Slack/Richardson wins Open Pairs at 21st OECS Bridge Championship Tournament
Story courtesy of the St. Kitts Bridge Association
The 21st Annual OECS Bridge Championship was held at the Bay Garden’s Hotel, St. Lucia, from 13th to 15th June, 2008
Sixty eight players from eight countries participated. The St. Kitts contingent comprised of Ian Slack, Dr. Laughton Richardson, Bechara Kassab, Ronald Buchanan Linda Irwin and Sam Franks.
On Friday, thirty four pairs participates in the Open Pairs competition and after two sessions, Ian Slack and Dr. Laughton Richardson, both from St. Kitts, emerged winners with 408 points, narrowly defeating the St. Lucia pair of Dr. George Forde and Mario Michael with 402 points. The Charles Hollington/Ian Harvey pair of Barbados, Ian Hyppolyte/Jackie Theodore pair of St. Lucia and Jean Rimband/ Louis Suivant pair of Martinique filled the next three positions in the Competition.
The Antigua team was comprised of Al James, John Charlesworth, Colin graham Jones and Teresia Mathews; the Dominica team of Foued Issa, Richard Green, Phillip Griffin and Allan Guye.
On Saturday, six OECS Teams competed in the National Championship Tournament. Dominica was first after the first Round with 104 Victory points followed by Antigua – 89; St. Kitts – 83; St. Lucia – 72; Anguilla – 62 and Grenada – 26. In the playoffs on Sunday, Antigua defeated Dominica by 10 International Match Points to become the 2008 OECS National Bridge Champions thereby preventing Dominica from becoming the first to retain the title for four consecutive years.
The last time St. Kitts won the Open Pairs was in Dominica in 1995 when Fitzroy Bryant and Ian Slack brought home the Trophy.
Eleven Teams played on Sunday in the Open Teams Competition. The winning team comprised Julie Betts and Emmanuel Theodore from St. Lucia and Jean Traverson and Jean-Michel Guiter from Martinique defeating second placed Barbados team of Jackie Thompson, Colin Depradine, Ian Harvey and Charles Hollingsworth. The third position was claimed by another team from Barbados comprising of Michael Gill, Roglyn Hinds, Harvey Moseley and Alan Moss.
Thirteen teams participated in the Swiss Team Tournament which was also played on Sunday. The Barbados team of Michael Gill, Roglyn Hinds, Harvey Moseley and Alan Moss emerged winners followed by two teams from Martinique comprising of Phillipe Cottrell, Marie Chantal Rimbaud, Denise Dorn and Nicholette Dabreteau then Yves Oliveri, Claudette Faillet, Jean-Yves Dabreteau and Michel Faillet.
Trophies were presented to finishers in the top three positions of each competition by Mr. Victor Reid from the Ministry of Sports, St. Lucia and Mr. Robert Fevrier of the First National Bank.
The Tournament was directed by Ralph Jaikaransingh of Trinidad & Tobago who ran an efficient tournament ably assisted by four students, Collina, Joan, Virgil and Natasha from the SALCC College.
The winners of the twenty one tournaments played since the inception of the OECS Bridge Championships are St. Kitts, 8; Dominica, 6; Montserrat, 3; Antigua, 3; and St. Lucia, 1.
The St. Kitts Bridge Association wishes to thank St. Lucia for their great hospitality.
Grenada is expected to host the 2009 OECS Bridge Tournament.
