Matamata, Te Aroha, Morrinsville Clubs

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.

Each quarter, NZ Bridge puts out a ranking report which looks at the top A & B point earners across each rank (From Gold Grand Master down to Novice).

Pleasing to see many Matamata and Te Aroha players featuring on this list ... including:

Noel Grigg: 4th ranked Life Master (male)

Anna Kalma: 5th ranked Local Master (female)

Jacob Kalma: 6th ranked Local Master (male)

Charlotte Jager: 7th equal Club Master (female)

Malcolm Kirkby: 2nd Club Master (male)

Hanna Frischknect: 10th ranked Certificate of Proficiency (female)

Well done everybody!

After playing some canny players I sometimes leave their table often with a vague feeling of being conned without understanding just quite how they pulled a fast one... or is that just me??

The best cons are those that are delivered without fanfare and only discovered once you return home and have a chance to study the hand records ...

Check out Kathy's Tips for this week around mastering declarer play which are attached!

Sonia's birthday party carries on with another celebration at the Matamata bridge club.

Sonia's Birthday at the Bridge Club: Sonia is toasted at the Matamata Bridge Club and presented with a bouquet by President, Jan Wills.

The Wednesday bridge players toasted Sonia's 90th birthday and Jan paid tribute to her long association with club and its members.

It is too early to say whether her opponents allowed her to win at the bridge table today!

addendum ... a review of todays play shows that most opponents appeared kind but a few notables weren't offering any favours to Sonia and her partner Anne Muir. They finished with a 54% scratch score and a relatively well played 3rd North South.

Malcolm Kirkby and Laurie Belfield had two very strong sessions to come third place overall at the Hamilton Restricted Tournament and top Open-Junior combination.

Laurie and Malcolm

The top three positions were very tight with less than 0.5% separating these positions. Tim Healy and Sam Armstrong from Hamilton were the eventual winners.

Also doing well were locals Anna Kalma and Charlotte Jager who were 4th and second in the Open-Junior category - just behind Malcolm and Laurie.

It was a huge field - 58 pairs which meant that the Hamilton Bridge club was being utilised to its maximum - first time in years that both rooms of the bridge club had been filled according to President Nigel Gresson

Congratulations to our local bridge doyenne, Sonia Crawford, who turned 90 last Wednesday. She celebrated at home with a steady stream of wellwishers including her family, friends, neighbours and bridge players.

Sonia Crawford

The cake was pretty amazing too! Made by her grand daughter it featured all things special about Sonia - knitting, garden, her famous shortbread and of course bridge. Sonia was particularly taken by the cake figurine overheard saying "I love how she has given me the big boobs!"

Sonia's Cake

Just like you do in attack, defensive players should take the time when dummy goes down to look at their likely tricks and make a plan of attack to get that 'setting trick' to take the contract down.

Kathy looks at defence tonight - a solid defence is the difference between a bottom board and an average one at these top tournaments (or so she keeps reminding me!!).

Her handout sheet is attached.

Look forward to seeing you tonight at 6.45pm.