Matamata, Te Aroha, Morrinsville Clubs

Last Friday a simultaneous pairs event was held around the country and 363 pairs took part. At the Matamata club 8 tables competed raising $310 towards the Youth trip to Turkey.

The overall winner was Jeff Miller and David Green from Otago who made 74% and the top Matamata pairing were Ann Ring and Sonia Crawford who finished 23 with 61%.

Sonia and Ann: File photo: Sonia Crawford and Ann Ring hamming it up for the camera

On a lighter note, an amusing tale of how bidding can go horribly wrong (with some help from other substances) which features our very own teacher Jane Stearns taking part in the Youth Fundraiser in Cambridge on the same night...the story can be accessed by clicking on the link: http://www.cambridge.bridge-club.org/node/512

Well the results have yet to be ratified ... but it does appear that unofficially Elaine Saywell and Coral Daisley have triumphed in the Mokena Pairs and will take the silverware back to Matamata ahead of Greg Saxon and George Sherrell. Congratulations to Elaine and Coral.

For anybody looking for the results ... for some reason my home computer which I'm in the process of restoring after a bit of a meltdown last week is sending the results to the Matamata site ... hopefully will get it fixed after a strong coffee and some sleep - but for the time being check out the latest results under Matamata:)

Also on the subject of competition winners ... a huge congratulations to George Sherrell for winning the Jim Shine Individual which finished last week. It is the first time it has been played for several years so it is nice to see the trophies back in circulation.

Have you tried out this website? It is invaluable to students learning the game. All of the hands played at lessons are available to bid and play online at this site. For more experienced players, you are able to play hands of bridge to hone your skills. Step by step instructions on how to access the lesson deals are attached below. The website for SkyBridge is: http://www.skybridgeclub.com/

Congratulations to the competition winners from Matamata.
Nola Barron was successful in winning the Norm Beecham trophy on Thursday night.

Nola Barron

A handicap competition played over 6 nights with the top 5 scores counting and Nola gained an impressive average of over 60%. In second place was Joanne Swanwick and in third place Helen Reid

Also a few weeks ago saw the conclusion of the Edie Schwartz competition which was won by Hermanna Hemmes followed closely by Anne Beetham and Rita Van Den Einden

Hermanna

Congratulations Ladies!!!

Matamata hosted a Junior Tournament in the weekend with 13 full tables with representatives from as far afield as Auckland down to Taupo taking part.

Melanie Trevethick and Malcolm Hill from Cambridge were the eventual winners with two great sessions to finish with an average of slightly over 60%. Just behind were the top Matamata pairing of Barbara Keys and Raewyn Richards with consistently strong performances through the day. Geoff Wane and Anne Clark from Mt Maunganui were third.

Full results can be accessed here
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Thanks to the sponsors Property Broker and Sonia Crawford for donating wine as prizes.

Congratulations to our very own ANNA KALMA. In the quarterly Baden Wilson list just published Anna features as the joint 4th highest female Club Master in the entire country.

Anna
Well done Anna!

Matamata Club will be hosting a fundraiser for the New Zealand Youth Team on Friday 9th May at 7.30pm. It should be a fun night and the opportunity to score across the rest of New Zealand with a rare chance to win A points at club level.

The event will be a simultaneous scoring event (bit like NZ wide Babich Pairs) with the hands being duplicated across the country and scored across the nationwide field at which point

Masterpoints will be awarded as follows:

 Winners at Club Level 1 A Point

 Winners at Regional Level A Points for the top 5 pairs (5,4,3,2,1)

An entry fee of $10.00 per player is payable to NZ Bridge.

Further details about the event is attached. Grab a partner and sign up on the sheet at the clubrooms or register via anna_kalma@hotmail.com (ph 07 8873 686)

Thames hosted Te Aroha in the second session of the interclub. Another great night of bridge across 9 full tables. Again the honours were split across Te Aroha and Thames with Hermanna Hemmes and Joan Darby Smith taking the North by storm with 61.57% marginally more than Jena Robinson & John Peppiatt who won East with 61.37%.

After two nights, the leaders are Jena and John, followed by Leonie Sentch and Pam Buchanan (Thames) and in third place Tim Rigter & Anna Kalma (Te Aroha).

The night will be remembered for good fare, friendly atmosphere and board 21...A rare opportunity to bid and play a 7NT hand. Congrats to Denise and Allan Barclay and Joan Flynn & Sabrina Peters who did just that!

Looking forward to the series decider later in the year.

Lessons begin on Tuesday 29 April. Jane Stearns is tutoring them and needs students to teach! The Matamata Bridge Club needs an injection of new members and Jane is appealing to every member of the Matamata Club to bring one new member to her lessons. A list is now present in the clubrooms for everyone to sign up their student that they are bringing to lessons, together with their phone number so Jane can contact them in advance of lessons. Please sign up a new member today. If you have been remiss in not teaching your children to play bridge ... now is the time for emotional blackmail to correct this! Lessons will be on Tuesdays 7pm to 9pm. Jane will need some helpers at lessons. If you would be willing to assist by giving an hour of your time please let Jane know by emailing her: janelawrence50@hotmail.com

A workshop for directors, a new NZCBA board and some great new initiatives from the Waikato Bays team ...

Read all about it in the latest edition of the New Zealand e-Newsletter which is available by clicking here

You can subscribe to the the monthly newsletter by registering your details at the New Zealand Contract Bridge website