Bali 2

The countdown continues and the open captain and one of his team have gone ahead to spy out the land in Bali. Reports so far indicate it is what we all expect: a rather nice, warm place.

If you look at the shirts of the England Cricket team they all have numbers representing when they first played for the team(W G Grace is 24 and Alastair Cook is 630). A list of the England Women who have played in World and European events since the first European Championship in 1935 has been produced and can be found here. (Thanks to Simon Cochemé for the research for this document). Nicola Smith is number 49, Sally Brock 59, Heather Dhondy 72, Nevena Senior 76, Fiona Brown 84 and Susan Stockdale 85.

A list for the open team will be produced soon. Any volunteer to help would be most welcome!

If you look at the file some of the early entries are in the form of Mrs X with no initials so if you have any knowledge of those far distant times then please let me know.

The forthcoming World Championships are the 41st. The series started in 1950 with the Bermuda Bowl.  The Europe team in 1955 comprised 6 players from Great Britain and this is the only time we have won. We won a silver medal in 1987 in Jamaica and Tony Forrester  was a part of that team.

The Women's event, the Venice Cup, started in 1974. We have won in twice in 1981 and 1985. Nicola Smith and Sally Brock were a part of both of those teams. We haven't yet won a medal since we became England not Great Britain but were 4th in the last Venice Cup in 2011 in Veldhoven.

Play starts in the early part of next week with a full round robin and you will be able to follow it all both on the WBF site here and also on BBO.

Bali: The prologue

Not long until the event starts. There is a countdown on the EBU front page.

In both the Open(Bermuda Bowl) and Women's(Venice Cup) the first order of business is a complete round robin of 21 matches against the other teams.

The top eight will qualify. It isn't quite as simple as making sure you are in the top eight because your finish position will determine who you can choose or who can choose you when the knock outs start. If we get to the semi final and there are two USA teams still involved in either event then they must play each other.

The actual rules for determining who plays who in the quarter finals are a. complex and b. do not make sense. We have delegated the women's coach David Burn to check them out and possibly comment at the captain's meeting which precedes the event.

You can find the draw here

Both teams have India as their first opponents.

Junior Europeans Diary 5

So now the championships are over and we can reflect on the team’s performances. Certainly the U20s didn’t play up to their pre-tournament levels and for that we are disappointed. The Swedes deservedly won the event and are excellent ambassadors for the game. In the U25s the England side also failed to get going and for some of them, this will be their last junior action in an England shirt. Some had been members of medal winning U20 sides but had never managed to step up to deliver the same results in the older age group categories. France snuck through on the blind side to take both this title and the girls event that they dominated from start to finish. Congratulations to both of those teams.

With no England teams making the trip to Turkey for next year’s world championships the hard work begins now to make sure that Tromso, Norway in 2015 produces much more than this championship. It is important to learn from what didn’t go well. Indeed, more lessons are learned in defeat than any victory.

Junior Europeans Diary 4

So both teams find themselves in a similar position. With both having not played as well as they would have hoped, they find themselves needing a massive performance step up AND a bit of a rub of the green if they are to qualify for their respective world championships. The U20s have Poland, Russia, Turkey and a bye to finish. Poland are currently top of the U20 standings, so getting the necessary big win is a tough ask. But stranger things have happened. The U25s also have Poland to play in their run in and they will also present an extremely tough match. It doesn't look good, but all the players can do now is to try. Maybe something amazing will happen...

Junior Europeans Diary 3

Another very up and down day here in Wroclaw. More up for the U25s who have given themselves an outside chance of getting a qualifying spot if they can summon up a big finish. The highlight of the day was their comfortable win over title contenders Denmark, despite shipping out a 20 IMP swing on one board by playing in the wrong grand slam.

For the U20s it began with a nerve shredding win over the Israelis, but then they couldn't replicate the efforts of their elder compatriots and nose dived to a heavy loss to the Danes. They did finish the day by extracting an all-but-maximum from the bottom of the Austrians to lift themselves to within a couple of VPs of the all-important top six. A difficult day awaits though - the solid French followed by the table-topping Swedes who were in imperious form today.

For those of you who think we have an easy job as captain and coach. You know, fly off to lovely locations and sit around drinking tea and coffee and putting our feet up while letting the kids get on with the hard work - THINK AGAIN. Here is a link to a daily bulletin article written by Michael Byrne.

On page 22 he describes one of the typical kind of junior misadventures that we have to watch while peeking through our fingers, 20 times per match, 3 matches per day. Now tell me you could survive a week of this without needing a long holiday to recover. Or very strong medication. Or both!

Junior Europeans Diary 2

The sun came out yesterday and so did the flies - we are right next to the Oder river. But they weren't the only things to bite us. The U20s had a tough day with three defeats, two of them with big swings out in the last few boards. Under the new VP scoring scale, these seem to be even more costly than before. Fortunately there were plenty of shock results flying around so despite dropping down the table, we are still in touch. A momentum shift is required. Israel first up today would be an excellent place to start.

Junior Europeans Diary 1

Greetings from Wroclaw, venue for the 24th Junior European Championship. The weather here has been a little cooler than the UK, but made up for by the warmth of our Polish hosts - although we are due to get some more sunshine from Wednesday onwards.

Things have started OK for the U20s and we lie 3rd after 6/18 matches. After squeaking a win against the Scots in the first match and then comfortably beating an inexperienced Irish side, we had our only defeat (so far) at the hands of our close rivals from the Netherlands. Today saw three victories - a topsy-turvy battle against the Slovaks followed by big wins against Hungary and Norway.

The nature of the competition is such that pretty much any team can turn over anyone else. There have already been a number of 'surprise' results and we expect plenty more. Consistency will be the name of the game.

Things have not gone so well for the U25s who endured a couple of rough days. Every error seemed to be magnified when the scores were being counted. However, a good day today has lifted spirits and if they can maintain that form, then they have a chance of getting back into contention. They can't afford any more slip ups from here though.

2013 Teltscher Trophy - after the event

The England Seniors failed to hold on to their overnight lead on the last day of Teltscher Trophy in Cardiff. A heavy defeat against Northern Ireland brought us back into the pack and, although we still had a chance with one match to go, we needed a big win and for other results to go our way. It was not to be - Scotland surged past Northern Ireland to win the event, leaving England in third place.

At the final dinner it was announced that the event will henceforth be known only as the Teltscher Trophy and it should not be referred to as the Senior Camrose. It is now an established event in its own right, very popular with the players and (fiercely) played in a great spirit.

2013 Teltscher Trophy - Sunday morning

The first complete round-robin has been played, and the first match of the second round robin, so six matches down and four to go. So far England have won three, drawn one and lost two, and we find ourselves in the lead with 102 VPs, ahead of three teams on 88 and one on 87.

The deals have been exciting - the same team playing in 2D in both rooms, trumps seemingly breaking 5-0 more often than 3-2, a bidding sequence of 2D - 7D (bid and made against England) and so on. Maybe we will have nice boring part score deals today so that we can stay ahead of the chasing pack.

Many thanks to Roger O'Shea and Pharon Independent Financial Advisers, who are sponsoring the England Senior team.

Tune in and watch us on BBO this afternoon ... much more exciting than the football and, if you are interested in cricket, you can have Test Match Special on in the background.

2013 Teltscher Trophy

The Senior Home Internationals for the Teltscher Trophy (sometimes referred to as the Senior Camrose) was first held in 2008. The competition for the trophy is between the four home nations and the Republic of Ireland. The event has been generously sponsored since its inception by Bernard Teltscher, who leads the Great Britain team that brings the number of teams up to six. The Patron’s team can come first, but it cannot win the trophy.

The event is played over a single weekend with a double round robin of 14-board matches. England has won the trophy twice, in 2008 in Oxford and in 2012 in Ayr. Wales has won once and Scotland has won twice, cannily finishing second in the two years that the Great Britain came first.

England is represented by the very experienced team that won the trials last December. Paul Hackett, who has won the trophy twice in four appearances, is partnering David Mossop, playing in the event for first time, having returned to England after a number of years playing in and for Switzerland.

Gunnar Hallberg and John Holland are playing together in a Teltscher Trophy team for the fourth time; three times for England (two wins) and once for Great Britain (a win but no trophy).

David Price and Colin Simpson have also played together for England (once) and for Great Britain (twice, one win). David and Colin were part of the England team that won the Camrose earlier in 2013 and they hope (tempting fate, this bit) to become the first pair to win the Camrose and Teltscher Trophy in the same year.

I have the honour of NPCing the England team and I have supplied each of them with a diet sheet, a fitness programme, and a detailed guide (with examples) of how to tell when a 4♣ bid is Gerber. You can do your bit by watching the match on BBO with your fingers crossed; with your help England can do the Camrose - Lady Milne - Teltscher Trophy treble in 2013.