Anna Kalma's blog

Tauranga hosted the Waikato Bays Congress over the anniversary weekend that drew competitors from Northland to Invercargill.

After the first day of the teams on Sunday, Kathy Yule and her team headed the field in first place from 33 teams with the top four team going into a head to head final the next day. They had a strong run with 5/6 wins from the day with their only loss being against our other locals in the Quilty Team with Lesley Quilty and Sonia Crawford teaming up with BOP pair Tom Winiata and Tom Henwood who also ended the day with 5 wins from six.

Matamata girls battle it out in the Teams final: Kathy up against Sonia and Lesley at the start of the final of the Tauranga Teams

It was a tight competition going into the final round of four with each team posting at least one loss. In the end it was the Hamilton/Auckland team Foidl (Gary Foidl, Yuzhong Chen, Hank Ping and Jeffrey Luh) who won the event with team Quilty in second and Kathy's in fourth place.

Brilliant results for our doyennes of bridge from Matamata:)

Te Aroha are fortunate to have Richard Solomon, Gold Grandmaster and NZ Bridge Development Officer, coming to Te Aroha on Friday 2nd February at 7.00pm to provide an evening of instruction and play for members and other interested persons to attend.

It is being pitched to intermediate/new open level. The topics he will be covering will include;

- splinters (how to show shortages in a slam try situation)
- cue bidding (when to do it and what does it mean?)
- bidding the opposition suit (when to do it and what does it mean?)

The room was a bit crowded last year so we will be restricting numbers this year ... and priority will be given to Te Aroha members. So let Anna know if you are keen to attend (or if you want to be put on the waiting list for non members).

Cost is free to Te Aroha members and $5 to non members.

Matamata Bridge club kicks off in the New Year with holiday bridge commencing Wednesday 11th January at 1pm .

Thursday night bridge starts on the 12th January for a 7.30pm start.

Te Aroha opens for bridge on Friday the 5th at 11.30am .

Hope you all had a great Xmas and New Years and looking forward to see you in 2018.

Matamata Bridge Club lost its Patron and a treasured member and friend with the passing of Sadie Swap on Tuesday 12th December. She has lived an incredible life and would have celebrated her 104th birthday in January.

The club extends their sympathies to David and Dale and the rest of the Swap family for their loss.

A couple of photos on file caught her at the bridge club in her latter years ... She was still a regular at the bridge club in her late 90's and was very independent driving herself around town and living in her townhouse until the last few years. Her friends agree that she was great fun and a social butterfly.

Sadie turns 100: Sadie at her 100th Birthday Party at the bridge club

Sadie hits 102: Sadie celebrates her 102nd birthday

Jacob and Sadie: Te Aroha local JAcob Kalma (14) and Sadie Swap (98) teamed up for a winning session at the recent Matamata Christmas Party.

Xmas parties are behind us as we settle in to the Holiday Season.

The AGM at Matamata will be held on Thursday 7.30 on the 14th December which includes prize giving for the year.

If you are still keen on bridge then fear not ... there are still options available - Wednesday daytime bridge continues in Matamata but starts at a new time of 1pm for the next few weeks and will restart in the New Year.

Te Aroha will continue with social bridge on Tuesday nights at 7.15pm and Friday's from 11.30am unti December 22nd and will resume in the New Year - All welcome... but keep an eye on the website for developments as it will be based on customer demand!

New Year's party?? We will let you know details on this closer to the date also.

We have pencilled in Richard Solomon to do a 'night out' in Te Aroha on Friday 2ndd February pitched to Intermediate players and will be open to Te Aroha, Matamata and Morrinsville players.

I Hope everybody is winding down and looking forward to celebrating the festive season with friends and family.

Looking forward to 2018!

Te Aroha Xmas: John wins Jim Shine Shield

Te Aroha Xmas: John wins Auckland Cup ..

Te Aroha Xmas: John wins Enid Nicho. ... yawn ... this time with Henk!

e Aroha Xmas: Saxon Cup winners ( Jan, Hermanna, Hanna & Nancy)

Te Aroha Xmas: Rochelle and Anna win the Championship pairs for the second year

Te Aroha Xmas: Best Novice - Tineka Yates!

Te Aroha Xmas: Malcolm and George - Mokena Pairs winners!

Te Aroha Xmas: Best MUMMM

The season wraps up next week with a few events:

Theme: GOLD. All the glitters isn't gold (wear something sparkly)

Wednesday 6th December bridge Xmas Party
- Plate for shared lunch
- $5.00 gift (optional)

Thursday 7th December evening bridge
- small plate for supper (suggest one person cooks, one pays)
- prizes for scratch and handicap

The AGM and prizegiving also takes place at 7.30pm on 14th December.

Attached is a notice for the events and further details on the AGM.

Congratulations to Kathy and Ken Yule who along with Ian Berrington and Fuxia Wen won the 15A National Teams in Tauranga over the weekend.

Richard Solmon from NZ Bridge has written a great summary of their success on the NZ Bridge website which is available here: http://www.nzbridge.co.nz/latest-updates,listing,3983,yuletide-comes-ear...

The format was 8 x 14 board matches over the weekend and they went into the last match with a comfortable lead ... perhaps they took it bit easier in the last round (but probably not! as they registered a loss on the last round they had done the hard yards to take the victory by 5VPs.

Kathy and Ken win the National Teams

Another local success was Noel Grigg who was part of the third place team who teamed up with heavy weights Steve Boughey, Andi Boughey and Carol Richardson.

There was also a Xmas tournament at Te Awamutu over the weekend and Lynette Morgan and Ian Bond were 3rd with Lesley Quilty and Sonia in 6th.

Well done everybody!

Okay it could have been because it was raining, but it was nice to see 6 tables being used on Friday afternoon bridge this week.

Clubrooms

Friday bridge only kicked off this year and it has had consistent support from a number of clubs including Matamata, Morrinsville and Thames. We also welcomed some old Te Aroha members back who no longer played night bridge.

You don't need to have a partner to play at Te Aroha on Fridays AND you don't have to become an associate member. We guarantee a game if you arrive by 11.25 (11.30am start). To cater for our farmers and parents we will try and get finished by 2.15pm. Lunch is grabbed during a break in the play or if we have a phantom although for some they have an early lunch.

All welcome we would love to see you!

Charlotte Jager and Victor Kooter won the last Junior Tournament of the Waikato Bay league today with two 65%+ sessions in Te Awamutu today.

Victor and Charlotte: Victor (the tall one) with Charlotte flanking Nick Cantlon, President of Te Awamutu receiving their victory cheque!

The win took Charlotte to the top of the league ladder with 38 points with Victor second with 31 (if only he hadn't missed an event due to a trip to the Netherlands!). Also on the winners circle was Malcolm Kirkby who came 4th equal.

Charlotte and Anna

Charlotte receiving her prize from Waikato Bays rep Anna Kalma ... who also had a good weekend coming 2nd at the Te Puke open tournament with Tom Henwood as her partner. Henk and Hermanna Hemmes also won a session prize at Te Puke in the morning and Noel Grigg and Jena Robinson were first in the afternoon.