The current Irish national squad of Tom Hanlon, Hugh McGann, Nick FitzGibbon, Adam Mesbur, John Carroll and Mark Moran won the June invitational online team contest at the weekend, but it was only on the last deal of the 36-board final that they got the better of Derek O’Gorman, Louise Mitchell, Pat Quinn, Donal Garvey, and Micheál and Pádraig Ó Briain.
The winners started the final 12-deal segment a single point in front but O’Gorman gained 16 points over the first two deals of the last set to lead by 15. This lead was gradually whittled down until a margin of only five points remained with one to be played. The decider was a well-bid diamond game by Hanlon and McGann, brought home by Hanlon but not reached by their opponents at the other table. The winning margin was five points.
O’Gorman had headed the Swiss-movement qualifying rounds which were contested by 20 top-level teams from which only the leading four advanced to knockout rounds. In the semi-finals, Hanlon defeated Gay Keaveney, Enda Glynn, Donal McAonghusa, Tommy Garvey, Ciarán Coyne and David Walsh by 12 points while O’Gorman had an easy victory over the only four-player team in the knockout matches, Maureen and Bob Pattinson, Barbara and Barry Stoker.
Sligo’s Yeats Country online congress was an outstanding success with entries far exceeding the numbers in the normal on-site event. A substantial sum was raised for hospice foundations in Limerick, Sligo and Dublin. The intermediate A pairs event resulted in what is probably a record-winning margin in a pairs competition: almost 10 percentage points by Anne Hegarty and Freddy Murphy over their nearest opponents. In contrast, Bernie Murray and Vivienne Cosgrove took the intermediate B pairs by less than a tenth of a point. The congress attracted a number of UK competitors.
Dublin's Regent Bridge Club mid-summer festival pairs competitions will be contested on the Bridge Base internet site next Sunday, starting at 7.30pm. There will be four separate competitions for grand, life and national master; regional master; area master and intermediate grades. On Sunday, June 28th, the Regent will organise two separate two-session pairs competitions for female and male players respectively to commemorate the late Barbara and Don Seligman, who were among Ireland's leading players for several decades beginning in the 1960s. Details of how to enter these events may be found at bridgewebs.com/regent.