Last weekend saw the first running of the new Pre-Qualifier trials in the Templeogue Bridge Centre. These trials are a new innovation suggested by the International Committee, aimed at players who do not have quite enough Masterpoints to enter the standard trials, and we were very pleased with an entry of fourteen pairs.
The overall winners were Verna Brownlow & Geoff Roberts, who will combine with fourth-placed qualifiers Una O’Gorman & Betty Cody to enter the Camrose Trials over the October bank holiday weekend, and have added a third pair, Anne Keating & Frances Kelly, to make a team of six. The second- and third-placed pairs, Orla McEntee & Deirdre O’Halloran and Ann Burns & Kay Murphy, will combine to enter the Lady Milne trials in mid-November. Thanks to our TD Brian Lawlor, and to all those who entered; our feedback is that all of them found it an enjoyable and worthwhile experience, and they would recommend it to their peers. So hopefully, this trial will become a feature of the bridge calendar in future years. You’ll find the full results here, and the three leading pairs are pictured below.
