JANUARY
26-28, 2001
Arriving Friday at 6:50am, we were picked up by the Trinis
and driven over the mountains to a scenic valley in Maraval that has a golf
course and the Hotel Villa Maria. Later, we were told it was to avoid the
traffic in Port of Spain, being only ten minutes from the city.
Cyril Sancho and Ralph Jaikaransingh, from the Trinidad and
Tobago Contract Bridge Association (TTCBA), were there to greet us and even had
breakfast ready. Many visitors had come on Thursday and so by the time we were
settled, bridge had taken over the hotel.
Some of the less hardy souls (like my partner) grabbed the
opportunity for a siesta, while others started a rubber bridge game. I kibitzed
and played a few hands then took a walk before lunch. All the meals were served
buffet style in the playing area, part of this tournament's history of the
affordable, all-inclusive package.
After lunch, Cyril welcomed all the players and turned
things over to Ralph who got us seated and said let the games begin.
In the 1st Session of the Open
Pairs, when the dust had settled from last round scoring errors, the Bajan
Boys (Tony Watkins & Dave Blackman) were leading with 62.56%. Hot on their
heels at 61.76% were the JC's (John Mac Gregor & Colin Yhap from Guyana)
who had barely held off the third place Aggressive Antiguans (Al James &
Deverel Forde) with 61.44%. They were feeling pressure from a pair of Trusty
Trinis (Bal Ramlogan & Deen Seeteram) holding down fourth place with
60.15%. Rounding out the top five were locals Barbara Johnston & Pat
Debysingh at 58.78%. As a matter of fact, the Trinis dominated the rest of the
top ten positions at the halfway mark.
As soon as the session finished, dinner was served so the
meal was punctuated with lots of post mortems, hand records, and scores. After
being fed, watered, and rested, we began play in the 2nd
Session of the Open Pairs. A couple of Bajan Gentlemen (Leslie Atherley
& Charles Hollingsworth) ended up in a dead heat for first place with the
JC's at 59.91%. Locals Antonio Nadur & Kayam Mohammed grabbed third with
58.61%, closely followed by Dominicans Foued Issa & Roy Edoo at 58.28%. The
BB's managed to stay in the top five with 57.30%, but it turned out not to be
enough.
The Open Pairs Overall was
won by the JC's with 60.84%, edging out the BB's final score of 59.93%. The
AA's finished third at 58.12% while locals Gene Montrichard & Mike
Traboulay turned two sixth place finishes into fourth overall with 57.41%. The
BG's completed the top five at 57.16%, rising from 11th place with their strong
second session. Once again, the Trinis cleaned up the rest of the top ten
overall.
When the celebration died down, everyone was happy to grab
some rest for the long day ahead of us on Saturday. Each pool in the
round-robin had nine teams with the top two qualifying for the final.
The Round Robin - Pool A
ran true to form with WATKINS from Barbados and HART from
Trinidad topping the list with 162 and 149 VP's
respectively, both winning 7 of 8 matches. Just missing were locals P.HOWARD in
third spot with 142 VP's while another Trini team, SANCHO, topped a group of
would be contenders at 126 VP's.
In the Round Robin - Pool B,
favorites BEEPAT from Guyana won all eight matches to top the chart at 147
VP's. Second place qualifiers HINDS from Barbados at 128 VP's were never able
to rest as only 22 VP's separated them from 8th place! Trinis MILLET with 125
VP's and HILTON-CLARKE with 124 VP's suffered the agony of defeat in third and
fourth.
After a glorious Sunday morning free, we had an early lunch
and began play around noon.
The Open Team Final was a
round robin of 12 board matches among the four teams, very similar to the format
used in OECS 2000. Once again the result was a cliffhanger with BEEPAT
finishing first with 54 VP's, WATKINS second with 53 VP's, and HART third with
52 VP's!!
While they were battling it out in the final, the Consolation Swiss Teams was won by P.HOWARD from
Trinidad with 88 VP's. Bajans CORBIN took second with 75 VP's while locals
JOHNSTON & FARREL ended up third/fourth with 63/60 VP's.
When the celebrations died down, the players were back at it
again for the Mixed Pairs. Jamaican Joseph Dibbs
paired up with Barbara Johnston from Trinidad and easily outdistanced the field
with 65.63%. They spoiled John Mac Gregor's sweep attempt, as he finished
second with Amina Beepat from Guyana at 60.07%. Third went to Trini Elaine
Millet & Bajan Dave Blackman with 57.99% while locals Deborah Fletcher
& Mervyn Hilton-Clarke took fourth at 55.56%. Tournament newcomer Zelina
Mann from Guyana joined up with Dennis Beepat for a close fifth with a fine
55.21%.
The awards were given out and the bar was in full swing as
everyone wound down after another full, yet enjoyable, bridge weekend. The
organizers should be proud of the result, and all look forward to 2002 in
Guyana.
You check out your masterpoint winnings here .