Rotorua turned on perfect bridge-playing weather for this year’s Restricted Tournament on Saturday – wet and miserable outside, but warm and convivial inside. It was great to see players from many different clubs and all levels coming to compete together, in a friendly, fun atmosphere.
The overall winners were Barbara Daly and Rachelle Meijer from Hamilton, who also won the Open-Junior division. And Barbara won a raffle prize too, so a successful day all round for her!
Runners-up John O’Connor and Joy Williams, from Hamilton and Matamata respectively, were top in the Open-Intermediate section. Winners of the Intermediate-Intermediate section were ex-Rotorua players, now of Whakatane, Rex Tulloch and Joyce Reid, and runners-up were local players Rowan Friend and Mark Bendall – playing together for the first time. The Rotorua pair of Christine de Vries and Graham Wallace won the Junior-Junior section.
A range of delicious home-made soups prepared by club members was much enjoyed by the players at lunch-time, as well as an excellent selection of morning and afternoon tea. Many thanks to Wendy Fraser and her team for all their wonderful work in the kitchen, and all members who contributed food. We are also very grateful for the support of Motorsports LMVD Ltd. Thanks also to tournament director Alan Dick, and Jan for scoring. It all made for a very enjoyable day.