Blogs

Fourth round of the WAP today and many of the leading pairs were notable in their absence which opened the competition up for the trailing bunch.

Cambridge duo Herman Yuan and Kevin Whyte stepped in for each other - making a double sub for missing Michael Neels and Claire Coles respectively. The second time playing together proved fruitful with the pair picking up two session wins and the a comfortable win with an average score of 62%. This also propels Kevin Whyte and his usual partner Clare Coles into the top spot on the WAP ladder after 4 sessions.

Kevin and Herman

Thank you to Herman who provided some commentary looking at board 23 in the second session ... go to the Waikato Bays site for more information. http://www.waikatobays.bridge-club.org/wap_comment

While Herman might not have missed Michael Neels today ... we in the administrative side of the WAP team are starting to find his month long absence a bit trying and hence you might not find all the things that should be in the right place ... not in the right place. Hopefully these will be sorted on his return:)

Alan and Malcolm
Second place were Alan Parkes and Malcolm Smith who had a great morning and a pretty good afternoon (note to Alison - I did try to tidy his sweatshirt up before the photo).

MAry and Olive
Third place was Waikato's Olive Ronke and Mary Davis who are also third placed on the overall league. They also caused a bit of excitement by appealing a director's ruling and instigating an appeals committee at the close of play. A first for the WAP in recent history at least.

Peter and Malcolm

Finally well done to Junior Duo from Te Aroha/Matamata who were the top non-open pair who had a great day out:)

Been some great results by locals over the past week.

Anna Kalma and Lesley Quilty combined to take first place in the Putaruru 8B tournament last Thursday. It was a Matamata one-two with Ian Bond and Lynette Morgan coming in second place. Also featuring in the session prizes was Rochelle van Heuven and Ross Stewart for their morning performance and Sonia Crawford and Dale Swap briefly got to hold a bottle of wine each for their morning performance before getting it whipped away with a whoopsie sorry should have been somebody else!

Then on Saturday Hermanna Hemmes and Peter Daffurnwere 6th overall and took out best Open-Junior prize at the Te Awamutu restricted.

Then to top the weekend off; Rochelle van Heuven and Tim Rigter won the Katikati Intermediate tournament on Sunday with a combined average of 63% over the two sessions. Rochelle was a concerned about the amount of bridge she has played over the past week which had her husband querying her family commitment but luckily she got a pass to play bridge on the Sunday!

No photos appear to be forthcoming yet...

Get your team together for the Joanne Prevett Travel Teams Event
which takes place at the Matamata Bridge Club over three Thursdays; June 1st 8th & 15th

Choose your own team name.
(Small prize for the most original)

Optional Dress up on final night.
(small prize for best team outfit)

Sign up at the bridge club

Spain: here is some inspiration for dressing up ..

The three night Quilty Trays concluded this week which was interesting or special in that;
a) It was conducted using a triangle format which allowed for 7 teams to participate;
b) teams from Morrinsville, Hamilton, Te Aroha and Tokoroa took part which keeps things interesting and it is always nice to have new faces.
c) very nice suppers which were conducted midway between the two sessions of 12 boards each night.

Winners of the Quilty Tray 2017

Being the gracious hosts Matamata (or specifically the Crawford team of Dale Swap, Sonia Crawford, Kathy and Ken Yule) allowed the Hamilton team pictured from left to right: Malcolm Smith, Ian Clayton, Alison Smith and Jeffrey Chang to take the victory (albeit deservedly) after 5 solid wins out of 6.

Thanks to Holloway Harris (Hermanna's Accountants) for sponsoring the event.

On Tuesday last week, several pairs from Matamata went along to the annual Hamilton Ladies tournament - visitors are always well looked after with lunch, atmosphere and pretty competitive bridge across several divisions.

Lesley and Kathy had two great sessions coming in top of the 3A event against a field that included a pretty decent contingent from Waikato, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.

Lesley and Kathy

Here is Nigel Gresson president of Hamilton enjoying his role flanked by the various division winners including our Lesley and Kathy.

Well done Ladies!

Matamata hosted a 3B Junior Tournament on the weekend and great to see Te Aroha pair Charlotte Jager and Victor Kooter win after two good sessions.Victor and Charlotte: From L-R Victor, Charlotte along with sponsor Joanne Morgan

In second place were Ross and Susan Provan of Putaruru.

Ross and Susan Provan: Ross and Susan with sponsor Joanne Morgan

Best of the Matamata entrants and enjoying a bottle of Kim Crawford wines were Jill Ireland and Malcolm Kirkby who came home in 5th place.

Jill and Malcolm

It was a rare occurrence to end up with a tied result at today's WAP in Te Aroha.

WAP Te Aroha: Jenna Gibbons, with Linda Lin and Richard Fletcher

Eventual winners were Jenna & Christine Gibbons along with Richard Fletcher and Linda Lin both on 127.20% after two sessions. Richard and Linda can thank two solid performances for their top billing whilst the Gibbons can thank a stonking afternoon session of 72% for their efforts.

Wap Te Aroha

Third were Clare Coles and Kevin Whyte from Cambridge who also had a great morning result of 69%

Wap Te Aroha

Top non-open were Willy Ryder and Graeme Farrow who had two 50+ scores to cement their place on the overall leader board for top non open players.

A nice quiet day was planned at the Matamata bridge club without distractions for Lesley and I to take on Putaruru pair, Susan and Ross Provan, for our round of Rubber Bridge which is part of the Waikato heat of the Dan Gifford Pairs.

Lesley phone ahead to ensure the clubrooms wasn't being used and we were all sorted for a pleasant afternoon of bridge...then the bikes started arriving. Hundred's of them circling the bridge club - apparently a road trip raising money for the RSA - worthy cause but not perhaps the best environment to play bridge in.

Bikes

Bikes

There are a few local tournaments happening over the next month that need support from local players;

Waikato Area Pairs (heat 3)
Sunday April 30th - Te Aroha Clubrooms @ 10am
Normally a walk-in, this event requires pre-entry via the Waikato bays website due to limited space (http://www.waikatobays.bridge-club.org/entries)
Event costs just $10 but you need to BYO lunch.
Hurry this event is filling up with only a few spot left

Matamata Junior Tournament
Saturday 6th May @ 10am start
Enter on the tournament tab on this website (under Programmes)
Calling all juniors to participate and be part of the Waikato Bays Junior League
Cost just $15 but you need to BYO lunch.

Waikato Area Pairs (heat 4)
Sunday 28th May - Matamata clubrooms @ 10am
This will remain a walk-in event (ie no need to pre-register)
Event costs just $10 but you need to BYO lunch.

Cyclone Cook has forced cancellation of bridge at Matamata tonight.

The President's Trophy competition will now be played over 5 nights of competition with the final result being based on the best 4 scores out of 5.

Stay safe and keep rugged up at home.

Due to Easter, bridge at Te Aroha on Friday afternoon is also cancelled.