The teams for Beijing

With the Olympic games approaching their closing ceremony, we can look forward to World Mind Sports Games (formerly known as the World Teams Olympiad) which are also being held at the Olympic Complex in Beijing.
The Open team was announced last week, following a four day Trial at the Brighton Congress. That completes the selection process. All five teams that are going have now been announced. They are:-

Open Team
Nick Sandqvist & Artur Malinowski
Jason Hackett & Justin Hackett
David Gold & Tom Townsend
Captain : Phil King
Coach: Simon Cope

Womens Team
Heather Dhondy & Nevena Senior
Catherine Draper & Anne Rosen
Nicola Smith & Sally Brock
Captain: Martin Jones
Coach: Sandra Penfold

Seniors Team
Chris Dixon & Victor Silverstone
Colin Simpson & David Price
Ross Harper & Andrew Thompson
Captain: Peter Czerniewski

Under-28s
Fiona Brown & Susan Stockdale
Ollie Burgess & Andrew Woodcock
Ben Green & Duncan Happer
Reserves: Mike Bell & Michael Byrne
Captain: David Greenwood
Coach: Diane Greenwood

Under-21s (playing in the Under 21's World Championship)
Adam Hickman & Daniel McIntosh
Ed Jones & Tom Paske
Ben Paske & Rob Myers
Captain: Michael Byrne
Coach: Alan Shillitoe

Sandqvist hold a big lead

After 60 boards of the 100 board final trial to pick the England team to go to the World Mind Sports in Beijing, the Sandqvist team lead the Townsend team by 178 imps to 71 imps. The final 40 boards will be played today. At the end the winning team will automatically be picked for Beijing, and a third pair will be picked by the Selection Committee from amongst all the remaining pairs that competed. Full scores here.
The Final is being shown on Bridgebase online. You can download Bridge Base Online from their website http://online.bridgebase.com or view it without downloading anything, from the BBOTV website http://www.bbotv.com/vugraph/

It's Townsend v Sandqvist in the Final of World Minds Sports trial

At the end of the round robin stage of the four team trial to pick the England team to go to the World Mind Sports in Beijing, the Townsend team were first with 51 Vps, and the Sandqvist team were second with 46 Vps. These two teams therefore qualify for the final stage which begins today. They will play a 100 board match. At the end of it the winning team will automatically be picked for Beijing, and a third pair will be picked by the Selection Committee from amongst all the remaining pairs that competed. Full scores here.
The Final will be shown on Bridgebase online. You can download Bridge Base Online from their website http://online.bridgebase.com or view it without downloading anything, from the BBOTV website http://www.bbotv.com/vugraph/

Open team Trials for Beijing

The Trails for the Open team that will represent England in the 2008 World Mind Sport Games (formerly known as the Olympiad) begin today.

Four teams will play a double round robin of 20 board matches On Mon 11 and Tue 12 Aug. At the end of that the top two teams will play a 100 board final on Wed 13 and Thu 14 Aug. The winning team will be selected, along with a third pair which will be chosen by the Selection Committee.

The Four teams are
HACKETT: Paul Hackett, John Holland, Tony Waterlow, Ian Panto
TOWNSEND: Tom Townsend, David Gold, Andrew McIntosh, Gunnar Hallberg
SANDQVIST: Nick Sandqvist, Artur Malinowski, Justin Hackett, Jason Hackett
LIGGINS: Glyn Liggins, Peter Crouch, Neil Rosen, Martin Jones

The trials will be shown on Bridgebase online. You can download Bridge Base Online from their website http://online.bridgebase.com or view it without downloading anything, from the BBOTV website http://www.bbotv.com/vugraph/