Bridge lovers battle at Northerns
The Benoni Northerns Open Bridge Championships, hosted by Benoni Northerns Bridge Club (BNBC), took place at the club on Sunday, July 12.
The tournament, the first of its kind to be staged at BNBC, was a red point event which attracted a number of top players from throughout Gauteng.
A red point event is an occasion where players get, according to the Masterpoint scheme, more points than those which can be attained on a club night (blue points).
“It means a lot to us to host this tournament,” said BNBC chairman Alan Stephens.
“We worked extremely hard to get a red point event.
“To be allocated a red point event is extremely prestigious, as not every club is allocated such an event.”
Forty pairs (80 players) of bridge lovers participated in the tournament and Stephens described these attendance figures as “absolutely amazing”.
“It says a lot about what we are doing here at the club; we are putting Benoni on the bridge map,” he added.
The winners in the A-Section were BNBC’s Robert Stephens and Hennie Fick, who achieved a score percentage of 67.27, while Bridie Bullen-Smith placed second in the section, with 58.61 per cent.
The pair of Stephens and Fink will represent South Africa in India later this year, where they will play in the world championships called the “Bermuda Bowl”, after finishing in second place at the African Zonals, held in Egypt, earlier in the year .
Pretoria players Estelle Elliot and Martha Pistorius were the winners in the B-Section, with a score percentage of 56.21.
They were followed in the B-Section by Patrick Hansen and Gail Gruenbaum, with a score of 55.23 per cent.
Results of the championship (Top 20):
1 Robert Stephens and Hennie Fick 67.27% (A-Section, 1st)
2 Bridie Bullen-Smith and Paul van der Wal 58.61% (A-Section, 2nd)
3 Clyde Mallinson and Joe Israeli-zindel 58.50%
4 James Grant and Sid Ismail 58.12%
5 Bruce Wang and Henry Wu 57.52%
6 Alan and Jenni Lewis 57.14%
7 Estelle Elliot and Martha Pistorius 56.21 (B-Section, 1st)
8 Patrick Hansen and Gail Gruenbaum 55.23% (B-Section, 2nd)
9 Barney and Entha Zagnoev 54.41%
10 Helen Kruger and Patsi Shefer 54.03%
11 Delys Shepard and Juliet Harrison 53.59%
12 Guylaine Turton and Gloria Mathers 53.54%
13 Colin van der Westhuizen and Trish Mclean 53.43%
14 Robert Solomon and Sandy Wentzel 53.05%
15 Pat Eve and Rose Neave 52.89%
16 Nathan Hrrscovitz and Dino Zolezzi 52.78%
17 Cathy Saville and Di England 52.18%
18 Dietman and Fazila Lenz 52.12%
19 Merle Modlin and Joan Israelite 51.80%
20+ Lilly van Alten and Barbara Goldman 51.63%
20+ Susanne Braatveldt and Annemarie Waterman 51.63%
