All age groups represented amongst Year End Congress winners

The Year End Congress in London saw the full range of age groups represented amongst the winning players, with titles being claimed by Juniors, Seniors, and those aged in between.

The event began with a two-day stratified Swiss Pairs event which was won by Paul Hackett (Staffs & Shrops) & David Burn (Middlesex) - see picture here. They led almost throughout, and although they won only eight of their eleven matches (some pairs won more) they scored enough to take the title. They finished 4VPs ahead of Frances Hinden & Graham Osborne (both Surrey), with Alistair Kent & Justin Hackett (both Staffs & Shrops) one victory point further back. The winners of the B Stratification were Sarah O'Connor (Manchester) & Anthony Moon (Surrey). The winners of the C Stratification were the juniors Keith Lai (London) & Alexandra Birchall (Manchester).

The Open Pairs was won by the junior pair of Ankush Khandelwal (Notts) & Toby Nonnenmacher (London) - shown in the main picture. They scored 60.01%, with Alistair Kent & Justin Hackett picking up another podium finish in second on 58.08%.

The mixed pairs was won by Celia & Derek Oram (both Hertfordshire) with 61.57% (see picture here). Glyn Liggins (London) & Pauline Cohen (Middlesex) were second on 60.78%.

The congress concluded with a stratified Swiss Teams event, and this was won by the team of Simon Gillis (London), Erik Saelensminde (Norway), Jon Cooke (Cambs & Hunts) & Paul Lamford (London) - see picture here. They were one of nine teams to lose only one match, but their margins of victory (and defeat) were sufficient for them to take the trophy by 5 VPs. There was a tie for second place, with the team of Janet de Botton, Artur Malinowski (both Middlesex), Nick Sandqvist & Tom Townsend (both London) finishing level with the team of Gerald Tredinnick, Jeremy Willans (both Kent), Anne Rosen & Neil Rosen (both Middlesex). The winners of the B Stratification were London-based youngsters Yifei Zheng, Keith Lai, Ho Pang & Jiawei Lim. The winners of the C Stratification were the junior internationals Jonathan Clark, Kripa Panchagnula (both Middlesex), Michael Alishaw (London) & Stephen Kennedy (Sussex).

The congress also included a Really Easy Afternoon, which was held at the main venue in London, and also at satellite venues in Richmond and Billericay, and then scored across all locations. The overall winners Nadine Born & Diana Wilson (both Surrey) who scored 68.1% playing at Richmond. The leading pair in Billericay were Amarjeet Singh & Gurdeep Singh (both Essex), and the leading pair in London was Laraine Stokes (Surrey) & David Taylor (Berks & Bucks). The leading 'B' stratification pair was Mike Wares & Amanda Murphy (both Essex).

January 4, 2016