The Waikato Bays grade interclub was held on Sunday 23rd August. We had a Junior and an Intermediate team that had qualified for the final. Four teams in each grade and 3 rounds of 16 boards were played. Our Intermediate team unfortunately did not place but our Junior team won their grade. They got presented with the cup and found that Thames had won it 34 years previous so a long drought was broken by them. The Junior team consisted of Peter Woodford, Chris Good, Ron Baker and Rob Stewart.

The Junior Club Champs were held over 3 weeks in July and August alongside the Senior Club Partnership Competition. The winners of the Juniors were Sue Dixon and Jane Browne and the Senior winners were Judith Bishop and Josie McKenzie.

5 people from our club attended the Waihi Pairs Tournament on Saturday 13th June We had great success with Nita Knight and Pat Johansen coming first overall. Well done to them both.

The Pauline Yorke Individual is played over 4 sessions. Pauline Yorke was a longtime member of the club. This year's Junior Winner was Sue Dixon. Her partners were Mike Hoskings, Gaylene Last-Harris, Pam Buchanan and Jim Urry. Sue is seen here being presented with the winning prize kindly donated by Judy Bowen (Pauline Yorkes Daughter) Nita Knight was the overall winner.

Beginner Lessons are on now at the Thames Bridge Club. Come along on Wednesdays 1pm to 3pm or at night 6pm to 8pm It is a great game to learn and we are a friendly club that welcomes beginners. For anymore information contact Karen 021 2369266 or Lorraine 022 6824200

This tournament took place on Jan 9th,10th and 11th. It was a very successful tournament with a good attendance. We had some wonderful sponsors for this tournament: Purnell Lawyers, Twentymans Funeral Directors, Specsavers Thames, Versatile, Superprice Furniture, Snowdens Menswear, Tony Moxsom, SKN, Bespoke Barbers. Our thanks go to all these people for their support The winners on the day were: John Eldridge Open Teams 2026 Rachelle Pelkman, Murray Wood, Gary Foidl, Brett Glass. Allan Barclay Open Pairs 2026 N/S: Bigi Cameron & Murat Genc E/W: Patrick Carter & Grant Jar

Thames held a very successful Christmas Tournament on the 2nd November at our clubrooms. Some of our Thames players featured in the results. Overall in the morning session, Nita and Adrienne were 1st N/S. Murray and Judy were 2nd N/S. Greg and Mary Ellen were 4th N/S. And in the afternoon Howell session, Murray and Judy were 1st. Alex and Jenna were 4th. Murray and Judy Pawson were first overall for the day. The tournament was conclu

The Waikato Area Pairs is a 10 session tournament held at 5 different Waikato Clubs over the year: Cambridge, Te Aroha, Matamata, Te Awamutu and Hamilton. It's an Open Tournament but there are also prizes for the best non-open and the best junior pairs. Congratulations to Jena and Mary-Ellen placed 2nd overall and to Ron and Rob, our members from Pauanui, who took the prize for best juniors

There was an exciting finish to the 2025 Junior Championships which saw Stuart and Deb consolidating 3rd place and Karen and Karen moving into 2nd place. The overall winners, with a clear lead, were Chris and Pete - a formidable partnership. Congratulations to you all. Thanks to Lorraine for her work with the Juniors throughout the year, and to Jena for directing.

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!