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Manchester
County Bridge Association |
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Latest News and Upcoming Events
Deal of the WeekGarden CitiesCongratulations to the Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme team who won the Northern heat of the EBU's inter club team of eight competition on 8th May, having qualified by winning the Gazette Trophy in February. The team finished well ahead of the other qualifiers Cambridge, Oxford and Sheffield. They will compete against these three teams and four from the Southern heat in the National Final in June. The team was Alec Smalley, Tom Slater, Michael Byrne, John Holland, Rodney Lighton, John Currie, Peter Foster and John Roberts. All four pairs were positive on cross imps, with Tom and Alec having an outstanding score of 2 imps per board to head the cross imp list by a long way. Results are on the EBU web site. Spring FoursMichael Byrne's team (Kieran Dyke, Mike Bell, Ben Norton, Tim Leslie, Ollie Burgess, Graham Osborne) reached the semi-finals of this prestigious double elimination event. They beat Zia's team in a closely fought quarter final match, but lost in the semi-finals to the Gillis team in another close match. The event results are on the EBU web site. Jersey FestivalCongratulations to Joyce White who won the senior pairs with Babs Matthews of Cumbria at Jersey on 30th April. Results are on the EBU web site. Higson FinalsThe Higson Cup and Plate finals held over from 2020 were finally played on Sunday 25th April online. The events were handicapped using the NGS of the players and a magic formula. The raw imps results are on the Manchester Events site with the handicapped results under the information tab posted by Ken Johnston who ably directed the events. The Cup was won by City Aces (Barry Fine, Philip Reed, Ivor Rosenberg, Howard Harris, Harold Weinstock) with Bury FC Reserves second (Diana Ackerman, Andy Green, Victor Ridding, Janet Tolan). The Plate was won by Ashton Aces (Gordon Bickley, Ann Farquhar, Jenny & Chris Rippin) with The Four Dummies (Karen Jones, Barbara Eastabrook, Lilian Syme, Judith Yates) second. Intermediate Swiss PairsThe Intermediate Swiss Pairs on Saturday 24th April wasn't Swiss but produced a very close finish with the top four pairs separated by only two match points. Winners were Peter Middlehurst and Carole Roberts, ahead of Andrew O'Brien and Brian Irlam, with Kevin Wood and Phil Withers third. Michael Byrne led an analysis of the deals after the event. Results are on the Manchester Events site. Northern Bridge League and President's CupThe Northern Bridge League makes a welcome return this year after a break last year because of Covid. This year the event will be held online using RealBridge organised by Adam Wiseberg. As usual the event will be held on four Saturdays over the summer and autumn. Dates are on the calendar page, also on the NBL web site. Manchester won the A and C divisions in 2019, and were second in the B division. It is intended to return to play face to face in 2022, if feasible. The inter county teams of eight returns to a single weekend format this year, albeit online using RealBridge. The event will be on 17-18th July. Survivor Knock OutCongratulations to Michael Byrne who was a member of the team that won the Survivor Knock Out, part of the World Bridge Games. Michael played with Kieran Dyke, Mike Bell/Ben Norton, Tim Leslie/Ollie Burgess. The event was double elimination. After losing in the first round Michael's team beat De Botton by 32 imps, then teams from Norway before winning a very close match against Sabine Auken/Roy Welland playing with a top Polish pair. In the semi-final they beat Peter Fredin's team by 60 imps and won the final by 42 against a multi-national team from India, Argentina and New Zealand. Some of the hands will be featuring in the Cheadle and Bramhall "what would you bid" competition, so watch out for those. Teltscher TrophyThe Senior's Home Internationals took place from 16th-18th April online on RealBridge hosted by England. Playing for England were John Holland and Alan Mould, the rest of the team being Patrick Shields, Richard Chamberlain, David Mossop and Gunnar Hallberg. As England were hosts they had two teams in the competition, playing for the EBU team was John Hassett with Trevor Ward of Avon. The England team finished second to Ireland.
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