Unfortunately, none of our four teams in the European Championships finished in the top eight, which is what is required to qualify for next year’s World Championships in Barbados.
The Open Team (Mark Moran, John Carroll, Tom Hanlon, Conor Boland, Adam Mesbur, Nick FitzGibbon, Gráinne Barton (NPC)), featured in the top eight well into the tournament, as high as third at one point, but fell back in the final days to finish 12th, having won 17 of their 29 matches. Our Women’s Team (Jeannie Fitzgerald (PC), Joan Kenny, Teresa Rigney, Siobhán Part, Gilda Pender, Rebecca Brown-O’Keeffe, Tommy Garvey (Coach)) had a similar fate, having been in the top eight for the first half of the event, but ending up 13th. The Senior Team (Paul Porteous, Fred Barry, Michael McAuliffe, David Dunne, Donal Garvey, Pat Quinn, Sheila Kelly (NPC)) started slowly but recovered to finish 17th, while the Mixed Team (Anna Onishuk, Karel De Raeymaeker, Zrinka Kokot, Pat McDaid, Lucy Phelan, John Phelan, Diarmuid Reddan (NPC)) did the opposite, starting brightly but likewise ending up in 17th place.
We did not come home empty-handed of course, as Tom Hanlon was inducted into the European Bridge League (EBL) Hall of Fame, and Paul Porteous was awarded the EBL Gold Medal for his extraordinary services to European bridge, as we have reported elsewhere. Congratulations once again to Tom and Paul on two fantastic achievements – a first for an Irish representative in both cases.
Congratulations also to the winning teams, three of whom had some connection, however tenuous, with Ireland. The Open Series was won by Norway, featuring Boye Brogeland, a regular contributor to the Irish Bridge Journal,. The victorious England team in the Women’s Series featured Fiona Brown, who was a regular feature at several Irish congresses a while back in partnership with Hugh McGann. The Polish team that won the Seniors Series included Krzytof Martens, who has coached the Irish Open team in the past. Poland also won the Mixed Series. Only Sweden and France managed to qualify for the World Championships in all four categories.
Next up in Riga is the European Youth Teams Championship, starting on 9 July, where we will be represented in the Under-26 category by Matthew O’Farrell, Luca Crone, Denise Walsh, Leah Finnegan, Klara Flanagan, Eve Connell, Karel De Raeymaeker (NPC). The official site for the event is here. We’re sure you’ll all join us in wishing them well.