Commonwealth Nations 2010

The Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships is under way in New Delhi from October 24th to October 29th. The Wales team is Adrian Thomas (captain), Peter Goodman, Patrick Jourdain, Gary Jones and Tim Rees. 24 teams are participating, 17 national teams and 7 'special entrants' who are not eligible for medals. The 4-day qualifying phase sees a full round-robin of 23 8-board matches, after which the leading teams play knockout for the medals.

Wales started slowly. A poor first day included significant losses to Australia and to one of the Indian special entrants, as well as a narrow loss to an unfancied Guernsey team, so we were below average at the end of the day. Apparently we were on the wrong side of a lot of thin slams.

The second day was better with a number of wins and only one significant loss. At the end of the day, after 12 rounds, Wales were 11th= overall, behind only five of the other national teams.

Day three started with a narrow loss to Kenya and a resounding win over England. Two more good wins saw Wales sixth, with the last match of the day to play, which was featured on BBO. Seven of the eight boards were flat, but the seventh board was a big swing. 4H or 4S are very lucky makes, and our EW pair sensibly played in 3H. The opponents had a bidding misunderstanding, and reached 5S doubled which is off three Aces. Unfortunately our pair failed to cash them, which turned a 17-13 win into a 12-18 loss. There's still everything to play for in the five matches tomorrow - Wales lie 9th, only 16 VPs behind the two teams equal third. Four teams play off for the medals.

Two appeals on the thrid day have changed the picture a little. In the England match a director's ruling in our favour was overturned on appeal, making the result there 21-9 to Wales. And the 5S doubled hand was adjusted to a flat board as a result of misinformation given to the Wales players, so that match was 0-0 in IMPs and 15-15 in VPs.

The final day started with two wins, a narrow loss to the strong India I team and a draw. This left Wales 16 behind the fourth qualifying slot with only an arithmetic chance of qualifying for the main medal play offs. The last match against Scotland was crucial! Unfortunately every view seemed to go wrong in this match, and it was lost 0-35 in IMPs, 4-25 in VPs. As a result Scotland just qualified for the play offs on Friday, where they won the gold medal. When all the adjustments had been made, Wales finished 9th overall, 5th of the National teams, behind Australia India Scotland and (just) England.

Peter Goodman will send us some reports. Here's the first. The second, at the start of day 3. The third at the end of day 3.

And here are his pictures of the opening ceremony.

You can find bulletins, results and other information at the official website for the event and also at this India Bridge site