NSW sweeps Aus mixed team playoffs
Four NSW players swept the Australian Mixed Teams playoffs in Canberra this week and will go on to represent Australia in 2025.
Liz Sylvester, Peter Gill, Arlene Dalley and Michael Courtney – all New South Wales players – came from behind in the eighth and final stanza to beat the Lazer team by 4.9 IMPs.
On paper the Lazer team, which included all time greats of the game Warren Lazer and Pauline Gumby – were most likely to take out the trophy. Other team members included Giselle Mundell and Andrew Peake – who are both having breakout performances in 2024 with national rankings of 22nd and 26th for the year – as well as Christy Geromboux (163rd for 2024) and Sebastian Yuen.
However, the Slyvester team triumphed with its own superstars of the game, with Peter Gill an Emerald Grand ranked 3rd on the all time list just behind Warren Lazer, and Michael Courtney and Arlene Dalley both chalking up serious masterpoints in 2024 to reach rankings of 11th and 43rd respectively.
The four NSW-based Sylvester players have booked their seats at the 2025 World National Teams Championship in Herning, Denmark on 20-31 August.
We wish them the best of luck! We will report on their efforts here on the Bridge NSW website and on our Facebook page.
State Youth Champs won by 15 year olds
The second annual State Youth Champs Team event took place in Sydney over the weekend, with participants ranging in age from 10 to 29.
The teams event on the Sunday saw the wining team reach 69 VPs with an average age of 15. Seven newcomers joined the teams day, bringing the total newcomers across the weekend to fifteen.
A pairs event was held on the Saturday with five new players joining and two of them achieving a remarkable second place. You can view the full results here.
Bridge NSW Executive Officer, David Havyatt, slotted in last minute as director and was effortlessly reliable, as always.
All participants who didn’t secure a win were awarded book vouchers or a handcrafted crochet item made by one of the players’ mothers.
The NSW State Youth Champs were held at the Sydney Bridge Centre in Surry Hills. The SBC will be the location for next year’s championships in December.
State Novice and Restricted Teams Championship
Eighteen teams contested the State Novice and Restricted Teams hosted by the Illawarra Bridge Association on 9-10 November. Wth an odd number of entries in each field it was played as one round robin of 17 six board matches. One benefit of having the event played as one field is that a Novice Team can win the Restricted Championship.
The team of Ngaire Meehan, Bevan Clouston, Cath Gregory and Lucy Cowen (pictured with organiser Jillian MacRae) from Illawarra did just that. Bevan and Cath came to the club’s beginner class early this year. We hope to hear more from this team in future events.
State Mixed Pairs Championships
State Mixed Pairs Winners – Sherlock Shao and Catherine Zhang
State Mixed Pairs Best Country Pair – Alan Bustany and Di Coats
State Mixed Pairs Runners Up – Jeanette Reitzer and Terry Brown
State Mixed Pairs 3rd – Michael Courtney and Joan Butts
Autumn Swiss Pairs Winners – George Fleischer and Lorna Ichilcik
This is text
2024 ANC Seniors Team
2024 Seniors ITS Winners – Peter Buchen, Bruce Neill, Joan Butts, Pauline Gumby, Michael Courtney and Warren Lazer
Subject to ratification the team to represent NSW at the ANC Seniors Teams in Orange in July will be:
Joan Butts – Michael Courtney
Peter Buchen – Bruce Neill
Pauline Gumby – Warren Lazer
2024 ANC Women’s Team
2024 Women’s ITS Winners – Marcia Scudder, Judy Mott, Sybil Hurwitz, Monica Ginsberg, Ella Jacob and Louise Leibowitz
Subject to ratification the team to represent NSW at the ANC Women’s Teams in Orange in July will be:
Sybil Hurwitz, Monica Ginsberg
Marcia Scudder – Judy Mott
Louise Leibowitz – Ella Jacob
2024 ANC Youth Team
2024 Youth ITS Team – Sherry Wang, Shannon Ooi, Yiwei Qi, Adrian Le, Duncan Lai and Aadhi Hariharan
Subject to ratification the team to represent NSW at the ANC Youth Teams in Orange in July will be:
Yiwei Qi – Adrian Le
Sherry Wang – Shannon Ooi
Duncan Lai – Aadhi Hariharan
2024 ANC Open Team
2024 Open ITS Winners – (L to R) Liam Milne, Dagmar Neumann, Maurits van der Vlugt, Tony Nunn, James Coutts and Paul Dalley
Subject to ratification, the team to represent NSW at the ANC Teams in Orange in July will be:
Dagmar Neumann – Maurits van der Vlugt
Tony Nunn – Paul Dalley
Liam Milne – James Coutts
