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• Latest News
The Fees and Subsidies and Target Events sections below have been updated.
19 Oct 2024
WBF announcement:
The World Bridge Federation is pleased to announce that we have reached in-principle agreement to hold the 2025 World National Teams Championship (including the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, D’Orsi Senior Trophy and Wuhan Cup) in Herning, Denmark between August 18 and August 30. The city of Herning, the Herning Bridge Club and the Danish Bridge Federation are generously offering to host their second major international bridge championship in 2 years.
7 Oct 2024
Entries open on Friday 22 November and close on Friday 29 November.
Important changes are being made to the Entry fee structure from previous Playoffs. Players and Captains must be aware of these changes which are detailed below and covered in a separate announcement sent to individual PQP holders.
WBF announcement:
Venue for the 2025 World Teams.
We wish to advise that although Macau had been the leading candidate venue for the 2025 World National Team Championships (for the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, D'Orsi Bowl, and Wuhan Cup), the requirements of the Chinese National Games in 2025 mean Macau is no longer a possibility.
Several alternative candidate venues were in the pipeline and are now being investigated in more detail. We will provide further details when we are reasonably sure of the date and venue.
• Purpose of the Playoff
The primary purpose of the Playoff is to select the Australian Mixed Team for the next year. By entering the Playoff, all players declare that they are available and intend to represent Australia in any Target Event/s if they qualify.
Participation and performance in the Playoff are also major criteria in deciding to whom the ABF offers the opportunity to represent Australia in any other (non-target) representative events that may arise in that year.
All players who enter the Playoff must be eligible to play for Australia as per the ABF's Eligibility to represent Australia Policy, and be eligible for any Target Events as per their eligibility codes.
• Venue
Canberra Bridge Club, 5-7 Duff Place, Deakin, ACT 2600
• Accommodation
There is a wide range of accommodation options available within a 5-10 minute drive to the venue from motels and hotels situated in the nearby suburbs of Forrest, Manuka and Kingston. Even if you don't have your own vehicle with you, Canberra has excellent Uber services to take you from any of these suburbs or the City Centre to Deakin.
• Catering
Due to the shortish period allowed for lunch between Matches 2 and 3 each day (notionally 32 minutes if teams take their full allocation to complete 15 boards), the organisers have planned with a nearby café – Farmers Daughter in Yarralumla – to provide a light lunch to each player. The menu being provided allows players to choose from the following options each day they are in the competition:
Choice of:
Individually wrapped selection of sandwiches or wraps such as Egg, Leg Ham, Vegie Wrap and Chicken Caesar
Individually boxed and labelled salads including Roast beetroot, baby spinach and bocconcini cheese salad with brown rice, orange segments, mint and pistachio nut; or Salmon Poke bowl with avocado, pickled ginger, cucumber, sumac spiced pumpkin, edamame beans and brown rice.
A soup selection may be added to the menu on certain days
Players with special dietary requirements that don’t conform to the above choices are strongly advised to bring their own lunches to avoid disappointment. The Bridge Club kitchen has refrigerators for use by those who bring their own food and drink.
The Deakin shopping centre directly across Duff Place has two cafes that provide excellent coffee, other beverages, cakes, pies, sandwiches, and light meals.
Double Shot, Shop 7 - https://doubleshotdeakin.com.au/
Opening hours 6.00 am to 2.30pm Monday to Sunday
Download Menu and contact details at website above
Café D’Lish, http://www.cafedlish.com.au/
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 7 am to 6pm, Saturday 8am – 1.30pm, Sunday & Public Holiday CLOSED
Download Menu and contact details at website above
Take away is an option for consumption at the bridge club. There is a large IGA supermarket at the shopping centre which includes fresh fruit, snacks and confectionary items as well as a wide variety of cold beverages and ice cream.
Each player will receive a bottle of water at the start of play. No drinking glasses or mugs will be provided but the bottles can be refilled in the Bridge Club kitchen. Instant coffee and tea bags, sugar and milk will be available with mugs for those who require it.
• Parking
There will be adequate parking in the Bridge Club carpark for the Quarter Finals as there will be no club bridge sessions on the Saturday and Sunday. When club bridge sessions resume on the Monday, players are advised to use the large free public carpark at the rear of the bridge club (accesses off Macgregor St and Grose St) and not the bridge club car park required by the club regular players.
• BBO Coverage
Subject to the organisers being able to find the necessary BBO operators, one match in each round will be broadcast on BBO. Details of the proposed schedule and coverage will be posted each day of the event.
• Player Wellness and Dress Code
Covid rules in the ACT have eased considerably since the 2022 Playoffs were held. Notwithstanding, players remain responsible for monitoring their own health and should not turn up to play at the venue if they are unwell. The TO retains the absolute discretion to exclude a player who arrives at the venue and is demonstrably unwell.
Player are also reminded that they must conform with the Dress Code of the venue which includes but is not limited to no brief shorts, no bare shoulders (males only); i.e., for instance, no singlets, no tank tops no sportswear, i.e. no swimwear, no lycra cycle wear, no body suits, no sports shorts, no bare feet, no rubber thongs, no dirty shoes or boots, no soiled sneakers.
• Smoking
Any organisation renting the Canberra Bridge Club premises needs to comply with ACT legislation on smoking and the required distance smokers must be from the entrance to the building. The local CBC interpretation of that distance is the bottom of the ramp that leads to the front door and not the bench at the top of the ramp or the bench at the bottom of the stairs. Players at the Mixed Playoff interact with CBC patrons on the weekdays and should observe this required distance every time they wish to smoke.
• Fees and Subsidies
Entry Fees
The entry fee structure is changing this year from last year. Teams will be charged based on the number of rounds that they play in the event rather than a flat fee.
Each round will have an entry fee of $1,320 per team (same amount for 4 or 6 player teams).
Teams with a bye in a round are still liable to the entry fee for that round.
Teams that progress from the quarter finals to the semi-finals will be charged another $1,320 per team.
Teams that then progress to the final will be charged another $1,320 per team.
There are no refunds at any stage.
Entry fees will be charged to your MyABF account and it is a requirement of play that you either have sufficient funds in your account prior to each stage of the Playoff to cover the entry fee OR that you have auto top-up enabled on your MyABF account.
If you do not have auto top-up enabled and there are insufficient funds in your MyABF account for the entry fee for the next stage you will be disqualified from playing.
The ABF will process the first charge against your account on the day before the event (6 December).
If you qualify to progress to the next round then your MyABF account will be charged before the start of the round. The same applies if you qualify for the final.
An option will be available to have a single person (captain) nominated to be charged entry fees for your entire team. In that situation that person will be charged the entry fee for the full team and it will be up to them to collect fees from the other team members. Of course, the same constraints as above apply to either have sufficient funds in that person’s MyABF account or for them to have auto top-up enabled.
Youth players and full time students under the age of 31 are eligible for a 50% discount on entry fees. However, they are still required to pay their full share of the team entry fee upfront and will receive separate payment of the discount amount (along with any travel subsidy) direct to their bank account.
If any player is experiencing financial difficulties but would still like to play they should contact the ABF’s Executive Director, David Fryda, on 0418 427458.
By entering the event you authorise the ABF to charge the entry fee to your MyABF account.
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Subsidies
The travel subsidies this year will be the same as they were last year and are shown in the table below.
| Darwin
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$900
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| Perth
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$850
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| Hobart
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$550
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| Adelaide
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$460
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| Melbourne
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$400
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| Brisbane/Gold Coast
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$400
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| Sydney
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$280
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| Canberra
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$0
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Playoff subsidies will be paid directly to individual player bank accounts and will not be netted off entry fees.
Players wishing to opt out of Playoff subsidies may do so by contacting the Tournament Organiser. Opting out of the travel subsidy will help the ABF to reduce entry fees to future events.
Playoff subsidies will be paid directly to individual player bank accounts and will not be netted off entry fees.
Players who participated in the Open Playoff will now also be entitled to a travel subsidy for the Mixed Playoff.
• Format
The format will be teams based.
- 120-board knockout matches, each played over two days;
- teams ranked by PQPs for determining knockout brackets and tie breaking; and
- a maximum entry of eight teams (ranked upon total PQPs - after bonuses are applied).
• Target events and financial assistance to representative teams
The Target Event for the 2025 representative teams is the WBF World Championships to be held in Herning, Denmark from August 19th to August 30th 2025.
The winning team will also be eligible to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific Bridge Federation (APBF) Championships which will be held in Quanzhou, China at the end of April (exact dates not yet known).
The winning team will also participate in the Zone 7 Playoffs at a time and location to be determined.
The ABF Board have decided that the subsidy amount that will be offered to representatives will be approximately the equivalent of a discount economy airfare to the closest international airport to the venue plus one night’s accommodation.
For Herning that amount will be A$2,500 per representative. With any Canberra based representatives entitled to a A$200 supplement.
For Quanzhou that amount will be A$1,200.
Subsidy amounts are not negotiable.
Further information will be provided as it comes to hand and placed in the Latest News section.
• Contacts
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Roy Nixon