Ostend Women, Six

Moving day it turned out to be -

We started with a narrow loss to Portugal 14-16 but followed it up with 23 & 25 v Finland and Hungary respectively.

We were in second overnight — the Netherlands still had a useful lead. First match today we played old adversaries the French who were hot on our tails. Sadly by the end of the match we were hot on theirs — they beat us 10-20. Next up were more old adversaries — this time the Italians — but this time we did come out on top, winning 19-11

The top 5 looks like this with one match to play today...

1	NETHERLANDS	322
2	FRANCE	307
3	ENGLAND	303
4	GERMANY	300
5	SWEDEN	298

Ostend Women, Five

We have had a good day today 43 out of a possible 50 - we beat Lebanon 25-4 and came back from a very bad start v Switzerland to record an 18-12 win.

In the overall ranking list we are back up to 6th but it is worth noting that positions 2-6 are covered by only 5 VPs. We are, however, quite well placed having played 4 of the other 6 in the top 7.

The Netherlands are the clear leaders - we play them on the last day, hopefully we will be in a position for that match to still be meaningful.

We have another three matches tomorrow where we are playing teams from the lower half of the ranking list - let's hope it is moving day, to coin a golfing phrase!

Ostend Women, Four

Only one match today, against Germany. A dramatic last two boards saw us go from 18-12 to 15-15 and finally 16-14 in our favour.

We are still well placed with tomorrow's matches against two of the teams nearer the foot of the table than the top; both teams, however, have given good accounts of themselves versus strong opposition and so nothing should be taken for granted.

Ostend Women, Three

After two matches we are now up to 5th courtesy of beating Greece 18-12 and Belgium 25-5. We are only 6VPs behind the leaders.

About to start Match 3 v Ireland, who incidentally have just beaten a strong fancied German team 19-11.

Ostend Women, Two

Day two was not good for us - we did not have a good match against Russia and came out losing 8-22. The afternoon match v Belarus was a very tight affair that once again we came out on the wrong side of - although this time it was only 14-16. The early evening match against Croatia gave us a chance to steady the ship and this we managed with a 21-9 win.

We are currently lying 11th out of 28 but there is a lot to play for. Tomorrow we play Greece, then the home nation, Belgium and finally Ireland. A good day will see us right back in the hunt.

Ostend Women, One

Hopefully you will have read about the Open team's first day and know that they have started well. The English Ladies have also begun in fine form. Their lot is a 28 team Round Robin which means 27 x 20-board matches. Our goal is obviously to get a medal; failing that, to finish in the top 6 to earn a place in the next Venice Cup.

We had a tough start against a competent Norwegian team — we managed to win that one 18-12. A nice homeland tussle against the Welsh followed — we dispatched them 20-10. We finished with another tough one — the Polish — we managed to sneak a 17-13 win against them.

All in all a very satisfactory start that leaves us lying third at the end of the first day.

European Championships 2010

The European Championships kick off in Ostend on Wednesday so good luck to all our teams. We'll keep you up to date with progress here throughout the event and you can also view a lot of the matches on Bridge Base.

• Selections: Open Women Seniors
• Event information
• Watch online

Lady Milne Trials

The selectors have chosen the team for the ladies European Championship in Ostend. The "Big Four", reigning world champions Brock/Smith and Dhondy/Senior, selected themselves. (Not literally!) Youngsters Fiona Brown and Susan Stockdale got the nod to complete the team, ahead of Catherine Jagger and Sarah Teshome who are the reserve pair.

Trials take place this weekend to find England's teams for the Lady Milne Trophy, the ladies home international series. I do mean teams plural, we have two this year, to make the numbers even.

The top three pairs will automatically be the funded "England" team. The next three may play on the self-funding "English Bridge Union" team if they wish, and then down the list in order if a pair declines.

20 pairs have entered in total, a very good turnout. Perhaps we will have debut internationalists by Sunday night? A list of pairs and further information here:

www.ebu.co.uk/internationals/ladiestrials.htm

It's going to be on BBO, starting 7.15 tonight (Friday). Good luck to you all!

Thoughts of a Selector (3)

Hearty congratulations to all our teams for reaching the knockout stages of their events. They have surpassed expectations, a fantastic achievement. Well done from everyone back home to our players, captains and coaches, and good luck in the knockouts.

The importance of attaining a high finishing position in the group stages has become truly evident. Not only does it give the team a choice of opposition in the first knockout round, it also give the team a high seeding, which means if they reach the later stages, they will be kept apart from the stronger oppositions. This certainly appears to be the case for those of our teams that won or came 2nd in their groups.


Open team

The Open team finished 2nd in Group D are were drawn against Bulgaria in the Round of 16. They were quite happy with this draw, there were many more difficult teams they could have been pitched against. It wasn’t easy, no match is at this stage, but in the end they won by a fairly comfortable margin of 45 Imps. They won’t be unhappy with their next draw either, in the Quarter-final they meet Romania, with the prospect of Germany or Netherlands in the Semi-final if they win. Had they not finished 2nd they would have had a much tougher draw. USA, Poland, Italy, Brazil, China, Norway are all in the other half of the draw, I’m sure England will be pleased to have avoided them.


Women’s team

The Women’s team won their group with the 2nd highest VP score, only Germany scored more. They were able to choose their opponents in the round of 16 and were very happy to pick Singapore. It was not a walkover, but the final margin of 53 Imps was comfortable enough. They, like the Open team, won’t be unhappy with their next draw, in the Quarter-final they meet France, with the prospect of Russia or Finland in the Semi-final if they win. Germany, China, USA & the Netherlands are all in the other half of the draw, I’m sure England will be pleased to have avoided them.


Senior’s team

The Senior’s team finished 6th in their group and were picked by Poland in the round of 16. The match was a struggle for a long time but they emerged as winners in the by a comfortable margin of 50 Imps. In the Quarter-final they play Japan, and if they win that they will face Indonesia or the Netherlands in the semi-final.


Under 28’s

The Under 28’s finished 6th in the qualifying Swiss and were picked by France in the Quarter-final. France started the match with a carry-over of 12 Imps. They were unable to overturn this and eventually lost by 50 Imps. Well done to them nevertheless for getting this far, in a field of 74 teams this was no mean achievement. The players will now move into the pairs and the individual events where they have a further chance of glory.


Under 21’s

The Under 21’s won the qualifying group and as a result were allowed to pick their opponents for both the Quarter and Semi-final, a huge advantage. In the Quarter-final they chose the Netherlands. They started with a carry-over of 12 Imps and won the macth in comfort, ny a margin on 74 Imps. They have chosen China for their semi-final opponents who they beat comfortably in the group stages, and again start the match with a 12 Imp carry-over. The other Semi-final is between France & Bulgaria.

Thoughts of a Selector (2)

We’ve reached the rest day and there is one day to go in the qualifying stage so time to reflect of the progress of all our teams, and sum up the position of the main opposition.

It’s still all going very well, all of our teams are still occupying their respective qualifying positions, and three of them, the Women, the Seniors and the Under 21’s are virtually assured of qualification to the knockout stages. Let’s look at the series one by one.


Open team

The Open team are still going well in Group D, and are still lying 3rd in their group. It’s panning out very much as I predicted in my last report, with five teams in contention for the four qualifying slots. Every match is important but there will be three matches on the final day that will have a large bearing on the final outcome of the group. They are Germany (1st) against Turkey (4th) in round 15, England (3rd) against Germany (1st) in round 16, and USA (2nd) against Indonesia (5th) in round 17. Germany have a sizeable lead but it is not yet an unassailable one, they can still be caught. The most important thing for England is to qualify, but if they can qualify in 1st or 2nd position that would allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round, and avoid the top seeds (listed below).

What about the other groups? There always seems to be one group that gets labeled the group of death, but in this case I think there are two groups that could qualify for that label.

First take a look at group A. Italy look safe, but behind them Denmark, Canada, France, Brazil, South Africa, Ireland, Pakistan & Japan are all teams that would fancy their chances of qualifying, but at least four of them are not going to make it. Even worse, from their point of view, is the fact that Estonia are occupying one of the qualifying slots at the moment, which mean five may not qualify. Also don’t rule out Romania and Finland who are also in there with a chance.

Now look at group B. Israel lead by a large amount and look safe, and main contenders for the other slots are Netherlands, China, Hungary & India. Again there could be a few casualties in this group, Austria, Sweden, Argentina & Russia, all fancied teams, are all quite a bit off the pace.

There are no big surprises in group C. Norway & Poland are neck & neck at the top, with just half a VP separating them, both look safe. Behind them the main contenders are Bulgaria, Spain, New Zealand and Belgium.

Who will be the top seeds? Well it can still change quite a bit in the last three matches but if the seeding were to be done on the currents scores the top eight would be 1. Germany 2. Israel 3. Italy 4. Norway 5. Poland 6. USA 7. Netherlands 8. Estonia, quite a formidable bunch.


Women’s team

The England Women’s team have continued their terrific form in Group E, winning thirteen of their fourteen matches so far, and have collected the maximum 25 victory points from six of them. They lead their group by 15 VPs from second placed USA and are a massive 50 VPs ahead of third placed Italy. They are certain to qualify for the knockouts, and the only question now is whether they can hold onto their lead and win the group. The match that will probably decide the group comes in round 15 when they play the USA, if they get a decent result from that match they should take the group. It will be very advantageous to win the group, as it will give the team a better choice of opposition on the first knockout round, and also get them a higher seeding for the latter stages which is very important. USA, who are currently second in the group look safe too. The other qualifying slots are currently occupied by Italy, Poland & Japan, with Brazil leading the chasing group.

Women’s Group F is very tight. Hosts China lead the group, but they are far from safe. The other qualifying slots are currently occupied by Finland, France, Denmark & Russia, with Spain and Scotland not far behind. China have a really tough finish, they still have to play Finland, France and Denmark, and France and Denmark also have to meet each other, so there will be opportunities for the chasing group, which means Scotland have a good chance of qualifying.

Women’s Group G has been completely dominated by Germany. They’ve won 12 and drawn one of their fourteen matches, and have just had a run of seven successive maximum 25VP wins. They are virtually certain to win their group, and Netherlands, who lie 2nd, look fairly safe too. There will be a mad scramble for the other qualifying places, it’s impossible to predict who the other qualifiers might be.

Who will be the top seeds? Well it can still change quite a bit in the last three matches but if the seeding were to be done on the currents scores the top eight would be 1. Germany 2. England 3. China 4. USA 5. Netherlands 6. Finland 7. France. 8. Italy.

The England women will be hoping this order doesn’t change, since at things stand they would not be due to meet any of the strongest teams, Germany, China, USA & Netherlands, until the semi-final.


Senior’s team

The Senior’s team are currently lying joint 3rd in group K, and they now a comfortable 36 VPs ahead of the last qualifying slot, so with only two matches they are certain to qualify. Their aim now is to finish as high as they can since if they finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the group, this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round. USA who lead, and Japan who are second have built up quite a large lead over the rest, and may be too far ahead to catch, so the realistic target for the England team to aim for is 3rd in the group. France (joint 3rd) and Chinese Taipei (5th) also look safe.

A similar situation exists in Group L where Indonesia who lead and Australia who are second have built up a big lead over the rest. Poland (3rd) Canada (4th) and Egypt (5th) look fairly safe too.

The top seeds, as things stand, would be 1. USA 2. Indonesia 3. Australia 4. Japan 5. Poland 6. France 7. Canada 8. England, but both groups are so close that this order is likely to change quite a bit by the finish.


Under 28’s

The Under 28’s continued their fine form, and although they are not yet guaranteed to qualify, they are certainly in a very good position. They are currently lying 3rd with an 18 VP lead over the last qualifying slot. All the teams at the top have already played each other, so the teams that are making a late surge will find it difficult, as they will probably have to play the teams at the top in each of their last three matches, so it won't be easy for them to dislodge any of the leading teams. Ideally the England team would like to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the group, as this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round. They are only 12vps behind leaders Poland, so it’s still possible that they could finish in first place. The leading 5 teams, who have been at the top most of the time, are Poland, Israel, England, Belgium & China, and I’ll be surprised if any of these five don’t qualify.


Under 21’s

The Under 21’s are 2nd in their group, they have qualified in comfort and are now setting their sights on finishing as high as they can in the group. France lead the group and Bulgaria are in 3rd place. Ideally the team would like to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the round robin, as this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round, and as things stand it looks very likely they will achieve this.


Under 26’s

We’re not represented in this event, as our team did not qualify from the Europeans. Poland are leading this event, and are followed by Netherlands and Australia.

Other Home Nations
A very brief round up of the other home nations:-

Open
Ireland are 9th in Group A, 10.5vps behind the last qualifying position and still have a chance of qualifying, Scotland are 14th in Group B, Wales did not enter a team.

Women
Scotland are 7th in Group F, 7vps behind the last qualifying position and still have a chance of qualifying Ireland are 13th in Group G, Wales did not enter a team.

Seniors
Ireland are 11th in Group L, Wales are 15th in Group K, Scotland did not enter a team.

Under 28's
Ireland are 42nd, Scotland are 48th, Wales are 51st.

Thoughts of a Selector

We’ve passed the half-way point of all the qualifying stages so this is a good time to reflect of the progress of all our teams.
We couldn’t really hope for a much better start, all of our teams are occupying their respective qualifying positions, and two of them, the Women and the Under 28’s are currently leading their events. Lets look at the teams one by one.

Open team
The Open team have had a great start, and are currently lying 3rd in their group. They had a reasonably good draw, not too many strong teams in their group, but with only four teams qualifying nothing can be taken for granted, the team will have to keep performing well to get through to the knockout stages. Who are the main threats? Well USA, many times world champions are one, they must be favourites to win the group. The other obvious strong teams must be Germany, who are currently leading the group, Indonesia & Turkey. These four teams, plus England, are currently occupying the top five spots, and I’d say it’s likely that the qualifiers will come from these five teams. Of the other four teams mentioned, England have lost 8 - 22 to USA but have beaten Turkey 24 – 6, witnessed on BBO by many of you this morning. They still have to play Germany and Indonesia. If the team can get good results against these two, and a few big wins against some of the weaker teams, they will be well placed to qualify. Ideally they would like to finish 1st or 2nd in the group, as this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round.

Women’s team
The Women’s team have had a fantastic start, they lead their group by 21vps. They’ve had a good draw and have capitalised on it with eight wins out of nine, most of them by large margins. The main threats in their group would appear to be USA and Italy, currently lying 2nd & 3rd in the group. They still have to play these two teams, so these two matches will clearly be key. The team is very well placed to qualify, but would ideally like to hold onto the top spot, as this as this would allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round.

Senior’s team
The Senior’s team are currently lying 4th in their group, with eight qualifying for the knockout stages, so they too are well place to make it through. The’ve been handicapped by the loss of one of their players, through illness, but have shown much resilience to remain in contention despite this setback. They’ve already played the team who most would reckon are the group favourites, USA, and has already been stated were particularly unlucky to lose that match when a 2% grand slam bid by the opposition very fortunately made. Ideally the team would like to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the group, as this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round.

Under 28’s
The Under 28’s couldn’t really hope for much more at this stage, after 9 of their 17 rounds they lead their field of 74 teams in the Swiss. Poland have been leading for most of the way, and the England team beat them in round 7, they then beat hosts China (currently lying 3rd) in round 8 and took over top spot from Poland in round 9 by getting a maximum win against India. There are still some good teams working their way up through the field, as is likely to happen in a Swiss event, but with wins against all the top teams they have played so far, the team will be able to take on these other teams with confidence. Also, since this is a Swiss and there are no rematches, it is comforting for the team to know they won’t have to play Poland or China in any of the later rounds. Ideally the team would like to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the group, as this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round.

Under 21’s
The Under 21’s are currently lying 2nd in their group, and with eight team qualifying look very well placed to make it through to the knockout stage. It’s not at all clear who the major threats are, but clearly one if them is France, the current leaders, and England have already played them. Ideally the team would like to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the round robin, as this will allow them to have some choice of opposition in the first knockout round.

Other Home Nations
A very brief round up of the other home nations:-

Open
Ireland are 7th in Group A, Scotland are 13th in Group B, Wales did not enter a team.

Women
Scotland are 10th in Group F, Ireland are 14th in Group G, Wales did not enter a team.

Seniors
Wales are 10th in Group K, Ireland are 13th in Group L, Scotland did not enter a team.

Under 28's
Wales are 46th, Scotland are 49th, Ireland are 61st.

Beijing - Womens Team Draw

There are 54 teams entered in the Womens Series of the World Minds Sports Bridge Championships in Beijing, China, divided into three groups of 18 teams. Each group will play a complete round robin. At the conclusion of the round robin, the top five teams in each group plus the best sixth team will advance to the knockout stage, in which the leading teams will have a choice of opponents in the round of 16. The draw is out, and England are in group E. Their order of play (UK time, 7 hours behind Beijing) is as follows:

Round 1	Sat	04	Oct	04:00	Norway
Round 2	Sat	04	Oct	07:20	Reunion
Round 3	Sat	04	Oct	10:10	Egypt
Round 4	Sun	05	Oct	04:00	China Hong Kong
Round 5	Sun	05	Oct	07:20	Trinidad
Round 6	Sun	05	Oct	10:10	Belarus
Round 7	Mon	06	Oct	04:00	Guadeloupe
Round 8	Mon	06	Oct	07:20	Portugal
Round 9	Mon	06	Oct	10:20	Thailand
Round 10	Tue	07	Oct	04:00	Japan
Round 11	Tue	07	Oct	07:20	India
Round 12	Tue	07	Oct	10:10	Italy
Round 13	Wed	08	Oct	04:00	Palestine
Round 14	Wed	08	Oct	07:20	Poland
Round 15	Fri	10	Oct	04:00	USA
Round 16	Fri	10	Oct	07:20	Brazil
Round 17	Fri	10	Oct	10:10	Lithuania

Pau - England Women finish 8th

Womens team in Pau.


.................Click on picture to enlarge. Left to Right: Rob Cliffe (Coach), Heather Dhondy, Catherine Draper, Anne Rosen, Catherine Jagger, Sarah Teshome, Nevena Senior, Alan Mould (Captain)

The England Women's team finished their campaign in 8th place, missing out on qualifying for the World Championship for which they needed a top six finish. A total of 52 VP's from the three matches yesterday would have been enough, sadly that could only manage 43 VPs. Their final three results were 15 - 15 against Finland, 20 - 10 against Greece and 12 - 18 against Italy.

Pau - England Women bounce back

The England women's team had a fantastic day yesterday and have bounced back into contention for a World Championship place and even a medal. The began in match 20 with a crucial 20 - 10 win over Norway, crucial because Norway are also contenders for the leading positions. In match 21 they beat Austria 24 - 6 and in match 22 they beat Wales 21 - 9. They now lie 7th, only 3 vps behind 6th place which would mean world championship qualification, and 17 behind the medal positions. With three matches still to go, one on them against 3rd placed Italy, a medal is still possible. Scores France 396, Germany 393, Italy 390, Sweden 383, Spain 382, Denmark 376, England 373.
Todays final three matches

Round 23	09:30	England v Finland
Round 24	13:15	England v Greece
Round 25	16:35	England v Italy

Pau - England Women remain 9th

Day 7 of the Womens championship was a fairly quiet day for the women, in the first match they lost 14 - 16 to Croatoa they had a bye in the middle match and they finished in a high with a 16 - 14 win against leaders Germany. They remain 9th but still very much in touch with the leaders.
They have three matches today

Round 20	09:30	England v Norway
Round 21	13:15	England v Austria
Round 22	16:35	England v Wales

The First match match, against Norway will be shown on Bridge Base Online. and BBOTV.

Pau - England Womens Team slip to 9th

The womens team's bad run has continued. On day six of their event they played two matches. Match 15 was against Sweden and they lost it 7 - 23. In match 16 they played the Netherlands and drew 15 - 15. They have now slipped to 9th place. Scores: 1. Germany 291, 2. Italy 281, 3. France 274, 4. Netherlands and Spain 269 9. England 260. The top 6 teams will qualify for the world Championship in Sao Paulo next year.
There are three rounds today, England have a bye in the middle match.

Round 17	09:30	England v Croatia
Round 18	13:15	England have a bye
Round 19	16:35	England v Germany

Pau - England Women slip out of medal positions

Day 5 was a medioche day for the England Womens team, and at the end of it they had slipped down to 4th place. round 12 was against Turkey, and the result was a loss, 12 - 18. Round 13 was a narrow loss to Poland 14 - 16, and in Round 15 they lost again, 10 - 20. They are now loying in 4th Position. Leading scores Italy 153, Germany 248, France 240, England 238, Norway 238, Netherlands 237. The top six teams qualify for the World Championships in Sao Paulo, so despite the last two day's results the team is still on course for qualificaion.

They have just two matches today

Round 15	09:30	England v Sweden
Round 16	13:15	England v Netherlands

The second match, against Netherlands will be shown on Bridge Base Online. and BBOTV.

Pau - England Women have tough day

Day 4 was definitely the toughest day for the England Women. They had three hard matches, all of the against conteders for the World Championship. They finally lost their undefeated record in Round 9, when they lost 7 - 23 to Israel. They recovered their composure after that setback to get a 15 - 15 draw with Denmark and finished the day with a narrow 14 -16 loss to hosts France. They have lost the lead but have only dropped one place to 2nd. Italy are the new leader. They have 207 Vps England are second with 202, then Norway 199, Germany 196.
They have three matches today

Round 12	09:30	England v Turkey
Round 13	13:15	England v Poland
Round 14	16:35	England v Spain

STOP PRESS - England lead in all three series !!

No, this is not a joke. After two matches on Sunday, the England teams are all first, or joint first in ther respective events. The Women and Seniors have one more match today, but the Open team have finished for the day.
Having qualified for the final by the skin of their teeth, the Open team got off to a cracking start, winning their two matches 25-4 and 21-9 and lead after two matches with 46 VPs. The Women lost their first match 7-23 and drew the second 15-15, but thanks to their big overnight lead they are still in front, tied for first with Italy on 188Vps. The Seniors have had two big wins today, 25-2 & 24-6 and they too now lead their series. They have 82 Vps, one more than Belgium.

Pau - England Women move further ahead

The England Women's team had another good day on day 3, getting two more wins, and so keeping their 100% winning record. Match 7 was against Scotland, and they won that one 22 - 8. Match 8 was against Czech Republic and they got their second maximum win, 25 - 3. They are now 15 ahead of second. Leading scores England 166, Italy 151, Germany 146, Sweden 145.
Today's matches are (BST)

Round 9	09:30	England v Israel
Round 10	13:15	England v Denmark
Round 11	16:35	England v France

The final match, against France will be shown on Bridge Base Online. and BBOTV.

Also, you can follow the results round by round on the European Bridge League website. You can even get the running scores of matches currenly in play, click in the box at the top of the page.