule Aixoise"," around Aix-en-Provence, a move he described to Sportmag as \"une évidence\" (an obvious choice), citing his relationship with club president Bruno Mansio, whom he called a brother figure.",[20,129,131],{"id":130},"mondial-la-marseillaise-2023","Mondial La Marseillaise, 2023",[98,133,134,135,138],{},"Riviera's headline result came at the ",[47,136,137],{},"Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque"," in 2023, the world's largest open pétanque tournament, held each July on the honor court at Marseille's Parc Borély. Playing pointeur alongside shooter Mickaël Bonetto and fellow shooter Mayron Baudino, his triplette won the 62nd edition, beating Armand Sanvers, Jean Feltain and Moïse Helfrick 13-9 in the final after a Fanny (13-0) semifinal shutout of the Albaladejo triplette. It remains the standout achievement of his career, and one this site's own Mickaël Bonetto and Mayron Baudino profiles also document independently as a career highlight for each of his two teammates that day.",[98,140,141,142,146],{},"He returned to defend the title in successive editions with different lineups, and went in as one of the pre-tournament favorites for the 2026 edition (the 65th), pairing again with Baudino and adding 2019 champion Adrien Delahaye, telling Sportmag beforehand, \"je pense qu'on peut faire une très belle Marseillaise\" (I think we can make a very good Marseillaise). Instead, the trio suffered what regional broadcaster France 3 called a \"séisme\" (earthquake): eliminated in the qualifying (cadrages) rounds on 6 July 2026, losing 13-5 after leading 5-3 to a Martigues triplette of Christophe Leonetti, Jean-Philippe Leonetti and Alexandre Minko - a result made more striking by the fact that all three eliminated players (Riviera, Baudino and Delahaye) were former Mondial champions in their own right. See our ",[108,143,145],{"href":144},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmondial-la-marseillaise-a-petanque-2026-results","2026 Mondial La Marseillaise results recap"," for the full field.",[20,148,150],{"id":149},"masters-de-pétanque-a-substitutes-comeback-2021","Masters de Pétanque: A Substitute's Comeback, 2021",[98,152,153,154,157,158,161,162,165],{},"Riviera's first major title came at the ",[47,155,156],{},"2021 Masters de Pétanque"," final in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. He was not in the starting lineup: he came on as a substitute for ",[47,159,160],{},"Jérémy Fernandez"," midway through the final, a change Sportmag credited with sparking a dramatic turnaround for ",[47,163,164],{},"Christian Fazzino","'s team, which had trailed 2-9 against Ludovic Montoro's squad of Kévin Malbec and Christophe Sarrio. With Riviera and Bonetto on the court alongside Fazzino, the team won nine of the remaining rounds to close out a 13-12 victory - Fazzino's fifth and final Masters title before his retirement from the circuit.",[20,167,169],{"id":168},"french-championship-two-runner-up-finishes","French Championship: Two Runner-Up Finishes",[98,171,172,173,176,177,112,179,181,182,185],{},"Riviera has twice reached a French Championship final without winning it. At the ",[47,174,175],{},"74th French Triplette Championship"," in Fréjus in June 2019, he played with ",[47,178,111],{},[47,180,160],{}," for a Bouches-du-Rhône selection, losing the final 13-10 to a Haute-Saône trio of Kévin Prud'homme, Georges Feltain and Winter Claudy after a match that ran 16 mènes and roughly two hours. Three years later, at the ",[47,183,184],{},"2022 French Doublette Championship"," in Bergerac, he partnered Bonetto again, this time falling 13-4 in the final to Michel Hatchadourian and Kévin Bonvarlet - the same Hatchadourian who would later become a regular Riviera teammate at both La Boule Tropézienne and La Boule Aixoise.",[20,187,189],{"id":188},"national-top-1000-mende-2025","National Top 1000, Mende, 2025",[98,191,192,193,196,197,112,200,203],{},"In June 2025, Riviera won the ",[47,194,195],{},"National Top 1000 tournament in Mende",", playing for a squad drawn from the La Crau and Boule Aixoise alliance alongside ",[47,198,199],{},"Michel Hatchadourian",[47,201,202],{},"David \"Ligan\" Doerr",". Sportmag described the trio as unstoppable through the event, highlighted by a 13-1 semifinal win over a team led by Pierre Maurel before closing out the final against Théo Aurel-Céres's squad.",[20,205,207],{"id":206},"_2025-masters-de-pétanque-runner-up-in-the-standings","2025 Masters de Pétanque: Runner-Up in the Standings",[98,209,210,211,214,215,218],{},"For the 2025 ",[47,212,213],{},"Masters de Pétanque"," season, Riviera captained his own squad, ",[47,216,217],{},"Équipe Riviera",", alongside Michel Hatchadourian, Mayron Baudino and Sébastien Rousseau. The team won the Soustons stage outright and was consistent enough across the seven-stage circuit to finish second in the year-end points standings with 39, just behind Mickaël Bonetto's squad on 41. At the Final Four in La Talaudière, however, Équipe Riviera's run ended in the semifinal, losing 13-5 to a Madagascar side that went on to face Bonetto's team in the final - a match Bonetto's squad won 13-4 to claim the title, as documented on this site's Mickaël Bonetto profile.",[20,220,222],{"id":221},"playing-style","Playing Style",[98,224,225],{},"Riviera plays as a pointeur, the player responsible for laying down boules close to the cochonnet rather than shooting opponents' boules away - the role he has held throughout his career, from his 2019 and 2022 French Championship final appearances through his 2023 Mondial La Marseillaise win and into his most recent seasons as lead pointeur first at La Boule Tropézienne and then La Boule Aixoise.",[20,227,229],{"id":228},"achievements-and-honors","Achievements and Honors",[231,232,233,240,246,252,258,264],"ul",{},[234,235,236,239],"li",{},[47,237,238],{},"Winner, Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque"," (2023), with Mickaël Bonetto and Mayron Baudino",[234,241,242,245],{},[47,243,244],{},"Masters de Pétanque champion"," (2021), with Christian Fazzino and Mickaël Bonetto",[234,247,248,251],{},[47,249,250],{},"National Top 1000 winner, Mende"," (2025), with David \"Ligan\" Doerr and Michel Hatchadourian",[234,253,254,257],{},[47,255,256],{},"French Vice-Champion, Doublette"," (Bergerac, 2022), with Mickaël Bonetto",[234,259,260,263],{},[47,261,262],{},"French Vice-Champion, Triplette"," (Fréjus, 2019), with Mickaël Bonetto and Jérémy Fernandez",[234,265,266,269],{},[47,267,268],{},"Masters de Pétanque runner-up in the season standings"," (2025), captain of Équipe Riviera",[20,271,273],{"id":272},"legacy","Legacy",[98,275,276],{},"Now in his fifties, David Riviera remains a fixture of top-level club pétanque in the Bouches-du-Rhône and Var, a career built on longevity and adaptability rather than a single dominant partnership: two French Championship final defeats a decade into his senior career, a Masters title won as a substitute, a Mondial La Marseillaise crown as pointeur for two of the sport's rising shooters, and, in his own right, a Masters squad captaincy that came within one match of a Final Four final in 2025. His near-annual club moves - Nice, Saint-Tropez, Aix-en-Provence - have kept him teamed with a rotating cast of some of the region's strongest players, and at 50 he continues to compete for titles at the highest level of French domestic pétanque.",{"title":278,"searchDepth":279,"depth":279,"links":280},"",2,[281,282,283,284,285,286,287,288,289,290],{"id":22,"depth":279,"text":23},{"id":95,"depth":279,"text":96},{"id":130,"depth":279,"text":131},{"id":149,"depth":279,"text":150},{"id":168,"depth":279,"text":169},{"id":188,"depth":279,"text":189},{"id":206,"depth":279,"text":207},{"id":221,"depth":279,"text":222},{"id":228,"depth":279,"text":229},{"id":272,"depth":279,"text":273},"David Riviera profile: the French pointeur who won the 2023 Mondial La Marseillaise and the 2021 Masters de Pétanque, now playing for La Boule Aixoise after stints at Nice.","md",[294,297,300,303,306],{"question":295,"answer":296},"Who is David Riviera?","David Riviera is a French pétanque pointeur, born 2 May 1976, best known for winning the 2023 Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque alongside Mickaël Bonetto and Mayron Baudino. He plays for La Boule Aixoise, after earlier spells at C.A.S.E. Nice and La Boule Tropézienne in Saint-Tropez.",{"question":298,"answer":299},"How old is David Riviera?","He was born on 2 May 1976, making him 50 years old during the 2026 season.",{"question":301,"answer":302},"What did David Riviera win at the Mondial La Marseillaise?","He won the world's largest pétanque tournament in 2023, playing alongside Mickaël Bonetto and Mayron Baudino. He returned in 2026 with Baudino and 2019 champion Adrien Delahaye, but that triplette was eliminated in the qualifying (cadrages) rounds, losing 13-5 to a Martigues trio on 6 July 2026.",{"question":304,"answer":305},"Did David Riviera win the Masters de Pétanque?","Yes, in 2021. He came off the bench for Jérémy Fernandez partway through the final at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, helping Christian Fazzino's team complete a comeback from 2-9 down to beat Ludovic Montoro's team 13-12. He came close to a second title in 2025: his own squad, Équipe Riviera, finished runner-up in that year's season-long standings, though it was eliminated in the Final Four semifinal by Madagascar.",{"question":307,"answer":308},"Which club does David Riviera play for?","La Boule Aixoise, based around Aix-en-Provence in the Bouches-du-Rhône, since 2025. He spent roughly a decade at C.A.S.E. Nice before that, then one season (2024) at La Boule Tropézienne in Saint-Tropez.","🇫🇷","\u002Fimages\u002Fplayers\u002Fdavid-riviera.png","2026-09-04",{},"France",true,"\u002Fplayers\u002Fen\u002Fdavid-riviera","Pointer",{"title":5,"description":291},"players\u002Fen\u002Fdavid-riviera",[320,321,322,323,324,325,326,327],"david riviera","french petanque","pointeur","mondial la marseillaise","masters de petanque","boule aixoise","case nice","la boule tropezienne","-UQQtc46ys_KiE5gu-29wVi5IpGj6Ue0hlsYD-7krrM",1790080188028]