BIDDING FOR SOME SUCCESS
WEXFORD’S 46th Bridge Congress, which took place at Clayton Whites Hotel was hailed a ‘great success’.
There were prize winners from Wexford, Cork, Waterford, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Dublin and from Northern Ireland, among them a group of 30 from the Cypress Bridge Club in Templeogue in Dublin who came as a group for the congress which took place from February 4 to February 6.
Three hundred people played on Saturday afternoon, with slightly smaller numbers on Friday and Saturday nights.
The President of the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland, Jim O’Sullivan, from Letterkenny in Donegal, was Guest of Honour for the weekend and presided at the official opening on Friday night.
Also in attendance on Friday night was Grainne Tuohy from Waterford, the President of the South East Region. Once the formalities were completed, play began in a number of competitions. The Mixed Pairs was won by Frank Browne and Maureen Carroll, from Waterford, with locals Derek Crosbie and Imelda Mulcahy in second place and Katherine Lennon playing with Sean Connor from Tramore taking third place.
Cathy and Marguerite Sweetman, from Wexford, were very popular winners of the Intermediate B Pairs with Dublin pairings taking the rest of the prizes. Pauline and Feargal Weatherhead, from New Ross, were the winners of the Selskar Pharmacy sponsored Novice Pairs with Wexford’s Joan O’Connell and Nuala Sheehan taking second and Rich Howlin and Pax Morris in third place.
The main competitions on Saturday were the Congress and Intermediate Pairs competitions. The Cork Kerry pairing of Kay Clement and Phyllis O’Regan were the winners of the Clayton White’s Hotel sponsored Congress Pairs. Wexford players in the prizes were Terry O’Hara and Dave Noonan in third place with Derek Crosbie and Katherine Lennon taking the second session prize and George Watson and Esther Swan being the winners of the Best Wexford Bridge Centre Prize.
There was a massive turnout for the Intermediate Pairs competition with 72 pairs in action.
Regular visitors to the Congress Helen and Paul Redmond, from Malahide, were the winners with Jer Moynihan and Michael Mulligan, from Enniscorthy, in second and Val Mernagh and Teresa Cowman and Joe Hall and John Watson, all from Wexford, third and fourth respectively.
Ann Kearney and Sadie Owens, from Gorey, took the second session prize and Imelda Dunne and Teresa Coffey were the best Bridge Centre Pairing.
The team of four was the main competition on Sunday and it was won by a Dublin team led by Irish International player BJ O’Brien and featuring Richard Elvin, Conor Boland and Paul Delaney.
Second place also went to a Dublin team while Kathleen O’Reilly and Maurice Brosnan kept the local flag as, partnered by a Waterford pair, they took the second session prize.
A Novice and Beginners completion was played on Sunday night. There was a good turnout of 14 pairs for this competition with most of them having from the classes run every year in Wexford Bridge Centre by Bridge Teacher Michael Coffey.
For many of these players it was their first taste of competition and CBAI President complimented them all on their choice of recreation as he presented the prizes.
The winners of the Beginners section were Jane and Graham Porter, from Enniscorthy, with Mary Watson and Jim Kehoe, from Wexford, in second. First and second in the Novice section was all Wexford with Nuala Sheehan and Joan O’Connell first and Rich Howlin and Pax Morris in second.
The Open Pairs competitions held also proved very popular with many of the Wexford-based players featuring in the prizes as always. Speaking at the conclusion of the Congress Michael Coffey, Chairman of the organising committee, thanked all the attendees for their support over the weekend.