Manuel Romero 'Pirolo' - Spain's European Precision Shooting Champion | Petanque Player Profile

Manuel Romero "Pirolo" - Quick Facts

Spain's Precision Shooting Specialist

Manuel Higinio Romero Rubio, universally known in Spanish petanca circles as "Pirolo", is one of the country's most respected tiradores (shooters) and a long-serving captain of Spain's national men's team. Federated since 1986 and based at Vergel Petanca Club in Elda, on the Costa Blanca, Romero built his reputation over four decades of domestic and international competition, culminating in the biggest individual title of his career: gold at the 2023 European Precision Shooting Championship in Albertville, France.

Career Overview

Romero's breakthrough at the national level came in 2017, when he won the Spanish Individual Championship in El Ejido, Almería, representing the Comunidad Valenciana federation. Competing in a 32-player Swiss-system field, he advanced through the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals before defeating Diego M. Guzmán of the Canary Islands federation 13-2 in a one-sided final. The title earned him selection to represent Spain at that year's European Championship in France.

Romero has represented Spain at six FIPJP World Championships over the course of his career and served for many years as captain of the Spanish men's national team, a role in which he has been described as prioritizing squad confidence and morale alongside his own play. He was part of the Spanish squad that competed on home soil at the 2019 World Championship in El Ejido, and has spoken candidly about the gap between petanca's amateur status in Spain and its semi-professional circuit in France, where daily tournaments carry cash prizes; in Spain, he has said, there are typically only two or three international opens a year plus a short summer competition window, so top players cannot make a living from the sport alone. Romero has continued to run a small footwear workshop throughout his competitive career.

His signature achievement came in 2023, when he won the European Precision Shooting Championship (Tir de Précision) in Albertville, France - a discipline that tests a shooter's accuracy in isolation, without doubles or triples play. After finishing 19th of 36 entrants in the opening round and advancing through the repechage bracket, Romero defeated Monaco's Jean-Pierre Le Lons 45-38 in the quarterfinal, then beat Italy's Diego Rizzi 32-27 in the semifinal - a notable result against one of the sport's most decorated active players - before closing out the tournament with a 45-35 final win over Belgium's Logan Baton.

Beyond individual play, Romero has also captained Vergel Petanca Club triplettes in international open tournaments, including a run at the 2019 Open de Petanca in El Romeral where his team, alongside Juan Jiménez "Pelao" and a teammate named Alonso, beat a Belgian tripleta captained by 2000 world champion André Lozano in a closely contested quarterfinal.

Playing Style and Technique

Romero is a tirador through and through, and his 2023 European title in the dedicated precision-shooting discipline is the clearest evidence of his specialism. Precision shooting isolates the shooter's craft from team play entirely, scoring accuracy at set distances against a single opponent, and Romero's run to gold - which included wins over a Monégasque and an Italian opponent before the Belgian final - reflected the kind of consistency under pressure that the discipline demands.

Achievements and Honors

• European Precision Shooting Champion (Albertville, France, 2023), beating Belgium's Logan Baton 45-35 in the final
• Defeated Italy's Diego Rizzi 32-27 in the 2023 European Precision Shooting semifinal
• Spanish Individual Champion (El Ejido, Almería, 2017), beating Diego M. Guzmán (Canary Islands) 13-2 in the final
• Long-time captain of Spain's national men's team
• Represented Spain at six FIPJP World Championships
• Federated petanca player since 1986

Legacy

Manuel "Pirolo" Romero represents the backbone of Spanish petanca: a player who never turned the sport into a full-time career, because Spain's competitive scene has never offered one, but who nonetheless reached the top of Europe in his discipline and led his country's national team for years. His 2023 European Precision Shooting title, won at nearly four decades into his competitive career and including a win over an elite Italian opponent, stands as one of the clearest individual accomplishments by a Spanish player at continental level, and his long captaincy tenure has made him one of the most recognizable figures in the Spanish game.