Many congratulations to Deirdre O’Halloran of Galway, playing under the BBO username Madra1, who won the 32nd WBF Women’s Online Bridge Festival over the weekend. A strong final sprint saw Deirdre surge to the top of the table, seeing off more than 1,000 competitors from all over the world, including 35 other Irish players. As overall winner, Deirdre receives free entry for herself and a partner of her choice to the Women’s Pairs Championship at the WBF World Bridge Series 2026, to be held in Katowice, Poland, as well as European masterpoints.
Although this is not strictly a world championship, we reckon Deirdre’s prowess in such a large and strong field deserves to be recognised as such. She thus becomes only the third Irish person to win a world championship, following on from Pat McDevitt from Co Donegal, who won a World Seniors title in 2010, and Adam “Plum” Meredith from Co Down, who won the Bermuda Bowl as part of the Great Britain team in 1955.
We’re sure you’ll join us in congratulating Deirdre on this fantastic achievement. All details about the Festival and prizes are available here: https://news.bridgebase.com/womens-online-festival-prizes/
The next edition of the WBF Women’s Online Festival on BBO will take place 9–15 November 2026.