14th OECS CHAMPIONSHIPS

ANTIGUA - June30 to July 2nd,2000

The Antigua Contract Bridge Association (ACBA) was looking for a big turnout with no CACBF Festival this year and special rates at the Royal Antigua Beach and Tennis Resort. With 62 pairs, ACBA President Errol James was so happy that he and partner Hudley Walker scored over 65% in the Open Pairs 1st Session. William Carlson and Ira Buchalter, ACBLer's from St. Thomas, led with 65.62% to Errol and Hudley's 65.38%. Not to be outdone, tournament organizer Al James hooked up with Bennet Roach from Montserrat for 63.08% and a tie for 3rd/4th with Veronique Caylar and Guy Alain Germon from Martinique. Bajans Pat Cummins and Leroy Millar, winners of the Southern Regional Open Pairs earlier this year, rounded out the top five with 60.69% but were being challenged by eleven pairs within one top.

The Open Pairs 2nd Session was a tougher game as players warmed up for the weekend. Dorian Shillingford and Phillip Griffin of the Dominican national team scored 62.15% to top the field. The Bajans took the next three spots, led by Adelle Springer/Yvonne Seale in 2nd with 61.69%, then Roglyn Hinds/Colin Depradine 3rd at 60.31%, and Cummins/Millar 4th with 60.15%. Rounding out the top five were locals Norman Cromartie/Jodie Wilkins with 59.62%.

Open Pairs Overall winners AL JAMES of Antigua and BENNET ROACH of Montserrat combined their 3rd place in the first session with a 7th in the second to edge out Bajans Pat Cummins/Leroy Millar by 0.5%. The Bajans were the only other top five pair from the 1st session to finish in the top ten in the second. First session leaders Carlson/Buchalter and E.James/Walker finished 3rd and 4th overall, while Caylar/Germon dropped to fifth. Jamaican's David Levy and Rex James ended up 6th, but were less than a top behind the leaders.

With the warm up event out of the way, players got down to business on Saturday. The six OECS National teams played a complete OECS National Teams Round Robin of 14 board matches over the three sessions. At the end of the day, Antigua was in top spot with 91 VPs and in the final, would face 2nd place Dominica who had 87 VPs. Perennial contenders St. Kitts and St. Lucia were in the hunt with 84 and 82 VPs respectively, but fell short of a spot in the finals.

DOMINICA stormed back in the 2nd half of Sunday's OECS National Teams Final to spoil ANTIGUA's hometown victory hopes. With 12 deals to go, the locals had added 2 IMPs to their carryover from the Round Robin match to lead by 21. Backs to the wall, the Dominicans dominated 34-9 to win by 4 IMPs. This was their 3rd win in five finals, the last being a loss to St.Kitts in 1994. Perhaps the veteran OECS Dominicans (Phillip Griffin, Dorian Shillingford, Allan Guye, Desmond McIntyre, Foued Issa, and Richard Green) are starting to feel the pressure from their Juniors.

Meanwhile, the Open Teams had twenty-three entries, which were seeded into four groups for the three session Open Teams Round Robin. Only the top team in each group would enter the playoffs on Sunday so competition was fierce.

In Group A, the battle lines were drawn early between the bashing Bajans led by Pat CUMMINS and the galloping Guyanese captained by Royston BEEPAT (fresh from their victory in the 2000 Inter Guianas). Things were close with CUMMINS in the lead when they met BEEPAT in the second last round. BEEPAT made no mistake and rumbled over CUMMINS 24 to 6 VPs. The last round was an anti-climax although there were losing scenarios for BEEPAT. Fortunately, their captain chose the right one and BEEPAT advanced to the Open Teams Final Four with 106 VPs to CUMMINS total of 92. The aspiring Antiguans led by veterans Franki FRANCIS and Deverel Forde finished a respectable third, 23 VPs behind the leaders.

Group B's top seeds were a trampling Transnationals led by Sjietsen TJON-ATSOI and the belting Bajans spearheaded by Michael GILL. GILL trailed throughout and when TJON-ATSOI dealt them a 23 to 7 VP blow in the 2nd last round, chances were slim. In the end, TJON-ATSOI's Transnationals racked up the highest VP total in all Groups with 113 out of 125 VPs to take the second slot in the Open Teams Final Four. GILL ended up in 2nd with 95 while the Jackie THEODORE led St. Lucians finished a distant third with 76 VPs.

The striking St. Lucians headed by Emmanuel THEODORE and the slow-bowling St. Thomasites guided by Ira BUCHALTER battled early for the lead in Group C. Unfortunately, they met the crusty Costa Ricans led by John MAC GREGOR who dealt them 23-7 and 19-11 defeats. Despite a final round loss to the Daniel DUBOIS' marauding Martinicans, MAC GREGOR took the third spot in the Open Teams Final Four with a total of 101 VPs. THEODORE grabbed 2nd with 91 while BUCHALTER held on to 3rd with 82 VPs.

Group D had only five entries so each team played four matches and had a bye round. The competition was between the mixing Martinicans captained by Guy Alain GERMON, the jammin' Jamaicans handled by Carmen LEVY, and the dashing Dominicans driven by Patrick JOSEPH. The key matches saw GERMON down LEVY 17-13 and drop JOSEPH by 21 to 9 VPs while JOSEPH stopped LEVY 19-11 in their encounter. Following form, GERMON nailed down the last opening in the Open Teams Final Four, undefeated with 82 VPs. JOSEPH couldn't recover from the loss to GERMON and ended up 2nd with 64. LEVY was a distant 3rd with 55.

In Sunday's Open Teams Final Four, ten board shootouts were the order of the day. Any major losses and a team could be out of the picture. The trampling Transnationals led by Sjietsen TJON-ATSOI overcame a 29-5 loss to MAC GREGOR's crusty Costa Ricans to emerge victorious. TJON-ATSOI blitzed GERMON 34-0 and handled BEEPAT 25-9 to end up with 64 VPs, ONE VP more than MAC GREGOR who had 63. Despite their 29-5 win over TJON-ATSOI and a 30-4 cracking of BEEPAT, MAC GREGOR fell short when GERMON dealt them a 30-4 thrashing. You just know that you are in trouble when the opponents bid a Grand Slam on the last board and you are looking at QT doubleton of trumps under declarer. Sure enough, partner had Jx and it rolled home - 13 IMPs away.

Sunday's Consolation Swiss Teams drew an entry of 22 teams, another record entry for the OECS Championships. The St. Kitts quartet led by Oriel HECTOR finished with 64 VPs, holding off strong charges from Rex JAMES' Jamaicans with 62, the bashing Bajans with Pat CUMMINS at 59, and two other teams with 57 VPs.

FINAL NOTES

Great job by the Antiguans and Cable and Wireless. Kudos to Al James, Ken & Lorraine Wright, Royce&Elaine Stroud, and the rest of the volunteers. The playing area was superb and once again, the idea of eating meals together promoted camaraderie among the participants. Too bad that we had to lose by one VP .............................