English Bridge Union

For the third time in five years, the winners of the Seniors Knockout competition for the Gerard Faulkner Salver are Derek Oram, Celia Oram, Alan Kay & Jeremy Dhondy.

In a very close final, the 2014 and 2015 champions defeated Brian Senior, Norman Selway, Paul Hackett & Sandra Penfold by just 3 IMPs (Alan Mould also played for the runners-up in an earlier round).

• 2017/18 results; Previous winners

Another successful overseas Congress has come to an end, with an almost unprecedented number of different players enjoying success in the week's events. 24 different players were victorious in sunny Andalucia, with more than twenty other different players finishing in a runners-up position.

Waseem Naqvi & Jorg Dombrowe were the winners of the Swiss Pairs, losing only one of their ten matches to finish on 153 VPs. Steve Ray & Georgia Ray were second, 18 VPs behind, with Susan Pell & Carole Kelly and Joy Blakey & Irving Blakey tied for third on 130 VPs.

The Swiss Teams was won by Denis Talbot, Kathy Talbot, Denis Murphy & Pearl Murphy (pictured) who finished on 136 VPs. Brian Crack, Shirley Goldwin, Veronica Petrie & Andrew Petrie were second with 130 VPs.

The full list of winners was:

• Pre-congress pairs: Veronica Petrie & Andrew Petrie
• Swiss Pairs: Waseem Naqvi & Jorg Dombrowe
• Women's pairs: Linda Fleet & Mary Homer
• Men's pairs: Ted Latham & Bernie Hunt
• Mixed pairs: Denis Murphy & Pearl Murphy
• Open Pairs: John Brearley & Judy Brearley
• Pivot Teams: Green & overall - Bill Gardner, Sylvie Grant, Linda Quigley, Jon Harrison; Red - Albert Kitchin, Mike Harbour, Linda Fleet, Mary Homer; White - Gilly Cardiff, Adrian Fontes, Andrew Bennett, Karen Dewar;
• Swiss Teams: Denis Talbot, Kathy Talbot, Denis Murphy & Pearl Murphy

The next Overseas Congress takes place in Athens, 30th January - 5th February 2019.

• Results
• Athens Congress

English Bridge Education & Development is undertaking research in to the cognitive benefits of playing bridge, and needs volunteers.

Your may recall an earlier request for volunteers, but they continue to need bridge players who are willing to participate in the study.

They are specifically looking for right-handed women, aged between 60 and 80, who have been playing bridge for at least 10 years.

Please see here for more details, and for information on how to find more about what your participation will involve. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated.

Fiona Brown and Sally Brock are World Champions! After success in recent years for England's Women's team, they have now added the McConnell Cup, the World Championship for Women's teams at the World Bridge Series. Unlike in other Championships, where teams are restricted to players of the same nationality, this event is open to teams of players from more than one country, and in combination with four players from the USA Fiona and Sally have claimed the gold medal.

Whatever the result in the final, there would have been cause for British celebration, as they defeated a team which included Nicola Smith, Yvonne Wiseman, and Scotland's Paula Leslie.

And to complete the set of medals, a bronze medal has been won in the Rosenblum Cup (for Open teams) by the team of Andrew Robson, Alexander Allfrey, Tom Paske & Ed Jones.

Congratulations to them all. This medal haul makes it the best result by English players in the event in many years - and with more competitions over the next five days there may still be more... (see here)

• World Bridge Series website