A few of our elite "home town" Minnesota players were in contention - for a while - to earn a slot at the next Bermuda Bowl. At the team trials in White Plains, Joe Grue was competing on the George Jacobs team with partner Curtis Cheek. Howie Weinstein and Steve Garner continued their tip-top partnership on the Roy Welland team.
Joe's team lost one match early, but was still alive with a double elimination format. Alas for Joe, the strong Nick Nickell team proved too much for them. The Jacobs team lost by a moderate number of IMPS.
The next match, it was Howie and Steve's turn to face Nickell's squad. In an even longer match, Nickell came on strong. The Welland team tried a number of maneuvers, with some working. Behind by a large margin, however, not enough of the "shooting" worked.
Thus, our "locals" will have to wait for the next cycle to represent the U.S. For those who would like to see two tough teams battle it out for USA #2 in the Bermuda Bowl, be sure to watch vugraph at Bridge Base Online tomorrow. While we're disappointed that we can't watch one of "our" guys compete - we will be able to watch fabulous and exciting bridge!
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