Best of luck to the Irish teams that will represent us in the junior home internationals in Newport, Wales, at the weekend. The are two competitions – the Junior Camrose (Under-26) and the Peggy Bayer Trophy (Under-21). England has dominated both competitions in recent years, and is represented by two very strong squads again this year, so they will once again be the team to beat. The sixth team in the Junior Camrose is supplied by the host nation, Wales, and will operate as “Welsh Bridge Union”; in the Peggy Bayer it is supplied by England, as “English Bridge Union”.
However, our own teams are in good form, with Matthew O’Farrell from the senior squad winning his first national title last weekend, and several of the Peggy Bayer team featuring as prizewinners in congresses this season, so we are confident they will give a good account of themselves. Unfortunately, exams have meant that the Under-21 squad is depleted, and an NIBU junior, Marc Campbell, has very kindly made himself available to us for the weekend, for which we are very grateful. The teams are:
- Junior Camrose (U-26): Matthew O’Farrell, Luca Crone, Denise Walsh, Leah Finnegan, Isabel Burke, NPC Martin Brady
- Peggy Bayer (U-21): Eve Connell, Bence Orosz, David Hoyne, Marc Campbell, NPC Margaret Murphy (with Isabel Burke as a floating replacement if needed)
We’re sure you’ll join us in wishing both teams the best of luck. You can watch the competition (with a short delay) on RealBridge with commentators wherever possible. System cards for the participants can be found here, and results and a brochure introducing the players is here.