The Swiss Teams as part of the Spring Overseas Congress in Tavira, Portugal, have come to their conclusion. Tournament Director Chris Benneworth talks through all the results:
The Swiss Teams at the Algarve Congress was played over two days. At the end of the first day, the leading teams were:
- Lawson (Judi Lawson, Dan O’Farrell, John Osmond, Peter Breakell) on 85
- Talbot (Kathy and Dennis Talbot, Chris Taylor and David Wing) on 81
- Blakey (Joy and Irving Blakey, Rhona Goldenfield and Raymond Semp) on 77
- Gorman (Denver Gorman, Catherine Thompson, Veronica and Andrew Petrie) on 75
- Scerri (Ed Scerri, Gilly Cardiff, Angela McReady and Lorne Anderson) on 72
And the same teams stayed in contention throughout Sunday, changing places regularly as the afternoon went on. In match 7, Lawson, Blakey and Talbot won, while Scerri and Gorman lost, leaving Lawson, Blakey and Talbot leading the rankings., with Scerri dropping to 7th. In the next match, Talbot, Scerri and Gorman won, while Blakey and Lawson lost.
So, going into the final two matches, the rankings were:
- Talbot 110
- Lawson 109
- Blakey 101
- Gorman 96
- Scerri 92
This meant that Talbot played Lawson, Blakey played Gorman and Scerri played Barnes in match 9. Talbot won 17 – 3, Blakey won 14 – 6 and Scerri won 15 – 5, giving this ranking as we went into the final match:
- Talbot 127
- Blakey 115
- Lawson 112
- Scerri 107
- Gorman 102
So Talbot played Blakey, Lawson played Scerri, while Gorman played Patel. Only the first three could win, with Lawson needing a big win and a fortunate score in the first match to overtake both Talbot and Blakey. When Blakey beat Talbot 20 – 0, Scerri beat Lawson 17 – 3 and Gorman won 12 – 8, the final standings were
- Blakey 135
- Talbot 127
- Scerri 124
- Lawson 115
- Gorman 114
So the same five teams who had led at the beginning of Sunday’s session also led the rankings at the end of the day.
Congratulations to all of them.
After the Swiss Teams, a reception, sponsored by First for Bridge was held in the hotel bar, where the wine flowed freely, the prize-winners in each event were applauded and a presentation made to the hotel staff. For the final dinner we sat at circular tables of ten, so the conviviality continued. It made for an excellent end to an excellent Congress.
Chris and Linda Benneworth, Sarah Amos and Ro Kaye delighted to relax at the end of the event.
There’s lots to do in and around Tavira, you can view a selection of photos taken by, among others, Len Williamson and Chris Taylor on their travels, in the Tavira Congress Gallery.