Matamata, Te Aroha, Morrinsville Clubs

A great day was had by 26 pairs last Sunday at the Matamata Intermediate - and penultimate round on the Waikato Bays Intermediate League. Nice to see Ed Roggeveen back from overseas with his affable directing style.

Eventual winners Rosalind Phillips (Tauranga) and Garth Robinson (Taupo) were late entries but proved that their trip to Matamata was worthwhile, after they put in two excellent sessions to win honours on the day with an average score of 59%. Cambridge duo Margaret Fitzgerald and Ayako Imahashi were second and Bunny Cox and Richard Knight from Te Awamutu took the third place slot.

Top Matamata pair Laurie Belfield and George Sherrell just missed out on a podium place finishing in 4th place.

The win has cemented Rosalind as the leader of the Intermediate league this year with just one Intermediate Tournament to come in Cambridge on the 1st November. However, there are a few close behind. The league can be accessed on the http://www.waikatobays.bridge-club.org website.

Te Aroha club hosted their annual team events and some pictures of the final night of the teams are below (theme was the letter L). We were supported by the Matamata club who sent two teams to compete and who not only got in the spirit on the final night dressing up but also were the winning two teams at the end of the three night competition.

Te Aroha Teams

Te Aroha Teams: lumberjacks

Te Aroha Teams: Lords and Ladies from Matamata

Te Aroha Teams: lollipop men (poor effort guys!)

Te Aroha Teams: Matamata selection

Te Aroha Teams: lightning

Te Aroha Teams: Learners

Te Aroha Teams: Lemonheads

Te Aroha Teams: Lab technicians

Te Aroha Teams: Local lovelies

Jane has filmed her Rejuvenating a Bridge Club seminar that has been presented at Regional Conferences throughout NZ at the request of NZ Bridge. The last 3 mins of Bloopers are worth a view for a laugh. Click here to view the video.

Jane is currently filming the Beginners' Lessons so that teachers and students will have an aid in 2016. Those students who miss a lesson or those who want to repeat a lesson or go through some of the topics covered again in their own time will be able to catch up via YouTube. Some beginners from Te Aroha this year have been helping in this project by viewing clips and giving feedback to help with editing and production.

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Greg Saxon, President of the Te Aroha Bridge Club.

Greg's funeral will be held on Tuesday 22nd September at 1.30pm at St David's church in Te Aroha (32 Church Street) followed by internment at the Te Aroha cemetary.

Greg Saxon
Greg loved his bridge and loved the Te Aroha Bridge Club. He played both club and tournament bridge, many times with his mother, a former stalwart at the club, as well as his friends there. There was always much hilarity at the table in tournaments when Greg pitched up with his partners in crime Tim Rigter, George Sherrell and Ross Stewart. He was proud to be involved in the Waikato Bays Interclub event and he was very much involved in the rejuvenation of the club through 2013, voicing many times his happiness at seeing the club he loved return to life. His name appears repeatedly on the clubroom honour boards and he will long be remembered there. Greg suffered a stroke just over a week ago. He passed away in the early hours of Wednesday 16 September, aged just 60. Funeral arrangements to be advised.
Greg and the Rainbow Warriors 2014
Greg and the Men In Black 2015

The Waikato Bays region has a new website and it is well worth a browse and bookmarking on your computer so you can regularly access information about what is happening in your region.

http://www.waikatobays.bridge-club.org/

Michael Neels from Cambridge has been busy developing the site which has replaced the old website.

While the site is an evolving project, it currently hosts all local tournament information, regional results, commentary and club contacts for the region.

We look forward to feedback and ideas from all those in our bridge community.

Club members have had some success at tournaments played over the past week.

Lynette Morgan and Lesley Quilty combined at the Tauranga Ladies tournament on Wednesday to put in two great performances to take home second overall with an average of 61% across two sessions.

And at the 5A Open Tournament in Hamilton on Saturday against a field of crack shot bridge players, local players featured in each of the three sessions. Session prizes were won by Lesley Quilty and Heather Kneebone in the first session, followed by Hermanna Hemmes and Anna Kalma in the second session and Lynette Morgan and Ian Bond in the final session meaning all the Matamata players went home with an envelope:)

Richard Solomon and Christine Richardson from Auckland were overall winners of the Open, while Graeme Saunders and John Little from Waikato won the Intermediate section.

AND then to top the weekend off Michelle Liddle & Beth Vosper competed at the junior restricted tournament in Cambridge on Sunday afternoon and came first North/South with a very impressive score of 66%. This tournament was well attended with 15 tables of afternoon bridge.

News and commentary on the day with photos of the winners can be found on the WAP 2015 Results and Commentary tab above.

The Citizens Advice Bureau will receive a nice donation thanks to the generosity of the visitors and locals who supported the raffle and “White Elephant” auction on Benefit Night.

Unfortunately the set up for scoring didn't quite go to plan so competitive bridge became social bridge and winning a prize depended entirely on luck. Many thanks must go to the visitors from Morrinsville, Putaruru and TeAroha who took the situation in good humour and enjoyed the delicious supper and willingly supported the auction.

The Waihou Shield is the coveted trophy for the interclub teams competition between Matamata and Putaruru. Putaruru have dominated the competition in the past but this year Matamata were convincing winners. Four junior/intermediate teams from each club competes in this afternoon of bridge which has become an annual event.

The Putaruru pairing of Eileen Barker and Ann Berben were the top pair on the day but the more consistent scoring by the Matamata teams gave them enough points to take the trophy.

The highest scoring team for Matamata were June Thomson, Jim Anelay, Tony Pearson and Stella Macilquham.

Waihou Trophy victors: Stella proudly displays the Waihou Shield in front of some of the Matamata contingent.

Congratulations to June Zhu and Malcolm Kirkby who came out joint winners at the first in the Mini Moos series hosted in Morrinsville today. June kindly donated her prize to a beginner from lessons this year. Both Malcolm and June scored 100 IMPS in the 12 board relaxed social session. Many congratulations to them both. 43 beginners or players new to the game without a Certificate of Proficiency took part. They came from all around the Waikato region.