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A month ago, Liz told us the Camrose Trophy’s story. The Scottish championess today sums up what happened in the first stage of the tourney and what we have to expect in the second one.
The second and final stage of the Camrose Trophy takes place in Wales this weekend. The venue, Llandrindod Wells*, is in Mid-Wales. Play from all 6 tables will be presented on BBO on Friday evening from 7pm GMT, and Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon from 10am.
Each match in the Camrose Trophy used to be run over a weekend, but pressure of dates has brought changes. The five countries meet twice in a season to play 32-board matches against each other. A sixth team is provided by the country that hosts the second weekend, Wales this year. The second team is called ‘Welsh Bridge Union’ as opposed to ‘Wales’.
At the halfway stage the standings are:
England 92
Wales 88
Ireland 80
Welsh Bridge Union 76
Scotland 69
Northern Ireland 45
Wales would be in the lead but for a catastrophic loss against the second Welsh team in the first match last time: these two teams meet in the first match again, and we expect another tough match on Friday evening.
Both England and Ireland will be disappointed with their results on the first weekend, and determined to do better. The most disappointed team is Scotland who used to win the Trophy quite regularly, but now performs well below its best form – they will be desperate to improve their position.
Information about the teams and their convention cards can be found on
http://camrose-bridge-wales.org.uk/
The Camrose series incorporates a Womens’ event for the Lady Milne Trophy, which will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 15-17 April; and Junior events for Under 25s (The Junior Camrose) and Under 20s (The Peggy Bayer Trophy, after the wife of an American bridge philanthropist who settled in Great Britain); and now a Seniors event at the end of May.
The Junior events were contested in Ayr, Scotland, on 19-20 February. Scotland were the holders of both events after an exciting series last year, but England stormed back to win both trophies by a large margin this time. As the largest of the British nations England will be hoping to win all 5 Trophies this year: the other countries equally determined to stop them.
contributed by Liz McGowan for Neapolitan Club
*(Editor’s note) This is a little town grew up in ‘800. In August there is the Victorian Week, a festival in which all dress up as in Victorian and Edwardian times