Congratulations to Kelan O’Connor, who was the highest-placed Irish finisher in the recent inaugural BBO/FunBridge e-Bridge Cup. Kelan was the only Irish entrant to reach the final phase, and finished in a very creditable 69th place in a field of well-known names. The winner was Romanian international and BBO Hall of Fame #1 (so a master robot player), Silviu Iovescu. Other notables in the upper rankings included Australian international Phil Markey (2nd), Australian professional and YouTuber Pete Hollands who has produced some videos of the tournament (10th), Hungarian international Peter Talyigas (27th), and 2025 Bermuda Bowl world champion Adam Kaplan (USA, 31st). Exalted company indeed.
Other Irish players to make the semi-final phase were: Richard Boyd (151st), Russell Down (272nd), Tom Gilligan (379th), Tony Ward (439th), Ciarán Coyne (469th), and Marcin Rudzinski (492nd). More than 10,000 players took part, so getting into the top 500 is no mean feat.
Congratulations also to Diarmuid Reddan and John Phelan who achieved Grade A in the WBF/EBL TD exam in Warsaw, Poland, last weekend, elevating both of them to International Tournament Director status. This is a great achievement for them personally, for their clubs, for Munster, for Ireland, and for their mentor Fearghal O’Boyle. Another reminder of just how lucky the Irish bridge community is to have such skilled and dedicated TDs running our competitions. Diarmuid and John are pictured below being presented with their certificates by Chief Examiners Maurizio de Sacco and Dimitris Ballas.
Finally, a reminder from our Women’s Bridge Co-Ordinator, Joan Kenny, that the next session of the very popular EBL Online Women’s Coaching programme will take place on Thursday 18 December at 6:30 p.m. Irish time. The guest coach is French multiple world champion Philippe Cronier. Aside from his playing record, Philippe’s coaching credentials are beyond question, having worked as the head of the teaching programme at the French Bridge Federation for twenty years. There is no charge for this coaching, but participants must book their place via Joan Kenny.