Two rounds of the Junior Championships have been played - the third and final round is next week. Heading the field at this stage are Pete and Chris, who scored a magnificent 75% today. Hard on their heels are Jane and Sue, as well as Stuart and Deb. Also in contention are Beth and Janice, and Val and Diane - winners from last week. As we all know, in bridge as in life there are ups and downs - so it's still anybody's competition to win. Wishing all players good cards and good luck for next week and remember, we can probably learn more from our losses than from our wins!

Following the Waikato Trials in June where the Junior Team came second and the Intermediate Team came first we went to Matamata on Sunday 24th August to contest the Waikato Bays Interclub Final. Our Intermediate Team of Ted Cliffin, Josie McKenzie, Sabrina Peters and Nita Knight cleaned up all the opposition to win the Intermediate Section. It was a step better than last year where they were runners-up. Congratulations to all four of them. The Junior team of Lousie Cameron, Jane Browne, Chris Good and Pete Woodford came third. It was a great day and good experience for us.

Four of our members Sabrina, Nita, Barbara and Ted went down to Taupo for the first session of the Waikato/Bays Intermediate League. We are pleased to see that Barbara and Ted were winners on the day and won the tournament. That puts them in the lead for the overall competition so we wish them well for the rest of the year.

This stratified tournament was held on Sunday 17th November. 2 of our Thames pairings did very well as the results will show. There were 3 divisions and our winners and Runners Up were: Division 1: First: Grant Jarvis and Gary Chen Runners Up: Joy Williams & Lesley Quilty Division 2 First: Jena Robinson & Alex Barshia Runners Up: Rob Davies & Shirely Xu Division 3 First: Nita Knight & Adrienne Donald Runners Up: Celia Young & Noelene Kirkpatrick

The Gilligan Barclay cup was won this year by Barbara McFarlane and Ted Cliffin. A great turnout from both clubs saw a well fought competition. Well done to team Thames

Eight days of bridge – every morning and every afternoon. Thank goodness the evenings were free of bridge as we were ready for bed by 8.30pm. That is 450 boards, 48 hours and a variety of Pairs, Swiss Pairs and Teams - WOW You don’t have to play everything nor do you have to play every day – some people go for an event or a day or three but Joy and I decided to go all in! It’s not all bridge, there’s the companionship of sharing a house and eating together at home or in the local cafes and restaurants. New friends from all over the country and even overseas.

Our 2 teams were successful at Te Awamutu yesterday Saturday 17th August. Ted and Larraine came first E/W in the morning session and 10th overall. Nita and Sabrina did extremely well coming second overall. Well done to everyone.

On June 23rd we sent 2 teams to represent our club at the Waikato Bays Regional Interclub event held in Cambridge. It was a full day with 3 divisions playing. Our Junior team of Mel Shea, Jane Browne, Sue Dixon and Louise Cameron tried hard but unfortunately were not successful with Matamata winning the Juniors. HOWEVER our very clever Intermediate team of Ted Cliffin, Loraine Dixon, Nita Knight and Sabrina Peters came out as overall winners of their division on the day and will go onto represent Waikato at the Finals in August Congratulations to them. Well played