Orams and Smith team win main events at Harrogate Congress

The main events at the Harrogate Congress have been won by Celia & Derek Oram and the team of Jeff Smith, Jackie Pye, John Holland & Alan Mould (picture). The Congress was run by Yorkshire Contract Bridge Association on behalf of the EBU.

In the Swiss Pairs, Celia & Derek enjoyed three large wins in the final session to move up the table to the top spot. Their rise was not as big as the eventual second-placed pair of Steve Raine & Ankush Khandelwal who moved from 18th at the start of the final session in to the runners-up position. Stefano Tommasini & Kiril Delev were third.

The Smith team were undefeated in their first six matches of the Swiss Teams, but a defeat in the final match to the second-placed team of Tom Dessain, Tugrul Kaban, Mark Hill & Giles Ip resulted in a victory by just 3 VPs. Bernard Goldenfield, Rhona Goldenfield, Alan Nelson & Kath Nelson were third.

The congress began with Open, Mixed and Improvers Pairs competitions. The Open Pairs was won emphatically by Nick Woolven & Alan Jarvis (picture), finishing 5% ahead of Henry Rose & James Thrower in second. The winners of the Mixed Pairs were John Atthey & Claire Robinson (picture), with David Turner & Jill Rushton in the runners-up spot.

The Improvers Pairs was won by Lindsey Wharmby & Caroline Moseley (picture). Sheila Furness & Carol Keighley were second and Stephen Bodle & John Roper were third.

February 19, 2018