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Waikato Bays News with Anna Kalma
The big event of the past few months was the selection of the Waikato Bays IP team … it wouldn’t be an IP trial without plenty of debate about the format. In previous years, the Waikato Bays has gone for a combined Open/Women/Senior Swiss and that format had its knockers. So, this year the format was to be separate trial fields for all four classes and trialists could only choose one field. If the field wasn’t considered large enough then the IP representatives would be selected directly.
That was the case for the Women’s event. With Jenna/Christine Gibbons and Kate Terry/Judy Pawson entered that meant selection was pretty straightforward. Trials went ahead in the other categories with the largest competition ended up being the Intermediate field. As the dust settled after two days swissing, the Waikato Bays IP team named was as follows:
Open Women
Noel Grigg, Tom Winiata, Tom Henwood, Judy Pawson, Christine and Jenna Gibbons,
Yuzhong Chen Kate Terry
Intermediate Seniors
Ted Cliffin, Barbara McFarlane, Michael Neels,Ella Gray, Julie Sheridan,
Judith Howard, Joanne Swanwick Karen Martelletti
The Chef de Mission for the Waikato Bays will be Jenny Millington. Nice to see 10 clubs from the region represented in the team.
Silver for Sam
Jo and Sam Simpson
We reported in the last edition that Hamilton’s Blair Fisher had reached Gold Grand Master status. However, we neglected to mention Tauranga’s Sam Simpson had attained the impressive status of Silver Grand Master. Well done, Sam. And it looks like it won’t be long before wife, Jo, joins Sam with a similar achievement.
Clubs Getting Larger.....
Waihi, Waitomo and Te Puke are the three of our Waikato Bays clubs that have decided 2019 is their year to grow and have enlisted the assistance of Eunice Eccles our Regional Bridgemate and have set aside resources to promote lessons to their community.
Waihi is into their 5th week of lessons and have an impressive 40 new to game learners who are still turning up each week for the lessons (they started with 42, lost four on the way and gained two). They have followed the RBM’s action plan to promote lessons by holding a charity tournament for publicity, using facebook and the local media. They also mentioned a sizeable proportion of the new members had been enticed along by one of the graduates of the 2018 lessons who is loving the game (and luckily has a large social network!). For a club that only has 33 paid up members, getting even 50% retention from lessons will be a huge boost to the club and new faces seems to drive more new blood for the future for those who enjoy it.
.... More Directors Too
As a prelude to the July Club Director exams, Rona Driscoll ran a directors' workshop in Rotorua and opened it up to any budding directors in the region which saw 14 people attend; from Huntly (1), Mt Maunganui (1), Rotorua (7), Taupo (1), Waitomo (2), Whakatane (2). Feedback was positive; “Everyone found it such an informative and worthwhile day, especially with Rona’s own experiences, knowledge and expertise of directing to complement the slides and directing issues. " In addition to the annual Allan Joseph seminar for more experienced club directors, we may look to introduce more regular workshops in the region. Watch this space.
Tournament News
Taupo 5A Open is still run as a traditional tournament where you give everybody the morning to arrive, you play an afternoon/early evening session and retire for dinner and for the smart ones an early night! A third session on the Sunday morning completes the trifecta and then the tournament concludes with a hearty lunch and prizegiving allowing for relaxed drive home. The format seems to be working with a field of 42 pairs signing up for the weekend in Taupo from as far afield as Auckland to New Plymouth and Hawke's Bay.
Tops at Taupo
Jenny Millington and Barry Jones Rona and John Driscoll with Taupo President,
Colin Light.
Winners by a whisker were Barry Jones and Jenny Millington from Hamilton from locals Rona and John Driscoll.
Men at Work...
The midweek Ladies Day is always a well-supported event in Hamilton … with 11 tables competing in the Intermediate section and 9 in the Open… while the menfolk do their thing in the kitchen providing us with a hearty cooked lunch!
Open Champs Leading Intermediates
Sonia Crawford and Lynette Morgan Anne Blewden and Liz Clayton
It was good to see Matamata’s Sonia Crawford and Lynette Morgan take out the Open event (You should check out Sonia Crawford’s masterpoint record … since hitting 90 years old, she seems to be accumulating more A points than ever and has only 45 to go before hitting Grand Master status!)
On the other side of the room, the Intermediate event was won by Anne Blewden and Liz Clayton from Cambridge.
Junior and Intermediate League Update
The Junior and Intermediate leagues have had two tournaments apiece. While Derek and Frances Rankin from Taupo won the Katikati Intermediate last weekend, they are trailing Thames duo Carol Crowfoot and Sabrina Peters in the League. In the Junior league and after a win at Matamata on the 4th May, Tauranga pair Kathy Abel and Jill Stewart share the lead with Allison Vince from Cambridge.
Rainy Day Bridge...
The Waikato Area Pairs have held another two heats since the last round-up with Herman Yuan and Yuzhong Chen winning the Thames heat while Christine and Jenna Gibbons were top in Matamata. Both events were pretty relaxed and featured awesome hospitality from the host clubs (some might argue too relaxed? But you can’t beat a cheap walk-in tournament on a rainy day out with members of the local bridge fraternity). Leading the ladder is Kathy and Ken Yule with another two heats to play.
There have been a few restricted tournaments recently and apparently kiwifruit was flowing for all the visitors at Te Puke last week. Top pair there was Bob Callcut and Linley Hay from Mt Maunganui.
Champions at Te Awamutu and Putaruru
Rochelle Van Heuven and Anna Kalma Lucie Armstrong and Joan Egger
The week previous was the Te Awamutu Restricted with Anna Kalma and Rochelle van Heuven picking up the top spot.
Another mid-week tournament was the Putaruru 8B, held with 15 tables in their very cosy clubrooms. Congratulations go to Lucie Armstrong with Joan Egger who took the win.
Lucie featured in the last Waikato Bays round up after her victory at the Waihi 8B Pairs with regular partner Rodney Harris who sadly passed away last month and will be missed by the Morrinsville and Hamilton clubs where he played his bridge.
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