NATIONAL EVENTS
Gold Cup
Gary Hyett and Alan Mould lost in the final of the 2004 Gold Cup
Crockfords Cup
In the England Open Teams Championship for the Crockfords Cup, John Hassett’s all Manchester team of Bill Hirst, John Holland and Michelle Brunner (who were previous winners in 2000) came second on a split tie to John Armstrong’s southern quartet. (Danny Davies, Raymond and Sally Brock)
In the Hubert Phillip’s Bowl, Goldenfield (Rhona and Bernard, John Hassett, Bill Hirst) lost in the Semi-Final to Jagger. This is the first Hubert Phillips match that the Goldenfield team had lost in over two years, not a bad record!
Leslie Klein’s team of Jeff Morris, Alex Morris and Michael Byrne won Manchester’s County Cup for the second year in a row to represent Manchester in the Pachabo, the national Competition for the Country Championships Teams of four, where they finished 7th out of 28, two places below last year.
In the Corwen Trophy, the four pairs representing Manchester aquitted themselves well, all of them finishing above average, with Bill Hirst/ Bernard Goldenfield 10th, one place above Alan Purdy/John Holland. 109 pairs were competing.
In the Tollemache, most of the team that won the qualifier in magnificent style were club players-Mike Newman, Dave Debbage, John Hassett, Bill Hirst, Michelle Brunner, John Holland, Alex Morris and Michael Byrne. Unfortunately only Michael and Alex are the only pair available for the final but quite a number of other club players have been drafted into the County team.
National Bridge Organisation
The club continues to contribute highly significantly to the organisation of bridge in England with Denis Robson being re-elected Chairman of the English Bridge Union, Jeff Morris and Alan Nelson elected to the board of the EBU. Alan Nelson also continues his representation on the Tournament Committee.
Club Competitions
In club Competitions, the Monday night duplicate event , the Geoff Nuttall Memorial Trophy, was won by Neil Thomas. In the Cheadle Royal Cup the winners were young players David Collier and Mike Reeve.
In our team events, the Ruia cup was won by Peter Foster, John Liebeschutz, Boris Ewart and Phil Callow and the second Eve Lighthill Cup was won by Paul Hackett’s team which consisted of Paul, Jason, Justin, Brian Cornelius, john Holland, Alan Mould, B. Goldenfield and Mike Alexander.
Sid Travers became this years Club Champion.
The Peter Ader memorial Trophy was won by Nicki Marks and the Santa Claus Pairs was won by father and son combination Tony and Alex Wilkinson.
Our Tuesday night rubber bridge competition for the Charles Wade Trophy has seen the cup won by David Geary, Georgina Kirk and most recently we had joint winners of Catherine Kramer and Eugene Hutton.
Club News
Members of the club have commented most favourably on the improvements to the flooring in the hall during the last year,
On our staffing side we are sorry to report that Mamie has a fall in June and has been unable to return to work at the club where she has worked since we opened. It is hoped that the Committee will organise an event in the New Year when members can show their appreciation of the many years of excellent service that Mamie has given the club.
Also there have been significant changes in our teaching staff. Mike Burtt has retired after many excellent years of teaching beginners and David Adelman has become our resident teacher.
Inevitably there is sadness to record. It is with deep regret that we report the deaths of Mary Higson and Henry Huggill.
Mary Higson died on Tuesday morning, 30thMarch aged 88. Mary was a wonderful friend of Manchester Bridge; she was involved in the administration from the late fifties for 40 years and for some of the time in the sixties she virtually ran the county single handed. Together with her late husband, Roy, she was ever present at North West events, Mary undertaking the administration while Roy directed. She was a fine player too, winning the Manchester league and cup and many congress events as well as the Silver Plate on one occasion. Her regular partner was Henry Huggill who died in February of this year. Henry played for many years in the top division of the Manchester League with Mary Higson winning at least once and also winning the Ben Franks Pairs with Mary. He was a regular player at Manchester Bridge Club and always a courteous and friendly partner and opponent. Henry listed the attributes of a successful player as logic, maths and probabilities, memory and personality. Those that got to know Henry would tell you that he had all the attributes, especially the personality.
Thus within the space of a month the Club lost two of its most significant figures who over the last fifty years have had a huge influence on Manchester bridge, Like Henry , Mary was awarded a Dimmie Fleming Award for services to bridge by the EBU. She moved to Surrey a couple of years ago to be near her son when increasing frailty meant that she was unable to remain in the Manchester area. Our condolences to son Nigel, daughter Chrystal and their families.
Forthcoming Events
In the New Year there area plethora of events to enter. On Monday nights the Geoff Nuttall Memorial Competition starts on the 10th January and the first of our beginners classes in 2002 begins on Wednesday 12th January so please tell your friends who have been saying for years that they want to learn. Please also tell your Golf-Playing friends about the bridge competition for Golf Clubs to be held on Thursday 3rd February 2005 at 7.30 pm. Called the Golf print Challenge this is an excellent opportunity for Golf Clubs to get a team together for a fun event. Each team can have at most one player of regional master or above.
On the 27th January 2005 there is a qualifying competition |National Pairs. If you are interested please add your name to the list in the hall.
On Sunday 6th February there is a heat of the Gazette Trophy for teams of eight and the format is much more laid back this year so if you fancy playing in a team from the club please let me know.
The National Newcomers pairs is now played simultaneously in clubs around the country and the Manchester Bridge Club will be involved with a section playing at the club at 2.00pm on Sunday 20th March 2005.
In April the club will be the venue for the Portland Pairs on Sunday 3rd April a one day National Mixed Pairs Event. Entry forms are in the hall.
It remains for me to conclude my report to thank the members of the Club for their support during the last year. In particular I would like to thank the Club Committee so ably chaired by Eve Lighthill for making this year such a success. I would particularly single out Merton Cantor for his unstinting efforts to help and I would also like to record my appreciation of all the excellent contributions over 12years made by Gordon Rice who is retiring from the Committee.
Finally I would like to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year. |
