Round Robin is over 2009 CNTC Penticton

Well the 8th place team is involved in an appeal so the rumour goes, and as they only qualified by 1 VP, we are not certain who the final 8 are. The good news is Team Thurston made it in - tied for 6/7 !

There are actually a few committees going on as I write; so we really don't know the 8th place team yet - It is presently Marcinski, but it could ultimately be Gamble or Grace.

In the low scoring match after dinner, we lost by 4 imps, still scoring a respectable 14 VP's. Somehow we were still hanging in at 8th place - ahead of 9th by a scant 1 VP - with still several teams lurking and lots of drama and suspense in the air.

I was really bummed going into the last match to realize the whole event might be over for us in an hour and half - way too soon. For the past 2 days, it seemed like the rust had finally been shaken, and I truly felt I did belong at this level of bridge once again.

The old confidence came back - but it is a team game and the opponents are trying just as hard to eliminate us - I am not trying to sound cocky - far from it - just happy to be here again.

Anyway, we won our final match by 30 imps - resulting in us "cruising" into 6th place - a lofty spot we had not smelt since Day 2.

So at 10.05 pm Tuesday night, the tentative standings are :

Carruthers 395
Rayner 391
Bart 389
Todd 387
L'Ecuyer 384
Thurston 375
Janicki 375
Marcinski 363
Gamble 363

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Next places are:

Grace 362
Ballantyne 356
Nowlan 352
Brown 352

The above scores have been updated since the original posting to reflect the final final standings. Gamble and Marcinski were in a dead heat tie. The conditions of contest were such that the team with the most victories would win a tie-breaker - resulting in Marcinski in and Gamble out.

A severe bummer for the guys on the Gamble team, especially as they had actually blitzed the Marcinski team during the round robin.

So there you go - this has certainly been a toughening up process - since every match over the last two days has been a must win - or if you can't win - don't lose by much !

Kudos to John Carruthers' team which came on strong over the last couple of days - climbing to the top spot after the penultimate match - and solidifying that place over the final match.

It's hard to write hands right now - team members and spouses are in the room beside me having a Kool Aid or two, and waiting for the final results and the assignments for tomorrow.

Ciao for now ! If anyone would like to contact me directly I can be reached at rosstaylor999@hotmail.com

Results, when final, will be posted at the CBF website at :

http://www.cbf.ca/BWeek/09files/BWeek09_results.html