Anna Kalma's blog

Our Patron Sadie Swap celebrated her 102nd birthday last Friday the 29th January. Sadie received many visitors during the day and Jan was among the many well -wishers wishing her a very happy birthday behalf of the members of the bridge club. A family dinner on Friday evening rounded off the special day.

Sadie hits 102: Sadie celebrates her 102nd birthday

Fifteen pairs ventured to Matamata from as far afield as Whakatane in the East, Taupo from the South, Te Aroha from the North and Hamilton from the West. Congratulations to Tim Torr and Suzanne Lugton from Tauranga that took the overall title.

Novice tournament: Winners Suzanne and Tim

The first session saw some exceptional scores with top North South pair Charlotte Jager and Mark Kooter putting in a convincing performance to lead at the lunch break with an outstanding 72% over the top East West duo Tim Torr and Suzanne Lugton from Tauranga who scored a solid 59%.

Novice 2nd place: Charlotte and Mark

The second the roles were reversed with Tim and Suzanne achieving a 71% score and taking the overall title with Mark and Charlotte from Te Aroha second and Karen Harper and Carissa Oliver third..

Some very good bidding by two pairs in session 1- saw them receive a chocolate egg in the first session - Karen Harper and Carissa Oliver and Robyn Gee and Linda Fawcett who both had a strong morning to finish with 62% and 60% respectively. Both of these pairs managed to bid 6 spades on the following board.

Board 11 from the morning session DLR S VUL none:

	98 J96 A985 T876
654 T732 T43 AQ5		T2 Q854 2 KJ9432
	AKQJ73 AK KQJ76

Novice Tournament in Matamata: novice at Matamata

Novice Tournament: novice at Matamata

Jacob and Greg

Jacob started the year off well with a good win at the Thames Festival in the multigrade 8B pairs. Jacob played with Thames local Greg Davenport and despite them never playing together won after having a stellar first session score of 64%. Not so good in the afternoon but they scored enough to hold onto first place.

Charlotte Jager and her partner Anne Leighton also had a strong morning to score 62% in the first session to claim a session prize.

Hermanna is organising her annual New Years Eve Bridge Party at the Matamata Bridge Club starting at 7.30pm on Thursday 31 December.

Entry is open to anybody ... you don't need a partner but please contact her on 07 8873 781 to confirm your entry. We need to know who is coming to ensure the right amount of tables...

The agenda is friendly bridge, some celebratory drinks and supper to hopefully see in the New Years.

Otherwise Holiday Bridge kicks off on Wednesday 6th January at 10.30am

Good food, fine wine and some bridge: Ari and Peter look like they enjoyed it

Saxon Team winners: Winners of the inaugural Saxon Teams event - Matamata consisting of Ian Bond, Lesley Quilty, Sonia Crawford and Lynette Morgan

Laurie and Pamela: Laurie and Pamela winning Mokena Championship with Laurie also taking out the Auckland Cup

Malcolm wins some trophies: New kid on the block, Malcolm Kirkby won most promising and the Te Aroha handicap cup.

Commemorating Greg and Francie Saxon: Anna introduces Anne Pouwels (nee Saxon) who presented the Saxon cup in memory of her family's long association with the Te Aroha bridge club.

Christmas Dinner: The clubrooms were rocking last Tuesday night:)

sorry everybody - it looks like I went over my 1 Gig data allowance and didn't post the results online BUT they were posted on xclub ....

Hopefully you all had a good night:) Congrats Judith & Anne .. and Lesley and Sonia the burglars from Matamata that taught us all a lesson in playing good bridge.

Cheers
Anna

It is great to see several players recently received their Certificate of Proficiency.

cert of proficiency: Shirley

Congratulations to Shirley Townsend who was on hand to receive her certificate last week, but also good to see Mark Kooter and Foster Kalma have also reached the first rank on the NZ Bridge rungs.

The ranks relate to the amount of A or B points earned in either club play or tournaments. A full explanation about what the ranks mean and how to achieve them can be accessed via the NZ Bridge website: http://www.nzcba.co.nz/master-points-explained.html

Cambridge are hosting another round of Jane Stearn's nesting pairs programme starting 6th March and running fortnightly on a Sunday evening until the end of May.

nesting pairs
The programme is designed for a pair at good junior/intermediate level to take their partnership to the next level.

The programme will be run from the Cambridge club, costs $30 for the entire course and Jane invites anybody keen to contact her to discuss suitability on janelawrence50@hotmail.com.

Further details on the programme are in the attached flyer or on the Cambridge website (www.cambridge.bridge-club.org).

The Morrinsville Club are hosting a heat of the Babich NZ Wide Pairs at their clubrooms on Friday November 6th starting at 7.30pm. Cost is $10 and will include a delicious supper.

The event is unique in that there are approximately 55 clubs from around NZ that take part and players can win A points on a local, regional and NZ basis once their scores are collated.

Another great feature is a booklet that is provided regarding the hands following the event.

Full details are in the attached poster. Note you should register directly with Morrinsville on morrbridge@xtra.co.nz.

Matamata Bridge Club is holding a Melbourne Cup afternoon on Tuesday 3rd November.

Start time 12.30pm

Play Bridge 1.15 - 4.30pm

4.30 nibbles and wine

$5 table money

Best hat competition

$2 sweep stakes

Attached is the flyer ... EVERYONE WELCOME!!