As we approach the end of the Congress, it’s almost hard to believe that we’ve been here for a full week. The time has seemed to fly by. With bridge starting on Saturday earlier at 1:30, there was a little less time for swimming or walking in the morning, but everyone arrived (were we bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ?) in good time for the start of the final session.
By now, the field was split into two parts, with the leading five teams playing an all-play-all final, while the rest continued with four more rounds of Swiss Teams.
Board 19 in the final turned out to be very expensive for one pair (who shall remain nameless).
With EW playing in 4H= or 3H+1, this NS pair managed to land in 4H, which was doubled. I don’t know the auction, but it does appear that a wheel fell off somewhere.
That cost 13 IMPs.
The same pair got 13 IMPs back on a later board, when they bid to 7C and were doubled. At the other table, the NS pair had subsided in 3NT, and there was nothing in the play, so 7Cx rolled in. Deep Finesse suggests that 7NT by either N or S makes. Can you see how to do it?
After all the excitement had died down, the result of the final was:
Blakey (Joy and Irving Blakey, John Holland and Raymond Semp) - 95.5 VPs
Lawson (Judy Lawson, Ollie Burgess, Sandy Davies and Tom Gisborne) - 95 VPs
Orsmond (Graham Orsmond, Jackie Fairclough, Debbie Sandford and Gad Chadha) - 86.5 VPs
Davies (Stuart Davies, Nichola Cockerill-Smith, Catherine Thompson and Lesly Bridson) - 71 VPs
Hopkins (Tish Hopkins, Jacqui Farrar, Christina Powne and Tim Emmott) - 52 VPs
It doesn’t get much closer than that. And a special word of congratulation to team Hopkins, who were the leading B category team in the whole field.
In the meantime, the Swiss Teams was won by Gilly Cardiff. Ed Scerri, Roberta Linehan and David Arundel.
As play in both events was ending, members of the hotel staff came in with canapes and a selection of cocktails and soft drinks, which added a festive feel to the reception and “prize-giving”, at which Debbie Sandford (EBU Board member) gave a generous vote of thanks. We presented the collected tips and a thankyou card signed by most of the players to the hotel staff. The photo above shows all the various event winners.
And here’s the team that made it all possible. From left to right: Ann Potterton (First for Bridge), Sarah Amos, Linda Benneworth and Chris Benneworth (all EBU.)
See you in Madeira.