BRIDGE

John Comyn

TO misquote Mark Twain, reports of the passing of the Bankers Club have been grossly exaggerated.

Over to club president Gerry Kelly, who has a few words to say on the matter.

“In the past couple of weeks, we have been informed that the Bankers Club — which is not the bridge club — is closing down, so we will be losing the use of our bar facilities.

“For the foreseeable future, our club relationship will be with the Financial Services Union, rather than the Bankers Club. This the club sees as an opportunity to assess its overall position going forward.” So that clears that up. And how are the stars of Irish bridge doing abroad? Very nicely, thank you.

In particular, Tom Hanlon continues to make great progress on the worldwide stage. Fresh back from Japan, he got to the final of the Life Master Pairs in the American championships, finishing 16th of 360. He also got to the semi-final of the Spingold Trophy, beating European champions France, plus the Zia Mahmood team along the way. Let nobody ever tell you that luck does not play a big part in Bridge. Just take this hand from the Navan Cup. Bidding (all vul) E S W N 1H P 1S P 3H P 4H P P P Normal bidding, but desperately unlucky with the 5-0 break. Of course, the point-counters stayed out of game.