Congratulations
At the Midlands Counties Congress in Solihull, Allan Sanis & Garry Watson came 2nd of 68 pairs, and one place behind in equal third were Pat Emery & Judy Sanis; well done to both pairs! And in the Swiss Teams the winners were Ben Ritacca & Tim Stanley-Clamp with Richard Croot & Nick Doe - a fine performance, first of 34 teams.
Winners of the Autumn Teams, over 6 sessions - equal first are Jack Armorgie, Alastair Catchpole & Paul Denning (30 pts) followed by three people (Ashok, Swales, Waggett) on 27 pts.
Winners of Series 16 of the Pairs League are Roger Schofield & Keith Sharp - the only pair to have retained a Division One place in all eight sessions, and they are the fourteenth different winners of a PL series.
One of the three Cheltenham Bridge Club teams (Richard & Chamberlain, Paul Denning, Patrick Shields & Garry Watson - with help from Richard Butland) has won the 2024-25 EBU Interclub Knock-Out - the first time Cheltenham BC has won this event. This was their best performance since 2017 when the same team lost in the final to Tunbridge Wells - having lost three finals before that(to Southampton, Manchester and Cambridge).
John Amor & Lindsay Stewart came 5th out of 38 pairs at the 2025 Porthcawl congress Swiss Pairs.
Commiserations to the County Tollemache team, who were all set to qualify for the finals until losing 3VPs on the last board of the event.
Allan Sanis and Garry Watson came 3rd in the Swiss Pairs at the annual Malvern Congress at the end of October.
Playing with her son Ben, Alison Pritchard came 4th out of 104 pairs in the Mixed Pairs at the popular Pula congress in Croatia.
Top local player in the Cheltenham Congress Swiss Pairs was Paul Denning playing with Tim Rees, and in the Swiss Teams it was the same pair (with Garry Watson & Mia Deschepper) who came second of the 30 teams.
A regular foursome from the county - Garry Watson & Paul Denning, Richard Chamberlain & Patrick Shields - have just won the EBU's Seniors KO Teams (the Gerard Faulkner Salver); It is their second win following success in 2022.
The most recent One Day EBU Swiss Teams was won by Jackie Davies & three from different counties; this follows a second place finish in March and a third place finish in February.
Dan McIntosh & John Atthey - who came first in the LlanBrighton Swiss Pairs and earned themselves a bundle of Dragon Points for that.
Steve Sasanow & Mike Wignall who produced the top score in the AGM pairs, only to be overtaken on handicap by Jan bailey & Pauline Sanderson who walk away with the Steve Darke Salver for their efforts.
Paul Denning & Diane Kurbalija were part of the Wales team which won the Teltscher Trophy - the Home Internationals Seniors' Championship.
The Stroud Bridge Club team, representing Gloucestershire, came second in the Bristol Regional Final of the EBU's Garden Cities competition, and will proceed now to the final in June. We wish them all the best.
Alan Wearmouth (Playing with Martyn Harris) came second in the EBU's Swiss Pairs on 16th February, and Jackie Davies (playing with Rob Cliffe) came third; there were 58 pairs took part.
Patrick Shields and Richard Chamberlain are top qualifiers to represent England in this year’s Senior Camrose (Teltscher Trophy) competing against Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in May 2025. Very best wishes for the final.
In the EBU's Online December Congress, Alan Wearmouth (with Martyn Harris) came third in the Swiss Pairs event and second in the Swiss Teams event.
At the November 9-High Swiss Pairs - with entries from across the country - Liz Burgess & Rosie Dalton came first out of 28 pairs, despite losing one match 0-20! Well done; Liz Giles & Richard Seymour were 8th, ahead of three other pairs from the county.
At the Malvern Congress in Worcester, Diane Kurbalija & Patrick Shields were in the team which came first - and the second team was Gloucestershire (Hill & Wearmouth, Ritacca & Wignall).
The Midlands cross-county pairs event was played at Ross-on-Wye for the Edgar Foster Cup, and it was won by Alastair Catchpole & Paul Denning. Our other entrants came 6th of the 20 pairs competing.
At the Cheltenham Congress in August, the best local performances came from Alastair Catchpole & Patrick Shields who came 4th in the Swiss Pairs and Ben Ritacca who was part of the winning team in the Swiss Teams; Lindsay Stewart came seventh in the Pairs and fifth in the Teams; the 9-High Pairs was won by Phillipa Gregory & Lorraine Shepherd.
After five of the 2024 One Day Green Point events, in the overall ranking, Jackie Davies is lying 5th with 184 points, and Ashok & Arun are equal 111th with 58 points; there are 344 people in the ranking list.
To Lesley Harrison, Ashok Kwatra, Paul Lilley & Arun Nanda on coming second in the Swiss Teams at the Glos-Here Green Point weekend in Ross-on-Wye - after being in the lead with one match to go!
To Tony Hill & Alan Wearmouth on winning the Swiss Pairs at the Glos-Here Green Point weekend in Ross-on-Wye.
To Ashok Kwatra & Arun Nanda who came 3rd out of 52 in the July 13th Online Green Point Swiss Pairs.
To Richard Chamberlain & Patrick Shields who, as part of the English Seniors team in the recent European Championships, earned a place for the team in next year's World Championship (by being 7th of 20 teams).
To Andrew Bull & James Hastie for winning the AGM Pairs on 19th May 2024; winners on handicap were Jan Bailey & Patrick Shields.
To the Stroud Cafe Bridge Team (Alison, Franceska, Michele) for such a successful event on 21st April, which raised £1000 for the Brimscombe-based Stroud Grace Network. A total of 32 pairs played, across four cafes.
The team of Richard Butland & Rob Stevens, Richard Chamberlain & Paul Denning have won all three of their matches to become the County KO Champions for 2024.
At the Devon County Congress the Swiss Pairs was won by Tony Hill & Alan Wearmouth (a field of 44 pairs). In the Swiss Teams, Paul Denning was in the team which came first out of 20 teams.
In the National Mixed Pairs (Portland Pairs), Ro Kaye & Arun Nanda came 18th in a filed of 102 pairs - well done.
Winners of the Newent Bowl (16 teams, all went well) : Alastair Catchpole & Tony Hill, Allan & Judy Sanis and the runners-up were Ken Haines & Sue Wickenden, Steve Lawrence & Anne Summers.
Winners of the Green Point Swiss Pairs at Bath (hosted by Wiltshire) - first of 70 pairs finishing with three 19-1 wins - Alastair Catchpole & Jack Armorgie.
Winners of the COTSWOLD CUP, by a whisker after playing the runners up in the last round, were Pam Pearce & Susan Sharp. They were followed by Ben Ritacca & Peter Waggett.
At the end of the year, the top Master Points collector in the County is Jackie Davies (who also leads nationally) followed by Patrick Shields; in second place behind Jackie on collecting Black Points is Derek Boreham, second behind Jackie on Blue Points is (equal) Frank Harsent & Trevor Howard, and on Green Points Garry Watson leads from Paul Denning.
After the November One Day Green Point event (this runs through March 2024), Jackie Davies has overtaken Arun Nanda to be the top County player in this series; Alan Wearmouth provides the County's third position.
To Alastair Catchpole whose team came equal fourth in the Swiss Teams at the EBU's year End Congress in London.
To Alan Wearmouth who, playing with Martyn from Cumbria, came second out of 88 pairs in the One Day Green Point Swiss Pairs on 25th November.
To the County Tollemache team who have qualified Gloucestershire for the final in February 2024. Well done to Butland & Stevens & Cornell, Chamberlain & Watson, Denning & McIntosh, Davis & Wearmouth, Ritacca & Waggett.
To Patrick Shields who playing with David Kendrick came 3rd of 246 in the Open Pairs at the Madeira Bridge Festival.
To Patrick Shields & Garry Watson, half of the team which won the EBU's most recent One Day GP event.
To Alastair Catchpole and Jack Armorgie who won the Swiss Pairs competition at the West of England Congress. They succeeded in a field of 84 pairs which included a number of well known international players. Well done!
Ian Sidgwick & Paul Spencer came 2nd in the morning session and 1st in the afternoon session at the Cumbria/EBU Jack-High pairs event on Sunday 3rd September. A fantastic performance - well done!
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