Matamata, Te Aroha, Morrinsville Clubs

Five tables battled it out at Hamilton Bridge Club this afternoon in Mini Moos 3. The results are below. The hand record and Nick's comments on the boards are attached in pdf format. Dates for your diary: Mini Moos 4 at Te Awamutu Sunday 13 October. Final Mini Moos 5 - Bridge in the Garden at Te Aroha with Pimms and Strawberries Sunday 3 November.

Without even having to play the third round, the results have changed with a new leading team!

Appears that my manual input of scores created some IMP anomalies which once sorted out have seen the Four Fillins (aka Ian MArtindale, Nelson Hodgetts, Betty McLaren and Foster Kalma) rocketing to the lead.

Mind you, this is before handicaps are applied ... once we have figured out a fair handicap for our visiting team, we may see a tighter contest ensuing.

Looking forward to Tuesday night.

Congratulations to GREG SAXON and LESLEY SHEEHAN for their amazing performance in Thames today. They won the Open playing with a Junior section finishing top N/S in the morning with a handsome 60.82% and following it up in the afternoon with a steady 52.68. This was enough to give them third place in the competition overall. Following close on their heels were HERMANNA and ANNA KALMA who were 2nd in the Open with Junior class, and finishing 4th overall with a very good and consistent performance of over 55% in each session.
With Henk and Hermanna's win yesterday this weekend has been an amazing success for Te Aroha. CONGRATULATIONS!

Yes, you read it here first ... HENK and HERMANNA beat the Number 1 Internationals for NZ at Hamilton today. In Round 2 Henk and Hermanna were on fire. Michael Ware (one of the real good guys in bridge) and Geo Tislevoll (how do we pronounce his first name?) always the first pick by NZ for international bridge were no match for Te Aroha's Henk and Hermanna. Board 22 in their set was pivotal. With only 6C available at slam level, the NZ team found their way to 6H. The key lead of a club enabled a further club for a ruff and there it was ... the best players in NZ up the proverbial creek with no paddle. A massive 13IMP swing as Henk and Hermanna eased to a career highlight of 17-13 win against two of the greats in the game. The rest of their day did not go quite so well ... but the day they beat the two top international players of NZ will be talked about for years to come at the Te Aroha Club. WELL PLAYED Henk and Hermanna!

A bit of a late finish ... but awesome work to get through 24 boards tonight. Would have been earlier if we hadn't attempted to play last week's boards first.

Congratulations to Tim Rigter who won the Individual 3 night handicap followed by Greg Saxon and Rochelle van Heuven.

Looking forward to the TEAMS next week. This is a great event where we partner with each member of the team and play directly against an opposing team (rather than play against every other pair in the room like a normal weekly session).

Remember the theme is F ... stands for fantastic, fun and flawless (ha ha) bridge playing.

Results are now up ... albeit there are a few handicaps that will require updating.

will fix after next week's session.

A great afternoon of bridge at Moos 2, this time hosted by the Cambridge Bridge Club. Competitors from 4 clubs took part in a relaxed playing and learning environment.

Congratulations to Te Aroha's dynamic duo Jillian and Rochelle who did the double and won their second Moos title in a row. Showing us how they have honed their skills since Moos 1 were Richard and Anne from Te Awamutu who took the runners up place. A scratch pairing from Cambridge, Margaret and Peter, just missed out on the runner up spot.

Here are some photos of the Mini Moos in action!

Moos in action 1
Moos in action 2
Moos 2 Winners with their proud tutor
Moos 2 Runners Up

Congratulations to all our competitors and it was great to see so many Cambridge players on board. See the full results below.

That Novice tournament in Matamata is Sunday 22 September so keep that date in your diary and be sure to take part if you can.

Moos Noos will be out soon with details of the next Moos event later on in October. In the meantime - if you enjoyed today - please tell your fellow beginners what fun the Moos series is and try and persuade them to join in next time around.

MINI MOOS 2 HELD AT CAMBRIDGE BRIDGE CLUB
Sunday 25 August 2013

RESULTS (IMPS)
Place Pair Club IMPS
1. Rochelle and Jillian Te Aroha 106
2. Richard and Anne Te Awamutu 98
3. Peter and Margaret Cambridge 97
4. Marie and Rae Cambridge 90
5. Mary and Nicola Cambridge 87
6. Sue and Ricci Cambridge 85
6. Charlie and Gerry Morrinsville 85
8. Victor and Philip Te Aroha 82
9. Mary and Anna Morr/Camb 74
10. Moshe and Marcienne Te Awamutu 71
11. Denise and Jo Morrinsville 50

Impressive number of hits to the Te Aroha website last month ...

Month Hits
January 37
February 300
March 597
April 571
May 665
June 179
July 1846

No doubt driven by holding the Spa Teams event in mid July but the website editors (ie me and Jane) also take heart that people are logging in regularly to check out the latest news and pics.

Three teams from Te Aroha played in the inaugural Cambridge Sixes event today. 24 teams of 6 took part in a packed playing room. Coming 6th in their junior section were Anna and Guy Kalma. Winner of the best T-shirt competition was Jane Stearns with the Brit Babes. No podium finish but a lot of fun as you can see from the photos.
Te Aroha Diamonds plus 1 Brit Babe
The Bitzers have 2 Cambridge midwives keeping them in order!
Mr President and Jane
Bitzers rear view
Tim and George having well earned cup of tea
Anna top placed pair for Te Aroha - 6th in juniors with Guy
Guy on fighting form
Greg studying the form
Arthur and Beth Mann - our intrepid duo starring in the Te Aroha Intermediate Top Teams event
Brit Babes winners of best T shirt
Brit Babes finished 11th - costumes did not distract enough!
Tim Jane and George - Team Bitzers with their "Bit"

The Mini Moos newsletter is out - see our dynamic duo Jillian and Rochelle on the front page and our stunning Class of 2013 inside. Next Mini Moos Sunday 25 August - register with Jane if you would like to take part.