Auckland wins teams’ bridge

Press, 1 August 1977, Page 22

Auckland wins teams’ bridge

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J. R. WIGNALL

Ln a verx disappointing dis-! pla\. Canterbury finished m its lowest place in the Dunhill interprovincial teams championship Mt New Plymouth. The team, which included three of last year’s winning side and three other previous holders, was expected to challenge strongly again for a trophy that Canterbury has held on more occasions than any other province In the event, a bad start, followed b\ a halting recovery, and a disastrous finish, left the side in fifth place. There were two dominant provinces, but by the start of the last match of the round robin. Auckland had gained a useful lead In the final game it could manage only a narrow win against Otago-Southland. but the points it scored was enough to earn Auckland the Dunhill Trophy by the closest margin possible. Even though Waikato-Bays took the maximum points from its last match against Canterbury, it was only good enough to finish second, a single point behind. This is the second successive year that the event has resulted in a close finish. In 1976, Welling-

’ ton and Canterbury tied for second place, but this year both I provinces suffered a complete reversal of form. Final results:—Auckland :71» I. 1 Waikato-Bavs <7o> 2, Centra) Districts <ss> 3. Otago-Southland 4, Canterbury 5. Wellington 6. It is never easy to bid a grand slam even when there are 13 tricks on top. so both teams expected to show a profit when thex bid and made seven clubs

When Mrs R. P. Kerr and A. J. H Moore bid the grand slam there were six tricks in clubs, four in spades, two red aces and a heart ruff in the North hand. Unfortunately, their Auckland counterparts reached the same spot so there was no scoring on the board.