The virtual national teams championships were held online on BBO and RealBridge on 24-25 April, with qualification based as far as possible on the in-person qualifying events held in 2019.
All three events went down to the wire. In the Kelburne Cup (Open) the ultimate winners led most of the way, and by a comfortable margin at one stage, but had to survive a final-round defeat to the eventual runners-up (also the runners-up in the last year in which the event was held, so special commiserations to them) and a time penalty incurred in the penultimate round, to hang on by just 2 victory points in the end. The margin of victory was the same in the Bankers Trophy (Intermediate A), where the leaders likewise led for most of the way, and were able to survive a final round defeat when their closest challengers also lost their last match. In the Tierney Trophy (Intermediate B), on the other hand, the winners came from well down the field with a storming final session to overtake six other teams, inflicting a decisive defeat on the long-time leaders, who finished as runners-up, along the way to emerge victorious by 3 victory points. A winning margin of 3 victory points or less in all three competitions after fifteen rounds, and ninety boards, speaks for a very competitive weekend’s bridge. Well done to all those who took part.
Kelburne Cup (Open):
- 1st BJ O’Brien, Karel De Raeymaeker, Brid Kemple, Terry Walsh (Dublin South)
- 2nd Paul Delaney, Martin Brady, Tomas Roche, David Dunne (Previous Year Runners-Up)
- 3rd David Coyne, Paul Barrett, Pat Quinn, Diarmuid Reddan, Louise Mitchell (North Munster)
- 4th Sean Galligan, Brid Galligan, Elizabeth O’Reilly, Helen O’Reilly, Olive Kilbane (North Midland)
Bankers Trophy (Intermediate A):
- 1st Martin T O’Brien, Dave Doherty, Martin J O’Brien, Mary Moriarty (North Eastern)
- 2nd Veronica Miller, Marie Dalton, Liz Sherlock, Colm McDonald (Dublin North)
- 3rd Rose Burke, Liz Chambers, Mary Breen, Ria Malone (Dublin North)
- 4th Pat Dempsey, Melanie Hill, Elaine Doyle, Brendan O’Donnell (South Midland)
Tierney Trophy (Intermediate B):
- 1st Anna Frances Murphy, Kathleen Ingoldsby, Tom Flood, Gavin Doyle (Dublin South)
- 2nd Kathleen Martin, Winnie Brooke, Mark Adams, Margaret Breen (South Eastern)
- 3rd Michael Doherty, Claire Ryan, Mary Murphy-Doyle, Clare Jones (South Munster)
- 4th Kathryn Ryan, Frances Donnelly, Jacinta Maxwell, Niamh Friel (Eastern)
Dublin South won the Marie Cummins Trophy for the best overall performance by a region over the weekend. Our thanks to the team of Fearghal O’Boyle and Mairead Basquille, ably assisted on this occasion by John Phelan, for directing all three events with their usual calm efficiency, and managing the dual-platform arrangement without a hitch.