The 30th National Bridge Congress took place at Hamilton’s Kingsgate Hotel from 28 September to 3 October and many local players took part – many of them regulars, while for others it was a new experience.
The two “main events” of Congress are the New Zealand Pairs and the New Zealand Teams, with both events being 25A status. The Pairs was first up. 141 pairs competed with the top 78 qualifying after two rounds. In 5th place were Yuzhong Chen playing with Cambridge’s Herman Yuan. In 7th was Cynthia Clayton playing with Tauranga’s Judy McLeod. Michael Neels qualified in 11th with Rotorua’s Heini Lux while Brett Glass and Gary Foidl were 17th. Just missing out by one position was Ian Clayton. A number of other notable Hamilton players did not get through this year. To be fair it can be a bit of a lottery and no doubt they’ll be back and doing their best to get in the mix next year.
