Page 14 - ABF Newsletter December 2024

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Letters to the editor
The following letter was written before the results of the 2024 Open Playoffs were known.
It is fair to say that Australian Teams have not been outstanding at the world
teams’ championships this century. In the odd-numbered years and the even-
numbered Olympic years, no Australian team has reached the semi-finals and far
fewer than half have reached the quarter-finals. This year our Open Team and our Mixed Team did not make the Round of 16. Our Women’s Team qualified 10th and lost in the Round of 16. Our Seniors’ Team qualified 13th and lost in the Round of 16.
Some suggestions for the ABF Open and Mixed Playoffs:
(a) Reduce the Open and the Mixed Playoffs, currently held over six days, from eight subsidised teams to four subsidised teams, based on PQPs, and reduce the number of boards from 120 per match currently to 90 per match. That will reduce the playoffs to three days without a significant loss of talent in the results. In past years, only one team outside the top four has won the Open Teams Playoff in the odd-numbered years and the Olympic years.
OR
(b) Reduce the Open and Mixed Playoffs to three subsidised teams based on PQPs. For the fourth semi-final team, hold a one-day round-robin event before the semi-finals for up to six non-subsidised teams, based on PQPs. The winner becomes the fourth semi-final team and then receives the appropriate subsidy.
Benefits: Players with representative ambitions will need to compete in more ABF events to acquire sufficient PQPs = More income for the ABF. Fewer teams in the playoffs = greater savings to the ABF and greater sav-
ings for the players who would have been in teams 5-8 for the playoffs.
Ron Klinger
Page 14 Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: December 2024