The Annual President’s Cup was held on Thursday 13th July.
It is a special Red Point event to thank President Sylvia Foster for all the hard work, both seen and unseen, she has done for the club over the past twelve months.
With the coming out of COVID restrictions and all the other problems faced by clubs of all sorts and sizes, not just Bridge, this was a particularly challenging year for her and the committee.
During the period of this insidious disease our numbers diminished considerably. Some started play on-line, a few battled on and unfortunately some followed other pursuits. Thanks to Sylvia’s hard work and dedication our membership is steadily growing again and attendances are on the up.

The competition was particularly hot with joint winners and joint runners-up in the North/ South field.

North-South
Place
1	53.87%	Christine Hadaway - Blair Glass
1	53.87%	Karen Ody - Jim Routledge
3	52.68%	Martin Johnson - Chris Hasemore
3	52.68%	Chris Hannan - Lorraine Lindsay
East-West
Place
1	56.55%	Susan McCall - Pamela Joseph
2	55.95%	Noel Crockett - Shirley Crockett
3	55.65%	Hope Tomlinson - Barry Foster

Full results here

Congratulations to all the winners. Sorry Sylvia you will have to stay President for another year.

This Championship was conducted over two consecutive Wednesdays.

When both weeks results were combined the winners were ...

Restricted Pairs Championship Overall
Place	%	Pair Name
1	61.23%	Warren Nicol - Edith Marshall
2	59.17%	Graham Woof - Peter Wheatley
3	58.16%	Kerrel Walker - Carol Long

 
Here are the session results :

The first session had the normal N/S and E/W fields. This produced some, what some would consider surprising results, with players with varying degrees of experience featuring in the results. 

Restricted Pairs Championship Session 1
North-South
Place	%	Pair Name
1	66.04%	Peter Hume - Elaine Hume
2	63.33%	Linda Cunningham - Jo Ampherlaw
3	60.42%	Warren Nicol - Edith Marshall
East-West
Place	%	Pair Name
1	62.73%	Graham Woof - Peter Wheatley
2	53.94%	Walt Alma Van Der - Kathryn Ivits
3	53.47%	John Drew - Denyse Stephens

The second session was a Howell movement which meant that every pair played each other at some time during the Championship. This tricky movement, devised by Director, Peter Hume, certainly kept us on our toes. He was ably assisted in this by Marcelle Goslin who told us where to be seated when we got lost.
Someone once said a week is a long time in politics. It certainly can be in Bridge. The leaders from the previous week came back to the field as others demonstrated their prowess. Special mention to Carolyn Harper and Kerry-Anne Durrant. Kerry-Anne is our most regular player and joins us almost every day. Good to see them on the podium.

Restricted Pairs Championship Session 2
Place	%	Pair Name
1	62.03%	Warren Nicol - Edith Marshall
2	61.02%	Carolyn Harper - Kerry-Anne Durrant
3	59.46%	Meg McGregor - Hilary Owen

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to Peter and Marcelle.

The Annual Winter Teams Championship was conducted this year in a revised format and attracted a red hot field including many former winners. The Teams format gave all players a better chance of collecting some of those illusive Red Points. The leaders after the 1st round were Team Fane with 33 points after a decisive win. They were less fortunate in Round 2 surrendering the lead to Team Lindsay, who continued on their winning way to retain their lead going into Round 4. They had a handy lead of 16 points over the eventual winners. Director Peter Hume was kept busy all day with a slight computer glitch. Members and visitors are reminded that our Super Congress will be held over the weekend of July 22/23 with Pairs on Saturday and Teams on Sunday. Entries should be made on the NSWBA website. Team Members VPs W-D-L Rpts Barry Foster - Hope Tomlinson - Martin Johnson - Chris Hasemore 59.75 4-0-0 0.64 Lorraine Lindsay - Richard Carter - Wendy Mitchell - Dorothy Berzins 56.4 44-0-0 0.64 Jim Routledge - Karen Ody - Sylvia Foster - Jaan Oitmaa 53.34 2-1-1 0.40 Jorgen Boettiger - Deborah Guthrie - Julie Teague - Joan Walsh 44.55 2-0-2 0.32 Felicity Fane - Heather Brown - Peter Hume - Elaine Hume 40.88 1-1-2 0.24 Christine Hadaway - Chris Hannan - Robin Vaughan - Ed Vaughan 35.17 2-0-2 0.32 Susan McCall - Judy Wulff - David Adams - Pamela Joseph 32.91 1-0-3 0.16 Edith Marshall - Hilary Owen - Marcelle Goslin - Frankie Craven 32.41 1-0-3 0.16 Kerry-Anne Durrant - Carolyn Girdwood - Jennifer Tebb - Irene Irvine 84 4.55 0-0-4

Bridge can be fun.

What a nice break from the really serious stuff this competition was.
The Teams of Three combines three friends with a truly accomplished player. Each friend playing with the ace, in turn. The fun starts when the expert is expected to learn our funny ways of playing and foibles in about two seconds and then promptly forgetting them when they are joined by the second member of the triumvirate. Makes for a very short, sharp learning curve.
The friends also have to try to remember what they have discussed a few minutes ago, Some of us are better at that than others. I welcome you to the others.
Many, many thanks to all our top players:- Jim Routledge, Hope Tomlinson, Christine Hadaway, Sylvia Foster, Martin Johnson, Barry Foster, Chris Hannan, Jaan Oitmaa, Robin Vaughan, Lorraine Lindsay, Karen Ody and Ed Vaughan. I just hoped we didn’t teach you too many bad habits.
A big thank you to Director for all his hard work.

Place	Team	W-D-L
1	Elaine Hume - Kathryn Ivits - Alma Van Der Walt - Jim Routledge	3-0-0
2	Hope Tomlinson - John Aldersley - Beryl Lowry - Marcelle Goslin	2-1-0
3	Wendy Byrne - Christine Hadaway - Caroline Nichols - Connie Lewis	2-0-1

Full results here

Marcelle, Carolynne, John and Bruce. With our own Team of 3 next Wednesday (14th June) some members got in some practise down in the Big Smoke. Marcelle Goslin, Carolynne Mucharsky and John Aldersley teamed with Bruce Neill for the NSW Competition last month. They did us proud, finishing 2nd in their division with 3 wins and 3 loses. Very commendable in a total field that included more Grand Masters than leaves on a big tree. This competition is great fun and a chance to not only play with one of our top players but, to learn their secrets that often get them that extra trick. The Entry Sheet is on the Club Noticeboard. Nothing to lose but your smoker’s cough.