Page 8 - ABF Newsletter December 2024

And the nominations are...
CHRIS DEPASQUALE reports on his team’s narrow defeat in the final of the Open Team Playoff
Less than twenty-four hours after the playoffs for the Open team to represent Australia at the 2025 World Championships had concluded, I received a request to write something about it here. I certainly didn’t feel like doing so, as the loss in the final by a handful of imps that could so easily have been reversed was still so recent and raw, but I said yes. For the same reason I said yes when Ron Cooper asked if Michael Courtney and I would join the team he was putting together for the playoffs – I always worry that if I ever say no they will simply stop asking.
When I asked Phil Gue if he had any thoughts, com- ments, or hands worthy of inclusion in this article he responded with, “Nothing that springs to mind, other than my errors, which my therapist is working to expunge!” Last century, during my chess playing days I observed that when you travel to the major events you arrive with luggage and depart with bag- gage. Except for the winners, of course, although...
The winners
By now you should know that the winning team was Phil Markey - Joachim Haffer and Sophie Ashton - David Wiltshire. In the quarter-final they defeated Lakshmi Sunderasan - Alex Goss and Charles Mc- Mahon - John McMahon by a score of 366-286. By a score of 290-260 they overcame the powerful lineup of Paul Dalley - Tony Nunn, Sartaj Hans - Shane Har- rison and Joshua Tomlin - Peter Gill. Then, in the final they defeated Phil Gue - Stephen Burgess, Jonathon Free - Ron Cooper and Michael Courtney - Chris De- pasquale 247-236.
It may surprise some that a four-person team pre- vailed against some strong six-person teams, but it should not. In the playoff for the 2020 Open team the final saw Hans - Gill - Edgtton - Hung defeat Coutts - Milne - Mill - Nunn, while the six six-person teams had been eliminated in earlier rounds. The disadvantage for a four-person team is a gruelling schedule of 360 boards in six days. By way of com- parison, the 2024 ANC Butler in Orange saw the fi- nalists play ‘just’ 336 boards over six days, although some of those Butler finalists were backing up after playing the Interstate Teams.
The big advantage of being a quartet is that you can hardly get anything wrong before the first bid is made each set! The six-person team always has
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decisions to make (which pair sits out) and it is easy to get those wrong. I think our team made a serious strategic error at the beginning of day two (set 5) of the final. After losing the first three (of 8) stanzas by a combined 49 imps we roared back into contention with a 45-14 win in the fourth stanza. For stanza 5 we had seating choice and could have sat the same four people in the same seats as for our successful fourth stanza.
I have undertaken a lifetime studying the difference between success and failure. Largely it is about rec- ognising key moments and grasping them. Here, I think we missed a key moment. In stanza 5 we slipped further behind, but then levelled up the scores when the same quartet who had won stanza 4 won stanza 6 by 45-23. We did, of course, have our chances from there but...
When an AFL game is won by a goal kicked after the siren, the total focus is on that moment. But during the previous two hours there had been dozens of moments where opportunities were missed to gain a goal for one side or prevent a score for the oppo- nents. The player-captain-coach that recognises this is the one who will improve future outcomes.
I want to take this moment to step away from the event in Canberra and go back to Orange where you will find my nomination for non-playing captain of the year. He is Mark Hann (pictured) who captained the Northern Territory Open team
at the ANC. Mark is “non-play-
ing” in the true sense of the word
– he has never played a hand of
bridge in his life! An amusing
moment occurred in our match
with WA which Mark was watch-
ing when Jonathon Free needed
the bathroom after putting down
his dummy and asked Mark to play dummy’s cards for him. Reluctantly (there was nobody else around in the closed room) Mark took the seat. When Mimi Packer asked for a small club from dummy Mark looked up at her and earnestly asked, “which one is a small one?”
Yet Mark had all the skills of a superb captain. He was in touch with each of the six players’ wants and needs, be it coffee, a meal, sitting out a set, or what- ever. He always had our lineups in on time and di-
Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: December 2024