The Australian National Championships is the oldest national event on the Australian bridge calendar. This year was the 80th ANC and was held in Orange NSW. This was the first time that the ANC has been played in a regional city. The organisation and hospitality of the NSWBA and the Orange bridge community was outstanding.
Tasmania was represented in the Open, Seniors and Womens competitions.
The Open Team was Hugh Grosvenor (Captain), Tania Lloyd, Andrew and Sandra Richman, Ann Paton and Lakshmi Sunderasan. They finished 5th out of 8 teams and were still in contention for the finals with two rounds to go.
The Seniors Team was Margaret Gibbs (Captain), Margaret Robertson, Julie Rhodes, Leigh Blizzard, Felicity Wivell and Roger Swain. They finished 7th out of 8 teams winning 4 matches.
The Womens Team was Sue Falkingham (Captain), Maggie Crawford, Pam Murphy, Julia Corr, Alaine MacMorran and Fiona Hickey. They finished 7th out of 8 teams winning 5 matches and drawing one. This included a good win against WA where Sue and Maggie bid and made 4 slams in a 16 board match!
The Interstate Pairs Championship saw Tania and Hugh win the overall competiion and the Open category and Julie and Leigh came third overall and were second in the Seniors category.
After 6 days of the Interstate championships the Butler Pairs Championship started! The Open Butler Pairs had a field of 74 pairs that played for 2 days to reduce to 20 pairs. These 20 pairs then played for another 2 days to reduce to 10 pairs. The last 10 pairs then played another two days to determine the final positions. Tania and Hugh managed to make the last 10 pairs and finished 6th.
Sandra and Andrew Richman played in the Mixed Butler and made it to the 10 pair final stage. They finished in an excellent 4th position in a strong field.