Trials 2008

Ladies' Trials for the Lady Milne

The selectors wish to remind ladies eligible to play for Wales in the Lady Milne that the Ladies' Trials are scheduled to take place on 13th & 14th December 2008 at a venue likely to be in Mid Wales.

Players are invited to enter as pairs and to submit their names to Neville Richards by not later than 22nd November 2008. The selectors will announce the venue, exact format and scoring method when the number of pairs is known.

Open Trials

The WBU Selection Committee has announced the arrangements for the Trials for the "Open Team" for the 2008/09 Season. The outcome of the trials will be the selection of a squad to represent Wales in the Camrose weekends of 9th-11th January 2009 to be held in Wales and 6th-8th March 2009 to be held in England, together with any other events for which the Selection Committee wish to select a team - for example the European Nations Cup at Bonn in May 2009.

The dates for the Trials are set out in the WBU Calendar and are, together with criteria for exemption from Trials and notification of entry arrangements, set out below :

Pre-Trial
This will be held on 30th-31st August 2008 at the New Inn, Newbridge-on-Wye. The format will be that of all-play-all as pairs, with the scoring to be by Butler and/or Cross-Imping, to be determined by the Selectors. It is expected that at least 1, probably 2 and possibly 3 or 4 pairs will qualify for the Final Trials, the exact number to be determined by the Selectors.

{When a healthy 16 pairs entered the pre-trial, the selectors decided that five pairs would qualify. They were Mike Pownall & Peter Goodman, Keith Shuttleworth & Roger Bowles, Barry Jones & Paddy Murphy, Liz Commins & David Stevenson, and Liz Atkinson & Chris Rochelle.}

Final Trials
These will be held on 27th-28th September 2008 and 1st-2nd November 2008 at Cardiff Bridge Club, to enable screens to be used. Pairs selected for the Final Trials will play in both weekends, with format and scoring similar to that for the Pre-Trial. Participating will be the 5 exempt pairs who have submitted entries plus 5 pairs qualified from the pre-trial. One pair (Keith Shuttleworth & Roger Bowles) has withdrawn for personal reasons and has been replaced by Trevor Towers & Simon Richards.

The format will be all-play-all in 10 board matches with scoring to be by Butler, converted to victory points. Scores from the first weekend will be carried forward to the second weekend. The session times are as follows:

27th September :

13.00 - 17.00 - Three 10 board matches, each of 80 minutes
Short break - tea/coffee available - bring own food if required.
17.30 - 20.10 - Two 10 board matches, each of 80 minutes

28th September

11.00 - 13.40 - Two 10 board matches, each of 80 minutes
Short break - tea/coffee available - bring own food if required.
14.00 - 16.40 - Two 10 board matches, each of 80 minutes

Following consultation with the pairs travelling from afar, it is expected that the same start times will be used for the second weekend.

The Selectors decided on the following exemptions and arrangements for entering the different stages of these Trials :

a. Tim Rees and Filip Kurbalija are exempt from all Trials in view of their recent results and to enable them to take part in the prestigious Lederer tournament. They will thus be included in the squad.

b. Those pairs included in European Open and Camrose Teams during the period from 2006 European Open Teams to 2008 European Teams will be exempt from the Pre-Trial. These are P.Denning/P.Shields, P.Goodman/A.Thomas, G.Jones/D.Jones, J.Casey/D.Kurbalija, M.Best/M.Roderick, and J.Salisbury/M.Tedd. These pairs were requested to notify Neville Richards by no later than 20th August 2008 should they wish to take part in the Final Trials. {All did so, except Peter Goodman and Adrian Thomas.}

c. All others, including those named in b. above who may wish to enter with new partners, were requested to notify Neville Richards by no later than 10th August, 2008 should they wish to take part in the Pre-Trial.

Any questions about these arrangements should be addressed to Neville Richards.

Details of Trials arrangements for the Senior Camrose will follow in due course.