Stéphane Robineau - World Championship Bronze | Player Profile

Stéphane Robineau - Quick Facts

Two Decades Near the Top of French Pétanque

Stéphane Robineau has been a fixture of top-level French pétanque since the mid-2000s, with 20 French Championship appearances since 2007 and four national titles to show for it. His playing career has taken him through a long string of clubs, starting in the Nièvre - Tracy-sur-Loire, Cosne-sur-Loire and Decize - before moves to Club Rocher Le Mans in the Sarthe, Le Pavé de Thiers in the Puy-de-Dôme, and a long spell at APL and AOMPS Firminy in the Loire that ran until 2013. From 2014 to 2018 he played for ABC Draguignan in the Var, and since 2019 he has represented Fréjus International Pétanque, one of the strongest clubs on the French domestic circuit, lining up alongside teammates including Dylan Rocher, Italy's Diego Rizzi and Andrea Chiapello.

World and European Championship Medals

Robineau's best individual result on the world stage came in 2008, when he won a World Championship bronze medal in men's triplette. He followed it with a European Championship bronze in men's triplette in 2009, and added the 2017 Confédérations Cup triplette title to his international record. Those results should not be confused with his multiple runs at the Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque, an open invitational tournament rather than an official FIPJP world championship - Robineau lined up there in 2026 alongside Mickaël Bonetto and Dylan Rocher as one of the tournament favorites, only for the triplette to lose an "epic" round-of-16 match played in blazing heat to the Perrot triplette, 13-11 - see our 2026 Marseillaise results recap.

Four French Championship Titles

Domestically, Robineau has won the French Championship four times: the doublette title in 2011, and the triplette title in 2017, 2018 and 2022. The 2018 triplette title came as part of one of French pétanque's most celebrated seasons - Robineau lined up with Henri Lacroix and Dylan Rocher, the same triplette in which Lacroix became the first player in history to sweep all three French Championship titles (tête-à-tête, doublette and triplette) in a single year. Robineau has also finished French Championship runner-up twice across his 20 appearances in the competition since 2007, per rankingspetanque.com's tracked record.

Trophée des Villes and a World Precision-Shooting Record

Robineau's shooting has produced results beyond the major championships. On 13 January 2025 at the Boulodrome du Douaisis in Douai, he and Dylan Rocher won a 6th star at the Trophée des Villes, Fréjus's second consecutive win in the event and a result that tied the record for the competition held by Philippe Suchaud. He is also a co-holder of pétanque's world record for precision shooting: on 10 May 2011 in Dreux, a ten-man French relay team completed 876 successful shots out of 1,000 attempts in 53 minutes 25 seconds - the same record independently documented on this site's Michel Loy profile, which names five of the ten shooters on that relay team, including Dylan Rocher, Philippe Quintais, Philippe Suchaud and Christian Fazzino.

2026: A Var Title, But Not a National Jersey

Robineau opened 2026 by winning the Var département tête-à-tête championship, beating fellow international David "Ligan" Doerr 13-12 in the final on 28-29 March 2026. In March he also won the PPF Grande Finale (Passion Pétanque Française) alongside Fréjus teammates Dylan Rocher and Diego Rizzi, an elite national-ranking circuit event rather than the official FFPJP French Championship. On the Masters de Pétanque tour, he featured for Team Rocher's Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie stage win alongside Dylan Rocher and Jean-Michel Puccinelli, and was on the bench when the same squad, with Diego Rizzi in his place, won a second stage later in the season - see our 2026 Masters de Pétanque standings.

Despite that form, Robineau was one of the notable names left out when the FFPJP trimmed Collectif France to just seven players for 2026 under new sporting director Didier Choupay. He told Sportmag he was unable to get clarity on the selection criteria and said goodbye to the national jersey, a sharp contrast to teammates like Yohan Cousin and Christophe Sarrio, who made the cut. He remains active at club level for Fréjus and on the Masters de Pétanque circuit.

Playing Style

Robineau plays as a specialist shooter (tireur), a role reflected both in his 2008 World Championship triplette bronze and in his share of the world record for precision shooting. His consistency over two decades - 20 French Championship appearances since 2007, spread across a long list of clubs - points to a career built on durability as much as peak form.

Achievements and Honors

• World Championship bronze, Men's Triplette (2008)
• European Championship bronze, Men's Triplette (2009)
• Confédérations Cup champion, Triplette (2017)
• French Champion: Doublette (2011), Triplette (2017, 2018, 2022)
• Trophée des Villes champion, 6th star (2025), with Dylan Rocher
• Masters de Pétanque champion (2019)
• Co-holder, world record for precision shooting (876/1,000 in 53 minutes 25 seconds, Dreux, 2011)
• Var département tête-à-tête champion (2026)

Legacy

Stéphane Robineau's career is a study in longevity: two World and European Championship bronze medals, four French titles won across three different Fréjus-era and pre-Fréjus seasons, a share of pétanque's precision-shooting world record, and two decades of French Championship appearances that outlast most of his contemporaries. Left off France's slimmed-down 2026 national squad despite a Var title and a Trophée des Villes crown the year before, he remains one of the sport's most decorated players still competing outside the national setup.