The first time we saw each other was in a tournament.
Andre Leclerc

Andre Leclerc is fairly resigned to the fact he's going to lose ``the battle of the sexes.''

At least in his own family, that is, and when it comes to pitching horseshoes.

A member of Team Quebec, Leclerc is competing in the '96 Team World horseshoe pitching tournament at the Edwards Sports and Activity Center this weekend.

So are his wife, Sylvianne Moisan, and mother-in-law, Angeline. When you compare ringer percents _the criteria used to judge pitcher's accuracy_ Andre takes a backseat to the womenfolk.

Not that he's any slouch at 71.83 percent. It's just that his wife carries the best percent in the tournament, 84.96, and his mother-in-law is at a strong 72.58.

``I'm the only one who lost this morning,'' he said with a laugh. ``We count on Sylvianne.''

Not that Montreal native Andre, 31, didn't know what he was getting into when he married Sylvianne. After all, it was on the horseshoe courts that he first met his bride.

``The first time we saw each other was in a tournament,'' he said. ``We lived three hours apart. The only time we saw each other was on weekends in tournaments.''

Andre was more successful pitching marriage to the object of his affection than he was tossing ringers against her. He was already prepared for that. His sister was Quebec champion twice. His mother also pitched, and introduced him to the sport when he was 11.

Andre and Sylvinane married in 1990 and their affection for horseshoes continued. They joined leagues and continued to play in tournaments. Sylvianne's mother and a friend, Marcel Boudreault, joined to form a competitive team.

``Marcel is the organizer,'' Andre said. ``He loves the game as much as we do. He was able to find a place for us to practice over the winter.''

Last season, Quebec was fifth after the round-robin matchups at Team World and sixth overall.

``Our main goal is to qualify in the top seven teams and then anything can happen,'' said Andre, the English translator on a predominatly French-speaking team. ``We expect to do better than last year.''

Andre, who is also a championship-caliber dart player, said the sports are similar.

``They are both games of concentration and coordination,'' he said. ``You need to practice to be good at both games.''

That's what makes his wife so unbeatable, he said.

``She's a tournament player,'' he said. ``When we practice I beat her more than I lose, but when it comes to tournaments, she's a special pitcher. She improves about 10 percent.''

Andre authored a book on the history of the sport in Quebec.

``The history of horseshoe pitching in the United States dates back to the 19th century and the first world tournament was in 1910,'' he said. ``In Quebec, our first championship was in 1958.''

The sport is very popular now in Canada.

``In our federation, we have 400 members, which is comparable to many U.S. states,'' he said. ``Ontario has around 1,400 members which is the largest state or province level in the world.''

Twenty-four teams in all are competing in the tournament. Defending champion Kentucky returns intact with Sue Snyder, Ron Powell, Charles Meredith, Don Titcomb and Lois Webster.

Today's round robin action resumed at 8 and continues all day with the final round at 7 p.m. Play will resume at 8 again Sunday with the finals scheduled for 1:30.