Ireland had modest success at the European transnational championships which ended in Strasbourg on Saturday when Irish competitors reached the finals of both the open and women’s pairs championships.
Adam Mesbur and Tommy Garvey reached the final of the open tournament but fell short of the medals. Gay Keaveney and Enda Glynn got to the B final while Peter Pigot, Derek O’Gorman and Ciaran Coyne, David Walsh went out following the B semi-final.
Sabine Auken and Roy Welland (Germany) won the gold medals (they had won previously in 2013), Argelazi, Rosenthal (Israel) took silver, Brogeland, Bakke (Norway) bronze.
Mary Kelly-Rogers and Anne Fitzpatrick kept Irish hopes alive when they fought out the final of the women’s pairs event but also finished out of the medals. Joan Kenny, Jeannie Fitzgerald and Diane Greenwood with Gilly Clench (Wales) competed in the B final. Rebecca O’Keeffe-Brown and Gilda Pender reached the semi-final.
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Özgür, Yavaş (Turkey) won gold, Cathy and Sophia Bałdysz (Poland) silver, Brown, Erichsen (England) bronze. In the open team championship Mesbur, Garvey, John Carroll, Mark Moram, Tom Hanlon and Frederic Volcker came through the qualifying rounds but went out in the knockout round of 32.
French teams filled the first two places with an Italian side third. A transnational squad headed by Nevena Senior and Nicola Smith (England) won the women’s team event.
Fiona Brown (England), a former winner of Irish national championships, won her second medal in Strasbourg when she took silver as a member of an England-US team. Turkish and transnational sides shared bronze. Irish tournament directors Fearghal O’Boyle and Diarmuid Reddan were part of the officiating team.
Olympic e-sports
Bridge activities and development will be showcased in the arena of electronic sports in the Olympic e-sports event in Singapore next week, in conjunction with tournaments which will be contested daily on the internet.
An overall winner will be decided by the five best results over the period and will receive an invitation (including travel and accommodation expenses) to participate in the transnational week in Marrakesh, Morocco from August 28th to September 2nd alongside the World team championships. Details on cbai.ie.
Ireland has qualified for the World open team championship (Bermuda Bowl) in Marrakesh but there will be no place for the Irish women’s team which was first reserve for the Venice cup tournament since all qualifiers from the eight world zones have accepted their places.