“Our members love to see their names in lights,” our Unit Prez Brian Samuels told me the other day. Well, we have a lot of names to feature in this column, which covers not only our Firecracker Sectional but the Nationals in “Lost Wages.” We’ll start with the ‘Cracker and move onto the big event. Since there is so much to report on, I’ll be focusing on the first place winners. Congratulations to them and to all of you who placed up and down the line earning master points in such stiff competition!
From June 25-29 this year many of us gathered in Santa Clara to test our bridge skills with great success. In the Wed Aft Strat Pairs, Don Rothschild and his partner placed First in A, while Harriel Shea & Steve Hubbell took First in B. In the Wed Aft 499er Pairs, Polly Burn & Annie Green placed 1st in C. Shirley Negrin with her partner landed First in F in the Wed Aft 99er Pairs. That evening in the Open Pairs, Robert Madalena & Tahir Gokcen scored First in A while Rich O’Brien & Henryk Szejnwald placed First in B. In the Wed Eve 499er event, Don Cohn & Jon Rayden took 1st in D & E. Bravo, boys!
Moving onto Thursday, John Williams & John Schwartz grabbed First in B & C in the Thurs Aft Side Pairs. In the Thurs Aft 99er Pairs, Gillian & Paul Barsley tied for 1st in G, and the Tivols of Palo Alto hauled in First in H & I. Thursday’s Open Pairs found Gary Macgregor and his Aptos partner First in A. Big score. In the Thurs Eve Side Pairs Eusebio Menezes with his San Jose partner placed First in A. That evening’s Swiss game saw Polly Siegel, Robin Booth, Garth & Margaret Wilson 1st in A.
On Friday, Larry Lasher + 3 others finished First in Bracket III of the Firecracker KO. Michael Chin and David Ashton came First in C in the Fri Aft Side Pairs. The Guptas, Vinita & Naren, with their pro team topped the Stars & Stripes KO, Bracket I. And finally, in the Red Rocket Compact KO, Bracket II, Kathie Shaw, Joan Bower, Hal Harbaktin and Gloria Leitstein grabbed First. Good job one and all!
Prue Saunders + 3 took 1st in A in the Sat Aft Swiss; Tad & Flo Yosikawa + 2 were 1st in B. In the Sat Aft Side Pairs, Jun Shi and her partner placed First in A. That same afternoon, in the Sat Aft 0-5 Youth Pairs, Matthew & Jonathan Shi of Palo Alto ended up First with a 67.22% game. This bodes well for their bridge futures!
The last day of the Firecracker, Miss Prue and her team again did well by placing First in the Sun AX Swiss. Andrew Hoskins + 3 others came First in X. Nelson Chi and 3 others landed First in B,C, & D in the Sunday BCD Swiss event. Finally, in the 299er Sun Swiss Nick Ward & Rita Rubenfeld + 2 landed First in G. This wraps up the top dog winners over the course of the Firecracker. Kudos to all!!
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Now we’re onto the Summer NABC held in Las Vegas from July 17-27. Many of our clan attended with shining results. First and foremost we must acknowledge one of our very own super-stars, Ed Barlow, who anchored a team that placed second overall in the Grand National Teams/Champion Bracket, beating out many other internationally ranked teams. This is indeed an impressive accomplishment. Please join me in congratulating Ed!!
It’s time to explore the mere mortal stratospheres. In the Fri Eve 49er Pairs, Ralph & Susan Griffin took First in A, while Hansa Narasimhan plus several of her Indian buddies tied for First in the Fri Side Swiss. On Sunday Isha Thapa and some of her Berkeley cohorts captured First in the 2014 Collegiate Team event. Also that day in the Young 0-1500 LM Pairs, Charles Riffle and his SF friend placed First. Then in the 0-10,000 NABC Pairs, John Hoffman and Leila Sink came in Second for a whopping 52.50 points in one shot. Wow!
In a 3-day event, the Sat-Mon Mor KO, Bracket III, Randy Ryals, Carol Kemper plus teammates finished First. Later on Monday, Naren Gupta + 3 took First in the Truscott USPC Sr Swiss event. Fast forward to Wednesday and we have even more action. Andrew Hoskins plus 3 others got top honors in the Wed Compact KO, Bracket III. Mary Ann Berg and her team of pros procured First in Bracket I of the Tues-Wed KO. In that same event, Polly Siegel plus 3 snatched First in Bracket II. In the Wed Eve 299er Swiss, Kate Walters + 3 finished First n C. Applause for you all!
On Thursday we see that G Venkatesh and 3 friends from India placed First in the AB Swiss. Then Debbie Rosenberg, our illustrious teacher and resident pro, came First n the Freeman Mixed BAM. And finally, on Friday, Kate Walters again showed her beginner prowess by taking First in A,B & C of the Fri Aft 49er Pairs. Bravo!!
This is a sterling showing of our Unit 503 proficiency in tournament play at all levels. It certainly is fun to be part of such a skilled and active group of bridge players. Our next opportunity for glory will be at the 80th All Western Championships August 26 through September 1 in Santa Clara. Hope to see you there!