The first of March, Steve Gaynor organized a GNT qualifier at the Twin City Bridge Center. Not only did competitors have the opportunity to get qualified for the GNT District 14 competition in April, they also were able to listen to a fine lesson from Steve about bidding distinctions between matchpoints and IMPS. Particularly since some of our players are earnest newer players, and (of course) GNT qualifiers are team events with IMP scoring, this was of excellent benefit. And the cherry on top (or should I say, the veggies and ham and pineapple) on PIZZA was a yummy bonus!
Following Steve's lecture, the Swiss team matches began. Leading the pack was a team we often see at the top: long time stars Cindy and Bob Balderson, Dave Collins and Carole Miner. We were thrilled to see two teams of primarily college students competing and doing well - the Curt Kristensen team (Ben's dad) with Ben from U of MN Duluth along with U of MN Twin Cities Sean and Zeren. And some of our Carleton collegiate up and coming champs, too - Jackson, Sarah, Morgan and Julia.
Note that we are also excited to see our newer Flight C players competing for GNT! Wonderful to see Helen Vagle's team and Becky Gamble's team battling away! Playing against tough competition is one of THE finest ways to learn - so kudos to them for their showings on Sunday!
Big thanks to Teri and Chip Blu, Twin City Bridge Center owners, for hosting Sunday's qualifier. Cool to see one of our finest directors around, too - Tony Ames. Tony will be directing the GNT District 14 event in April. Lucky us!
Q 1 2.40R Cindy Balderson - Bob Balderson Jr - David Collins - Carole Miner
Q 2 1.80R Curt Kristensen - Ben Kristensen - Sean McNally - Zeren Shui
Q 0.46R Jackson Wahl - Sarah Emmons - Morgan Johnstone - Julia White
Q 0.46R Helen Vagle - Ruth Brunelle - Beverly Meyer - Peter Bock
0.23R Becky Gamble - Rich Gamble - Nora Walker - Stan Jurgensen
Alexandra Muller - Leslie Hayashida - Cass Weil - Tom Sneed
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