The top pairs in  the Pottage final that could make the date (Michael Yeo/Guy Lawrenson, James Bond/Gabriel Hearst, Adrian Fontes/Karen Dewar  and Paul Cockayne/Nigel Dent)  competed in the  EBU's Corwen Trophy competition on the  weekend of 15th/16th June. Congratulations to Adrian and Karen for being the highest place HIW pair (39th= out of 75). Full results here

Congratulations to Team Preston (Jeremy Dhondy,Andy Hughes,Steve Preston,Dave Huggett, Jeremy Baker), who qualified to represent HIWCBA by becoming HIWCBA Division 1 champions, on winning the Pachabo cup for county teams of 4 on 8th/9th June. Initially they were shown as second, but the results were amended after an appeal in the Cambs/Cornwall match which moved them up to first. Full results here.
Complete HIWCBA  county league and knockout results and congratulations to follow.

full results, including report, here.

Congratulations to John Jones & Bo Deyal, winners of the 2023-24 Pottage Cup and therefore newly crowned HIWCBA pairs champions. Well done also to John Fairhurst & Malcolm Green, Gabriel Hearst & James Bond and Michael Yeo & Guy Lawrenson on finishing 2^nd to 4^th respectively and therefore also qualifying to represent HIWCBA in the EBU’s Corwen Trophy competition. Full results here. More detailed director's report :

"A few years ago John Jones, one of the Grandees of Hampshire Bridge announced that he was going to stop playing. Not sure what happened but we are very pleased that he is still playing.And playing well enough to win the Pottage Cup with his partner Bo Deyal. A few pairs, John & Bo, John Fairhurst & Malcolm Green and Sue & Alan Oliver started strongly and held an early advantage. Mid-event they were challenged by a number of others. Karen Dewar & Adrian Fontes, Guy Lawrenson & Michael Yeo. But John & Bo bid a fearless grand-slam to give them a significant cushion with a few rounds to go. Gabriel Hearst & James Bond, (having suffered the grand-slam) came with a late charge to finish third."

The Hampshire Green Point Congress was held on the weekend of the 9th/10th March in Badger Farm Community Centre. Winners of the green point pairs on Saturday were Steve Preston & James Clark with father and son Gareth & Aleks Birdsall in second.(full results here). The Sunday teams was won by the largerly HIWCBA team of Andrew Bennett & Mike Jackson, Michael Yeo & Guy Lawrenson with 3rd place Steve Preston, James Clark, Richard & Christine Ray winning the Catherine Howell Trophy for the best all HIWCBA team. Full results here. Congratulations to all who did well and all who turned up. Thank you to Colin Simcox for directing and to Mike Kinsey for doing the lions share of the organising.

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Between the 12th and 16th of February 8 clubs hosted heats of the IBM Cup, raising money for Charity. Congratulations to the winners - Peggy Bennet & Stephen Rotherham and runners up - Lyn Brown & Krystina Lane. Full results here. Using the overall ranking, top in each club were:
Lymington : Peggy Bennet & Stephen Rotherham (1st).
Island(IOW) : Lyn Brown & Krystina Lane (2nd)
Basingstoke: David Lewis & Graham Ledger (3rd).
Winchester: Ray Crawford & Martin Lambden (5th).
Petersfield : Margaret Stothard & Mike Owen (7th).
Swanmore : Georgina Erskine & Margo Glover (9th).
Newbury:  Stuart Strachan & Eleanor Rice (10th).
Hayling Island : Aubrey Welterveden & Dinos Theophanous (13th).
Thank you to all clubs and pairs that took part in the event.

There are not many events where the NGS is higher than the average age. The Candlestick Pairs on 14th January was not one of them! But we tried. The presence of two young English internationals pushed the standard up and the age down. But in the end it was the good old boys who prevailed. Steve Preston & Fred Hotchen (pictured)  won from Dick Hyde & Jeremy Baker in second. Lottie & Steve Bedford tied with Stuart Burnett & Tony Truluck for third. Full results here. 
It was excellent to have enough pairs for the Face To Face event. Now please all enter the Valentine Teams on 11th February (enter here) before the Hampshire Congress on the 9th and 10th of March.

Congratulations to Nigel Dent & Paul Cockayne, Chun Yin Kam & Roger Johnson, winners of the Yuletide Teams on 17th December. Colin Jones & John Dakin, Richard Hyde & Jeremy Baker were 2nd and all enjoyed the festive F2F bridge (full results here).  After that have a Merry Xmas and a busy bridge new year. HIWCBA has arranged 3 F2F events in the first quarter of 2024 : The Candlestick Pairs on the 14th January, The Valentine teams on the 11th February and the Hampshire Green Point Weekend on the 9th and 10th March. The first two in Romsey and the green point weekend in Winchester. Seasons Greetings and we hope to see as many as possible at all three events. 

The first week of December saw 78 pairs in 6 club sessions enter  a HIWCBA Charity Simultaneous Pairs and compete for the Chidwick Cup. Congratulations to the top 3 (1st Janet Politi & Janet Thomas, 2nd Louise Toghill & Peter Toghill, 3rd Shirley Hewitt & Leigh Harding) and to the winners of the individual sessions (Sula Turpin & Lindsey McDougall, Janet Politi & Janet Thomas, Tony Truluck & Tim Smith, Bill May & Mike Allin, Louise Toghill & Peter Toghill, Reginald Thorpe & Stu Clarke). And to all who played for raising money for charity. Full results Here

On 26th November pairs competed in a joint HIWCBA Wessex Cup & Berks and Bucks BBCBA Denys Jenkins Cup blue point swiss pairs competition. Congratulations to the overall winners Clive Owen and John Samson, winners of the Wessex Cup. Rhona Goldenfield & Kath Nelson were runners up. David Owen & Bob Holder (3rd) won the BBCBA Denys Jenkins Cup. James Clark & Simon Taylor (4th) were the best placed all HIWCBA pair. Full results here. Thanks to Colin Simcox for directing and Mike Kinsey for being instrumental in the event becoming a joint event, which ensured an excellent turnout - 52 pairs. Next for HIWCBA is the face to face Yuletide Teams on 17th December (Enter here now).

Well done to the HIWCBA Tollemache Qualifier Team of Jeremy Dhondy & Charlotte Bedford, Andrew Doye & Lilias Lamont, Peter Crouch & Geoff Oldfield, James Clark & Owen Leigh, Steve Preston & David Huggett, Sonia Zakrzewski & Gareth Birdsall (results here), although they failed to qualify for the final. The one piece of feedback passed on to the webmaster is "Having someone younger  (Charlotte Bedford) in the team was a good move. She played well and sensibly and was a pleasure to play with." 

Many clubs have seen reduced attendance since Covid. Without new players numbers will inevitably continue to decline. But new players need teachers. Douglas Wright (3 Counties Bridge) has just announced a Club Teacher Training Course in Farnham in December. See https://www.ebedcio.org.uk/club-teacher-training for further information.

First, and most importantly congratulations to the 16 pairs who turned up Face To Face In Colden Common on Sunday 29th October to enjoy the HIWCBA Non Expert Pairs, and especially to the winners of the No Fear Pairs Trophy : Nigel Reid & Susan Fowler (pictured above) (full results here). Hopefully we will see you all again for similar future events. 

Second, at the other end of the scale, congratulations to some of our HIWCBA experts (Mike Kinsey, Owen Leigh, James Clark and Steve Preston ) who, representing Petersfield  A, won the National Inter Club Knockout (NICKO) Plate competition. 

HIWCBA entered two team in the Metropolitan Cup on Sunday 1st October - A B division team and a C Division team. Congratulations to the C Division Team (Guy Malcolm & Hugh Merry, Rick Assad & Dennis Adams, Andrew & Mary Ferguson, John Fairhurst & Phil Brown) (results here) on winning their division and well done to the B Division team (Stuart Strachan & Eleanor Rice, Judi Coady & Nicholas Browne, Stephen Scott & Liz Senior, Gabriel Hearst & Tim Smith) (results here). Although Liz and Steve were top of the x-imps after 2 matches, in the end all were less successful.

In the Cahalan Cup Final (HIWCBA Teams of 4 Knockout)  Team Preston (Graham Allan, Gareth Birdsall, Adam dunn, Dave Huggett, Steve Preston and Sonia Zakrzewski) beat Team Fithyan.

In the Basingstoke Cup Final Basingstoke Nixon (Michael Battisson, Helen Gault, John Glasscock, Sam Golding, George Kitchen, Brian Knight, Charles Nixon, Julia Rowlands, Vera Watts) beat Newbury

In the HICKO Final Pilley (Guy Lawresnon, Madeleine Parker, Stevie Parker, Vivien Sheathm Steve Williams, Michael Yeo) beat Newbury.

Congratulations to all.

The HIWCBA league season is now complete.

League Division 1 (Final Positions here)  The league was tight with both teams in the final match being capable of finishing either 2^nd or 7^th, and with Team Preston, one of the pre-season favourites, in danger of relegation to the end. Congratulations to Team Birdsall (Graham Allan , Gareth Birdsall, Adam Dunn, Sonia Zakrzewski) on triumphing with Team Hotchen (Peter Crouch, Fred Hotchen. Bob McRobert, Geoff Oldfield) 2^nd. Unfortunately the two teams did not have sufficient individuals available to form a HIWCBA team for this years  Plachabo cup for county teams of 4 champions.

League Division 2 (Final positions here). Congratulations to Team Thomas (Martin Bevan, Keith Terrell, Barbara Thomas  & Neil P Thomas)  on winning division 2 and Team Johnson (Antony Blunt, Nigel Dent, Michael Gwilliam, Dick Heasman, Roger Johnson, John Wilson) on finishing second by virtue of winning their head to head match with Team McGinn.

League Division 3 (Final Positions here) Congratulations to Division 3 champions Team Nixon (John Glasscock, Sam Golding, George Kitchen, Charles Nixon, Dorothy Rivers, Julia Rowlands, Macushla Stewart) with Team Ferguson (Judy Bungey, Richard Bungey, Andrew Ferguson, Mary E Ferguson) 2^nd.