November 2011
Tollemache – Suffolk Qualify!
| County | Man | Suf | Glo | Mer | Han | Sta | Wil | Lei | Wor | VPs |
| Manchester (Q) | x | 20 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 102 |
| Suffolk (Q) | 0 | x | 11 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 94 |
| Gloucestershire | 19 | 9 | x | 11 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 93 |
| Merseyside & Cheshire | 14 | 1 | 9 | x | 8 | 10 | 18 | 20 | 10 | 90 |
| Hants & IOW | 5 | 17 | 1 | 12 | x | 7 | 5 | 19 | 15 | 81 |
| Staffs & Shrops | 6 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 13 | x | 10 | 8 | 9 | 69 |
| Wiltshire | 2 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 10 | x | 4 | 14 | 67 |
| Leicestershire | 9 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 16 | x | 15 | 66 |
| Worcestershire | 3 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 5 | x | 58 |
Suffolk have again qualified for the Tollemache Cup Final in February 2012, the premier event in county bridge. After years in the wilderness, the county has qualified twice in the last three.
This year wasn't like 2009 when they won their group. After being overnight leaders on the projected scores, Suffolk saw themselves drop to third with two matches to complete. They improved their score in the last round just enough to nip back into the second qualifying position for the eight-team final.
The county were represented by David Price (Capt.), Peter Sutcliffe, Tommy Garvey, Jane Moore, Andrew Moore, Chris Chambers, Peter Gemmell, Rick Hanley and Jeff Orton.
Full results are on the EBU site.
Bridge in the Cupboard
Faced with an impossible task Pandora, the Four of Diamonds will always find you a little hope…
Forthcoming Events
Suffolk Championship Teams of Four
Sunday 11th December 2011, 2:00pm at Ipswich Indoor Bowls Club. This is the county's premier team competition and is one of the few events closed to members of Suffolk.
A knock-out competition for teams of four played in four rounds, the first two of which are played at the venue above. Round one divides the field into two, round two for the top half is to qualify four teams for the semi-finals to be played by arrangement. For the second half of the field, round two is an all-play-all plate competition.
Green-Points are available for placed teams in both events. EBU level four conventions are permitted and teams of up to six are allowed. Entries (£40.00 per team) and questions to SCBA competitions secretary, . You can download a flyer/entry-form [PDF] to display or use to send details of your team.
Suffolk Pairs Open Heat
Thursday 12th January 2012, 7:00pm at Ipswich and Kesgrave Bridge Club. If you missed your chance to qualify for the Suffolk pairs in October this 'catch up' heat is open to anyone yet to make an attempt to qualify for the 2011-12 Suffolk Pairs Championship (for which, like the teams above, Green-Points are awarded).
Mid-Anglia Pairs
Sunday 15th January 2012, 11:00am at Woodbridge. This is a two session pairs event scored by IMPs (teams scoring) and the cost is £6 per person with tea, coffee, squash and biscuits provided.
Woodbridge club meets at Community Hall, Station Road, Woodbridge, IP12 4AU. Enter via the Suffolk Competition Secretary, (01379 870291).
Results
Suffolk Novice Pairs
Lots of new faces at this year's Novice Pairs. Diane Whitley and Sheila Whittaker had a tremendous session to win the Intermediate section and the overall.
The event was played in three sections according to experience of duplicate bridge, scored separately.
| Beginners – 1/2 Years | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Doris Allen & David Green | 59.03% |
| 2= | Virginia Wright & Anthea Holden | 56.94% |
| 2= | Roland Marriott & Peter Allnutt | 56.94% |
| Improvers – 3/4 Years | ||
| 1. | Diane Whitley & Sheila Whittaker | 78.13% |
| 2. | John Bloomfield & Gillie Hamilton | 66.25% |
| 3. | Marcus Hopkins & Anglea Hudson-Evans | 53.75% |
| Advanced – 5+ Years | ||
| 1. | Joan & Keith Jaggard | 67.36% |
| 2. | Simon Riley & David Walker | 66.67% |
| 3. | Favell Perry & Katy Wigdahl | 52.78% |
Then the results were merged for an overall winner – no surprise that Diane and Sheila's score was unbeatable.
| 1. | Diane Whitley & Sheila Whittaker (I) | 74.54% |
| 2. | Simon Riley & David Walker (A) | 69.68% |
| 3. | Joan & Keith Jaggard (A) | 66.96% |
| 4. | Virginia Wright & Anthea Holden (B) | 61.75% |
| 5. | John Bloomfield & Gillie Hamilton (I) | 57.29% |
See the full results, read the write-up from the East Anglian Daily Times.
Summer League 2011
Congratulations to Felixstowe who won Division Two and Ipswich and Kesgrave, narrow winners of Division One. The last match of the summer was the decider between Colchester and Ipswich with the latter needing to win. This they did, overturning a first-half deficit and scoring just enough points to take the division.
| Division One | I&K | Col | Bur | Woo | Cla | VPs |
| Ipswich & Kesgrave | x | 43 | 42 | 52 | 52 | 189 |
| Colchester | 37 | x | 39 | 41 | 70 | 187 |
| Bury St. Edmunds | 38 | 41 | x | 51 | 42 | 172 |
| Woodbridge | 28 | 39 | 29 | x | 53 | 149 |
| Clare | 28 | 10 | 38 | 27 | x | 103 |
| Division Two | Fel | Sto | Hos | Fra | VPs |
| Felixstowe | x | 36 | 50 | 66 | 152 |
| Stowmarket | 44 | x | 43 | 60 | 147 |
| Ipswich Hospitals | 30 | 37 | x | 59 | 126 |
| Framlingham | 14 | 20 | 21 | x | 55 |
Suffolk Club Teams-of-Eight
Colchester were run-away winners of the Abbeygate Shield, the county Club Teams-of-Eight. Unbeaten, they avenged their set-back in the Summer League above, seeing off their nearest rival by more than a complete match.
| Club | Col | Ips | Hos | Woo | Bur | Sto | Cla | Fra | Str | VPs |
| Colchester | x | 14 | 18 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 127 |
| Ipswich & Kesgrave | 6 | x | 11 | 11 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 13 | 18 | 103 |
| Ipswich Hospitals | 2 | 9 | x | 15 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 100 |
| Woodbridge | 7 | 9 | 5 | x | 8 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 93 |
| Bury | 3 | 15 | 5 | 12 | x | 2 | 18 | 20 | 15 | 90 |
| Stowmarket | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 | x | 3 | 13 | 19 | 64 |
| Clare | 10 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 17 | x | 13 | 12 | 63 |
| Framlingham | 4 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | x | 15 | 43 |
| Stratford St Mary | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 5 | x | 37 |
Colchester will represent Suffolk at the Garden Cities in the new year. See the results and line-ups.
Children in Need Simul
| Colchester (Tuesday) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 16. | David Morran & Julian Lang | 68.04% |
| 2108 pairs played at 119 clubs | ||
| Stowmarket (Friday) | ||
| 38. | Maureen Heath & John Heath | 62.56% |
| 109. | Dave Walker & Bogdan Talaga | 58.44% |
| 889 pairs played at 55 clubs | ||
Full results for all days are on the ECats website together with the sum raised by bridge players all over the world, £58,490.56 at the time of writing.
Suffolk v Essex
Suffolk's busy October in the Eastern Counties League didn't end the way they would have liked.
The 'A' Team lost 9-11 (-6 IMPs), the 'B' team 5-15 (-33 IMPs) and the 'C' team, 0-20 (-160 IMPs).
See the full match details and all the counties in the 2011-12 ECL.