District 7 Grand National Teams
Bob Heller
One of the most successful District GNT finals in years took place May 2-3
at Anderson, SC, as 34 teams entered the flighted events.
We had an even dozen Flight A teams participate, making for an almost
perfect knockout event: Four three-way matches leading to an eight-team
quarterfinal, in which the top eight seeds (determined by a team’s
masterpoint average) competed. The field included 20 of our district’s top 50
lifetime masterpoint leaders.
Randy and Kay Joyce of Raleigh, Bill Wisdom of Salisbury, NC, and Tom
Rutledge of Charleston -- the top seeds -- prevailed by just 3 IMPs over the
seventh-seeded squad of Kevin Collins, Patty Tucker, Art Mathews and Roger
Roemmich, the first three from metro Atlanta and Roger is from Athens.
The Collins team led by 3 IMPs halfway through the 28-board match.
Webmeister Chuck Whidden, who kibitzed much of finals, called it “a great
match . . . good bridge played by good players who are all good people.”
In Flights B and C, which drew 12 and 10 teams, there was a two-session
Swiss qualifier to create a four-team KO. In both cases, the fourth-place
qualifier -- which had no better than an average Saturday -- emerged
victorious.
In Flight B, Phil Hook, Jim Satterfield, Larry Rivkin and Bob Jones, all
of metro Atlanta, decisively defeated Harold and Carol Winecoff and Gretchen
and David Smith, from the Salisbury, NC, area. Phil, who led the ACBL Life
Master category last year, and Jim, a former ACBL Rookie of the Year,
recently had won a Flight B trip to the North American Open Pairs event at
the Spring NABC.
The Flight C champions were decided by the narrowest of margins, as
Christopher and Lee Webb and Elizabeth Beckwith of the Columbia area and Andy
Hurd of Charleston nipped the Georgia squad of Andrew Echols, Robbie Battle,
James Cornwell and Neil Morgan, 56-55.
Each winning team receives $2,000 from the District to defray costs of
the trip to San Antonio to compete in the North American GNT finals. This
event, and the financial benefits, would not be possible without strong
grass-roots support. Once again, North Carolina clubs, units and players
deserve the lion’s share of credit for their participation in qualifying
games.
Greensboro, in a two-session event, drew 22 teams. Hendersonville, the
district hotbed the past few year, scheduled four qualifying games and
totaled 71 teams (including events of 20 and 21 tables). And Eldon and Susie
Clayman of Valdese, in the district’s smallest unit, sponsored four games,
which drew 35 teams. The “non-North Carolina” award goes to Priscilla Smith
of Marietta, who scheduled six qualifying games that attracted 38 teams.
Thanks to District GNT coordinator Liz Swanson and director Kathy Whidden
for contributing to this report.
Flight A (36, 27, 18 MPs)
1 — Randy Joyce, Kay Joyce, Tom Rutledge, Bill Wisdom
2 — Kevin Collins, Patty Tucker, Art Mathews, Roger Roemmich
3/4 — Richard Brown, Hap Neuffer, Lucas Lebioda, Wayne Hollingsworth
3/4 ---Greg and AnnaLee Gault, Pat Wefel, Alec Price, Samuel Marks, Dwight Meredith
Flight B (24, 28, 12 MPs)
1 — Phil Hook, Jim Satterfield, Larry Rivkin, Bob Jones
2 — Carol and Howard Winecoff, David and Gretchen Smith
3/4 — John Cobb Jr, John Markey, Xin Ge, John Marriott Jr.; Michael Starr
3/4 ---Robert Marsh, Barbara Dellinger, Sharon Hitson, Tom McDow
Flight C (15, 11.25, 7.5 MPs)
Click here for detailed story about the Flight C Event
1 — Christopher and Lee Webb, Elizabeth Beckwith, Andy Hurd
2 — Andrew Echols, Robbie Battle, James Cornwell, Neil Morgan
3/4 — Owen and Barbara Doster, Carol Perkins, Hazel McDermott;
3/4 --Venki Ramachandran, Guru Shyamsundar, Craig Snelgrove,
Christopher Smith, William Rittenberg
|