The CBAI’s Holmes Wilson Trophy (National Open Teams Championship) competition was held over the weekend of 10/11 February in the Mount Wolseley Hotel in Tullow. An excellent turnout of more than 109 teams from all over the country represented the largest Irish bridge gathering since covid, and the feedback is that everyone enjoyed themselves. Our thanks to all who participated, and to our sponsors of this event AL Homecare, who were represented at the competition by Eileen Corbett, pictured below with CBAI President Gordon Lessells and Chief Executive Dermot O’Brien.
The prizewinners were (noting that some of the category prizewinners finished ahead of some of the ranking prizewinners, as the category prizes were more valuable than the lower ranking prizes):
- 1st Mark Moran, Tom Hanlon, Adam Mesbur, Nick FitzGibbon
- 2nd Karel De Raeymaeker, Anna Onishuk, Kelan O’Connor, Conor Boland
- 3rd Dan McIntosh, Peter Goodman, Luca Crone, Matthew O’Farrell
- 4th Wojciech Gorczyca, Isabel Burke, Marcin Rudzinski, Michelle Moloney
- 5th Gay Keaveney, Enda Glynn, Ciarán Coyne, David Walsh
- 6th Maureen Pattinson, Bob Pattinson, Ian Hamilton, Ian Lindsay
- 7th Denis Mortell, High McDermott, Kate Daultrey, Sean Maguire
- Leading Men’s Team Peter Pigot, Derek O’Gorman, John Flavin, Donal O’Keeffe
- Leading Women’s Team Joan Kenny, Teresa Rigney, Siobhan Part, Gilda Pender
- Leading Mixed Team Mairead Haugh, Justin Corfield, Roisin De Jong, Jeroen Lodewijks
- Leading Senior Team Michael McAuliffe, Sandra Newell, Peter Stewart, Dolores Gilliland
- Leading Regional Masters Deirdre Leopold, Philip Robinson, Colette Allen, Frank Kennedy
- Leading Area Masters Carmel Murnin, Deirdre Linnane, Giles Murnin, David Connolly
- Leading Intermediates Susan Webb, Eileen Hanratty, Teresa Hurley, Carol Dillon
- First Session Prize BJ O’Brien, Ranald Milne, Micheal O Briain, Padraig O Briain
- Second Session Prize Ian Kilroy, Niall Kilroy, Bill O’Hanlon, Tony Ward
- Third Session Prize Margaret Cunningham, Mary P Treacy, Marian Davenport, Maria Donegan
All four members of the winning team have won the Holmes Wilson on multiple previous occasions, with Adam Mesbur, for whom this was his sixteenth win, leading the group. Particular commiserations to the runners-up, who were attempting to defend the title they won last season, and also won the virtual running in 2022. Finally, it was very heartening to see junior internationals Luca Crone, Matthew O’Farrell, and Isabel Burke all feature in the prizes; all three will be representing Ireland in the junior home internationals in Belfast next weekend, and we wish them the best of luck. Full results with board records here, and Masterpointed results here.
Holmes Wilson Winners 2024
Holmes Wilson Runners-Up 2024
Holmes Wilson 3rd Place 2024
Many thanks to our TD crew of Fearghal O’Boyle, Mairead Basquille, Huey Daly, John Crimmins, John Phelan, Diarmuid Reddan, and Bernard Higgins who ensured the competition went off without a hitch.