Page 15 - ABF Newsletter June 2025

Board 26. Dealer East. Both sides vulnerable.
]J976
[ Q 10 7 }K7654 { 10
Board 2. Dealer East. North-South vulnerable.
]Q108 [Q87 }AKQ1064 {7
]A2
NORTH EAST SOUTH Ino Beauchamp Imakura
1[ pass 2} 3{ pass
all pass
]543
[A9
}J93 }— }9853 }7
{A9876
]AK2 [J62
} A Q 10 8 2 {K3
{QJ542
]K9754 [63
}J2 {AQ84
South’s response to Stayman was 2}, and the threat of likely four-card major holdings in the North hand was enough to keep the opponents silent.
At the other table North passed 1NT, and Beau- champ balanced with 2[. Both partscores made, for 7 imps to Australia.
The final result was a 9-imp win to Australia, extend- ing their lead over China, but their next opponents Japan had also won their match to remain close behind. Either team could take a big lead with a win in this match. The aggressive Aussie style got the match off to a great start:
Board 1. Dealer North. Neither side vulnerable.
]K6543 [3 }A874 {J64
{ A 8 7 5 3 2 ]AQ92
[ K Q 10 8 4 } J 10 5
{Q
Grosvenor opened 2] as North, which is becoming quite popular in Australia as an 8-11 five-card open- ing (always five, never six, and always 8-11). South had an easy raise to 4], and Grosvenor made an overtrick when East led ace and another heart.
At the other table, NS had no chance to get into the auction. Beauchamp opened 1[ as East, stealing South’s main suit, and when West’s 1NT response came back, South did not have any appropriate bid. Just a non-vulnerable game swing, so 7 imps to Aus- tralia.
History repeated itself on the next board, this time for a vulnerable game swing:
Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: June 2025
WEST
van der Vlugt
pass 3[
] 10 7
[95 [AJ762 }Q96 }K32
After passing on the first round, South could not find a way into the auction at the three-level with just doubleton support for partner’s balancing 2}. North would have done much better to bid 3} rather than 2}, which is stronger in passout seat.
At the other table, Kozakos overcalled 1] with the South cards, and again an easy game was reached for 11 imps to Australia.
This was a great start for Australia, and they held on to this lead to end with a 25-imp win, leaving them with an almost-unassailable 19.39 VP lead over Japan, with no other teams still in contention.
In his daily blog on the Tasmanian Bridge Associa- tion website, Hugh described this as, “a great posi- tion but we have all managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the past so we approach the last match determined to finish well!“
He needn’t have worried; the team’s lead was ex- tended with their third win of the day, against Indo- nesia, leaving Australia 21.95 VP clear of the field to easily take the gold medal.
In other divisions, the Open Team (Sophie Ashton, Dave Wiltshire, Joe Haffer, Phil Markey, Liam Milne, James Coutts and Mike Doecke npc) came third, win- ning Australia’s first Open APBF medal since 2011. The Women’s Team (called the Ladies’ Team in this event) were fourth, and the Mixed Team were eighth.
After the Teams event ended, Zonal Playoffs were held with Chinese Taipei vs Korea, Japan vs Thailand, and of course Australia vs New Zealand. Australia won their Open, Senior and Women’s playoffs.
Hugh’s daily blog from the event can be viewed at
http://tasbridge.com.au
] Q 10 8 [K8543
[ 10 9 4 {J95
[AKJ52 { K 10 6 3 2
] J 8
{ K 10 9
]J63
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