2025/26 Sussex Pairs Final

Congratulations to this year's winners of the Sussex Pairs on Sunday March 15th, Peter Clinch and Julian Mitchell (pictured).

Mike Allen and Andy Ryder finished second with Katie Duncanson and Tom Eckersley-Waites completing the podium in third place.

Up to five pairs have now qualified to represent Sussex in the Corwen Trophy in Telford on the weekend of 30th-31st May. Good luck to those who go forward.

Many thanks to Stephen Kennedy who directed and scored*, Charlotte Setahul who catered and to Mervyn Wotton and Martin Pool who provided extra technical assistance and additional dealing as we had a couple of withdrawals on the day.

Peter Clinch (Organiser)

* Note to competitors: Because the results were uploaded to the EBU with the final session percentages on both sessions, we have had some queries.  Having consulted with the EBU, we can confirm that the NGS adjustments are correct.

Horsham Welcome Pairs

Everybody had an enjoyable time at the SCCBA Welcome Pairs event held at Horsham Bridge Club on Sunday 1st March.

Very well done to the winners of the 3 categories.  On the right Mark Tresler & Jacqueline Goel; on the left Adrian Kernot & Richard Brinley Codd; in the middle Stella Blackburn and Suzie Byrne: accompanied on the extreme right by fellow-Organiser Sarah Little.

Denise Lincoln (Organiser)

2026 SCCBA Charity Simultaneous Pairs

CONFIRMED Results

132 pairs took part in this year's Charity Simultaneous Pairs which took place between Monday February 16th and Saturday February 21st in support of :-

•  Queen Victoria Charitable Trust, East Grinstead,
• St Wilfrid's Hospice, Chichester and
• UKHarvest, Chichester

You may not have played in the SCCBA Charity Simultaneous Pairs this year, but you'll find the commentaries prepared by Neil Watts an interesting read as well as instructive.

It's expected that the amount collected by clubs, topped up with a donation from the county, will mean that £1,000 will be donated to each of these charities.

Congratulations to Colin Mallows and David Williams who played in the West Sussex heat and are the confirmed winners of the Joe Gibson trophy.  The runners-up are Gerry Hegan and Brian Gillbanks who played in the Chichester heat and in 3rd place are Gavin Park and Craig Sorrell who played in the Seaford heat.

Congratulations to Gerry and Brian for also being the winners of the Eric Seldon Salver for being the top pair, both of whom are at least 70 years old.

Many thanks to the clubs (Avenue, Chichester, Crawley, Eastbourne, Patcham, Seaford, West Sussex and Worthing) who held heats and special thanks to Peter Clinch for amalgamating the scores.

Gerry Stanford (Organiser)

2026 SCCBA AGM
Sunday April 26th at 11am

All members wishing to attend the SCCBA AGM (see agenda) should register with the Hon. Sec. Dick Wheeler by April 19th to receive the supporting papers and the Zoom invitation.

SCCBA Garden Cities Trophy heat
Patcham Community Centre
Saturday 28th March at 11am

SCCBA Clubs are invited to enter a team of 8 for the county heat of the Garden Cities Trophy.  30-40 boards will be played, depending on the number of clubs who enter.  Scoring will combine the IMPs achieved in each room and be converted to Victory Points.

The entry fee is £80/team payable to SCCBA and covers table money, tea and sandwiches.  Since making arrangements for refreshments is necessary, entries will close by Saturday 21st March.  There's no need for your club to finalise its team at the time of entry.  Just make the payment :-

• by bank transfer SCCBA sort code 20-49-76, account no 53941868, Reference code 'T8' + club name, or
• by cheque payable to SCCBA and sent direct to the SCCBA Treasurer, John Hardy, 2A The Fairway, Willowbrook Park, Lancing, West Sussex, BN158QZ.

and email organiser Gerry Stanford (or ring him on 01403-255952) to let him know that your club is playing.

The winners will represent Sussex in the Regional Final, again being played F2F on Saturday 9^th May at Richmond Bridge club.  Note: should you win the SCCBA  heat, you do not have to play the same 8 players in the Regional Final as long as substitutes have not have played for another team in the SCCBA heat.

Gerry Stanford

2025 EBU Dimmie Fleming Award Winner - Eddie Williams

Many congratulations to Eddie Williams who has received the prestigious Dimmie Fleming Award for services to bridge!

Eddie has been involved in the administration of Sussex bridge in multiple roles over more than two decades, including Vice Chairman, Management Committee member, Tournament Manager, Tournament Committee member, Membership Secretary, Calendar Editor and Competition Organiser.  Eddie has also spent much of that time as the Sussex Chief Tournament Director, maintaining the directory of Sussex directors and running the major county seasonal and green-pointed congresses in addition to his paid directorial duties.

Since his semi-retirement from County directing in 2019, Eddie has continued to give generously of his time, preparing schedules for bridge teachers, mentoring Sussex’s current County Chief TD, running courses for and supporting aspiring County directors, and taking charge of updating the County’s technical equipment.

Eddie is, of course, well-known as a (now-retired) EBU director, as the director-incharge at St. Leonards BC and as an organiser of bridge holidays and cruises but his contributions extend far beyond the commercial.  He continues to provide ad hoc advice and support and he is the epitome of a person who is always happy to help and offer his expertise.

See also Eddie's "biography" on the EBU web-site.

2025-26 Tollemache Final

The Sussex team finished fifth out of eight teams in the Tollemache Final, played in Cambridge over the weekend of 31 January/1st February.  With a few boards to play, they were lying in third place.  This was a highly creditable performance in a strong field, especially as four players who played so well to help them qualify were unavailable.  See full results on the EBU website.

Congratulations (tinged with commiserations!) to :-

• Mike Allen and Ken Ford
• Gunnar Hallberg and Sally Clark
• Andy Morris and Chris Phillips
• David Dickson and Matt Read
• Julian Mitchell and Peter Clinch

Neil Watts (non-playing captain)

David Pavey Trophy

This event, on Sunday January 25th, was a great success with eleven tables.  It was lovely to be host to players from several clubs who had travelled long distances to play in this event.

Congratulations to winners Anna-marie Beresford and Ann Mackown from Worthing.  Well done also to runners up Alice Louis and Karen Jackson, also from Worthing.

Thank-you to Alexa Baxter for directing and to the Worthing ladies who provided the lovely afternoon tea.

Eileen Perrigo (Organiser)

Other County News