| Description |
The Deva Bridge Club's Pairs Championship is the "Blue Riband" event in the club's calendar hotly contested by both established and newly formed pairs with the winners taking pride of place on the club's honours boards and being presented with an impressive trophy.
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| Rules and procedure |
The 2023/24 Championship Pairs competition is to have 3 stages:
1) A qualifying ladder stage running for the 6 months September 2023 to February 2024. Results from all Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (new for 23/24) sessions will be included in the ladder with qualification to the next stage based on the average percentage for pairs playing at least 6 times.
2) The top 28 pairs from the ladder stage will qualify for one of 2 semi-finals to be played on Wednesday 6th March in the club starting at 7pm. The semi-finals will be played over 24 boards and the top 7 pairs from each semi-final will qualify for the final.
3) The final will be on Wednesday 20th March, again in the club and starting at 7pm. The movement will be a full 7-table Howell with 26 boards.
The semi-finals and final are restricted to members only. Where qualifying pairs cannot play in the next stage, qualification will revert to lower pairs. If an individual is in the top 28 of the ladder stage with more than one partner then they can decide which one partner to play with in the semi-final stage.
Blue points are awarded in the semi-final and in the final. Table money in the semi-finals and final is the normal amount plus £1.50 for prize money per player. The winners share a prize of £60 with £40 for the runners up and £20 for third place.
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| 2023/2024 Competition |
The Championship Pairs final was held on Wednesday 20 March and the winners were Philip Waring and Jerry Hopkins. They deserve double congratulations as they won last year as well and so have retained their status as Champions! Here are the top three pairs, with the winners in the centre (gold position), runners-up on the left (Chris Pope and Andy Prothero - silver) and 3rd place on the right (Martin Church and Mike McCartney - bronze).
The championship started in September with a ladder competition running over 6 months. The ladder determines who qualifies for the semi-final and 17 pairs played in that on Wednesday 4 March, with 10 pairs qualifying for the final.
The qualification stage ended on Wednesday 28 February and the Championship Pairs ladder became final (and can be seen here). Congratulations to Mark Weeks and Stuart Matthews who were top in the ladder averaging 59.1%. They and 2nd, 3rd and 4th places receive the following master points:
| Position |
Pair |
Master Points |
| 1 |
Mark Weeks & Stuart Matthews |
96 |
| 2 |
Martin Church & Mike McCartney |
72 |
| 3 |
Bernard Krasner & Stephen Downes |
48 |
| 4 |
Andy Prothero & Chris Pope |
24 |
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| 2022/2023 Competition |
The final of the 2023 Championship Pairs was held on Wednesday 29th March. Congratulations and, in due course, immortalisation on the honours board go to... (drum roll)
Jerry Hopkins and Philip Waring - well done!
 
Stephen Lloyd and David Smith finished second with Roy Clifford and Sara Miles third.
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| Past winners |
- 2022/23: Jerry Hopkins and Philip Waring
- 2021/22: Daniel Miller and Colin Jones
- 2020/21: Colin Humphrey and Daniel Miller
- 2019/20: Brian Crawford and Frank McAleavy
- 2018/19: Peter Hall and Laurence Stone
- 2017/18: Andy Prothero and Chris Pope
- 2016/17: Di Knight and Peter Nickson
- 2015/16: Di Knight and Peter Nickson
- 2014/15: Andy Prothero and Chris Pope
- 2013/14: Frank Salt and Jim Stambridge
- 2012/13: Matt Foster and John Hampson
- 2011/12: Bob Pitts and Simon Whitehouse
- 2010/11: Julian Merrill and Richard Alcock
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