The Russian team of MNEPO (Evgeny Rudakov, Elena Rudakova, Sergey Orlov, Tatiana Dikhnova) held on to their lead to win the 22nd Madeira International Bridge Open Teams, with a score of 169.33.  Needing only 10.33 VPs from their last match to secure victory, they won 12.77-7.23 against We Don’t Know Yet.

That was enough to hand 2nd place to Perula (António Campos Palma, Simon Ekenberg, Per-Ola Cullin, Simon Hult), who had to score at least 11.65, but made certain with a 19.11-0.89 win against the team that had started the match in 4th place.

The final Top 10 was:

1.  MNEPO (Evgeny Rudakov, Elena Rudakova, Sergey Orlov, Tatiana Dikhnova [all RUS]) – 169.33 VPs
2.  Perula (Per-Ola Cullin [SWE], António Palma [POR], Simon Ekenberg [SWE], Simon Hult [SWE]) – 160.94 VPs
3.  We Don’t Know Yet (Paulo Sarmento [POR], João Barbosa [POR], Kees Scherders [NED], Eva Bouwman [NED]) – 112.46 VPs
4.  Engrom (Viorel Micescu [ROM], Mihnea Nedelcu [ROM], Ron Tacchi [ENG/FRA], Mark Horton [ENG], Alan Bailey [ENG], Jette Bailey [ENG]) – 150.13 VPs
5.  Team Sigma (Doris Fischer [AUT], Bernd Saurer [AUT], Kjeld Hansen [DEN], Bjarke Friis [DEN]) – 149.08 VPs
6.  Nuno Matos (Carlos Luiz [MAD], Nuno Paz [POR], Miguel Teixeira [MAD], Diego Brenner [BRA]) – 148.68 VPs
7.  Speelman (Dennis Kruis, Betty Speelman, Tim Heeres, Marcel Swidde [all NED]) – 143.66 VPs
8.  Winter (Hanneke Kreijns, Justin Van Der Kam, Hans Van Ommeren, Jan De Winter [all NED]) – 143.04 VPs
9.  Baleal (Jorge Cruzeiro [POR], Paulo Pereira [POR], Diane Kurbalija [WAL], Filip Kurbalija [WAL]) – 142.03 VPs
10. Cidade Invicta (Miguel Gonçalves, Paulo Pessanha, Carlos Gonçalves, Eduardo Pinto [all POR]) – 141.41 VPs

We look forward to seeing you all again next year, for the 23rd Madeira International Bridge Open.  Boas viagens.

By the end of Day 2 of the Teams, only four of the previous Top 10 remained on the page, and a new star had risen 13 places to take the top spot.  The new Top 10 is as follows, with four matches to play:

1. MNEPO (Evgeny Rudakov, Elena Rudakova, Sergey Orlov, Tatiana Dikhnova [all RUS]) – 130.56 VPs
2.  BridgeBertheau (Thomas Wrang,David Wrang,Peter Bertheau,Ola Rimstedt [all SWE]) – 120.88 VPs
3.  Perula (Per-Ola Cullin [SWE], António Palma [POR], Simon Ekenberg [SWE], Simon Hult [SWE]) – 115.32 VPs
4.  Glopson (Louk Verhees [NED], Nils Ahlen [SWE], B.G. Olofsson [SWE], Leif Rutström [SWE], Gerhard Jörgensen [SWE]) – 115.17 VPs
5.  Cidade Invicta (Miguel Gonçalves, Paulo Pessanha, Carlos Gonçalves, Eduardo Pinto [all POR]) – 114.32 VPs
6.  BCO (Hans Kreuning, Rob van den Bergh, Wubbo de Boer, Agnes Snellers [all NED]) – 114.01 VPs
7.  Doc (Anne Gladiator [GER], Andrea Reim [GER], Claus Daehr [GER], Matthias Schueller [MLT]) – 112.60 VPs
8.  We Don’t Know Yet (Paulo Sarmento [POR], João Barbosa [POR], Kees Scherders [NED], Eva Bouwman [NED]) – 112.46 VPs
9.  Baleal (Jorge Cruzeiro [POR], Paulo Pereira [POR], Diane Kurbalija [WAL], Filip Kurbalija [WAL]) – 111.51 VPs
10.  Engrom (Viorel Micescu [ROM], Mihnea Nedelcu [ROM], Ron Tacchi [ENG/FRA], Mark Horton [ENG], Alan Bailey [ENG], Jette Bailey [ENG] –  109.38 VPs

Icelandic, Swedish and Austrian teams are lurking just behind, so there is no room for complacency.  Full results HERE.

Play starts at 2.30 pm on Sunday.

After a day of rest and relaxation, or alternatively a strenuous levada walk or (very) long lunch, the first three matches of the Open Teams ended with BCO of the Netherlands (including the winners of the Open Pairs) in the lead, with the multinational lusophone team Nuno Matos (last year’s runners-up) snapping at their heels.

The top 10 places:

1. BCO (Hans Kreuning, Rob van den Bergh, Wubbo de Boer, Agnes Snellers [all NED]) – 50.51 VPs
2.  Nuno Matos (Carlos Luiz [MAD], Nuno Paz [POR], Miguel Teixeira [MAD], Diego Brenner [BRA]) – 49.36 VPs
3.  Perula (Per-Ola Cullin [SWE], António Palma [POR], Simon Ekenberg [SWE], Simon Hult [SWE]) – 46.7 VPs
4.  Winter (Jan de Winter, Hans van Ommeren, Justin van der Kam, Hanneke Kreijns [all NED]) – 46.2 VPs
5.  Tolle (Svein Markussen, Roennaug Asla, Anne-Lill Hellemann, Rolf Tolle [all NOR]) – 43.66 VPs
6.  Doc (Anne Gladiator [GER], Andrea Reim [GER], Claus Daehr [GER], Matthias Schueller [MLT]) – 43.5 VPs
7.  Portuguese Ladies (Mariana Leitão, Rita Russo, Anabela Oliveira, Ana Tadeu [all POR]) – 42.51 VPs
8.  Cidade Invicta (Miguel Gonçalves, Paulo Pessanha, Carlos Gonçalves, Eduardo Pinto [all POR]) – 42.15 VPs
9.  Queen of Hearts (Eckhard Böhlke, Kathryn Hertz, Gabriele Cappeller, Joachim Cappeller [all GER]) – 41.92 VPs
10. Beppo (Alexander Milavec, Joseph Simon, Ilse-Betina Artmer,Terry Weigkricht [all AUT]) – 41.15 VPs* (amended 10.11.19)

Full results HERE

The 2019 Open Pairs was won by Hans Kreuning and Rob van den Bergh of the Netherlands, with 61.71%.  It was their third win of the tournament (so far):  they also won the Portuguese Simultaneous Pairs on Thursday 31st October, and were top pair in the Inter-Nations Challenge on Sunday.

Second, on 61.01%, were Magnus Eidur Magnusson and Sveinn Rúnar Eiríksson of Iceland, winners of the event in 2017.

In 3rd place were Agnes Snellers and Wubbo de Boer, also of the Netherlands, on 60.56%.  Agnes and Wubbo were runners-up in 2015.

Top Madeiran pair were José Macedo and João Machado in 54th place with 53.59%, and the top Portuguese pair Jorge Cruzeiro and Paulo Pereira in 34th place with 55.81%.

120 people enjoyed a night of nosh and knees-up at the annual traditional dinner and entertainment at O Lagar.  Below are a few photos from the night; more may be found HERE

It’s all change at the top in the Open Pairs.

Today’s session was won by Gabriella Parra and Ernst Hopstaken of the Netherlands, with an impressive 67.40%.  Close behind were Thomas Gotard and Marie Eggeling of Germany on 66.75, with Anders Sjöstedt and Anders Landmark of Sweden in 3rd on 64.78%.

Overall, the leaders after two sessions are Michael Gromoeller and Helmut Hæusler (Germany) on 61.42.  Thomas Gotard and Marie Eggeling (Germany) lie second on 61.35, and Hans Kreuning and Rob van den Bergh (Netherlands) third on 60.92.  It’s all pretty close with one session to play.

The top Madeiran pair is Robert Snapper and Bruno Neves, in 42nd place on 54.89.

Tuesday night saw the first session (of three) of the Open Pairs. The first three places were as follows, with less than 1/3 of a percent separating them.

1 Magnus Magnusson & Sveinn Eriksson (Iceland) 63.87%
2 Yordan Valkanov & Veselein Velischkov (Austria) 63.78%
3 Agnes Snellers & Wubbo De Boer (Netherlands) 63.53%

We have our first transnational win of the tournament:  the Warm-Up Pairs was won by Gary Gottlieb of the United States and Peter Fredin of Sweden, with a score of 69.49%.

Ann-Sophie Anderson and Peter Bertheau, also of Sweden, took 2nd place with 64.77%, and Enrico Castellani and Maurizio di Sacco of Italy were 3rd on 63.85%.

The top Madeiran pair were Ricardo Fernandes and Frederico Teixeira, in 7th place with 61.49%

Full results can be found HERE.

The inaugural Inter-Nations Challenge was won by the Netherlands.  Congratulations to the Dutch contingent, led by Hans Kreuning and Rob van den Bergh who were the top pair with 64.58%.

The overall national scores were:

1   1550  Netherlands
2   1490  GER/DEN/FIN/NOR
3   1420  Iceland        
4   1397  UK/FRA/SWI     
5   1191  Portugal       

Full results HERE

Henrik Wegnelius and Peter Görnandt of Sweden took top spot in Saturday’s IMP Pairs, with +57, well ahead of Edie van Os and Ria Bartolomij (Netherlands) in second place (+40.7). Third place went to Harpa Fold Ingolfsdottir and Maria Bender Haraldsdóttir (Iceland) with +40.0.

The top Madeiran pair were José Macedo and João Machado (+20).

The Friday IMP Pairs was won by another Dutch pair, Harry Burmania and John Linse, with the great score of +72.8 IMPs.  Second place was taken by Cristina Minelli and Fabio Cremonesi of Italy (+52.3), and 3rd by Svein Markussen and Roennaug Asla of Norway (+44.1).

The top Madeiran pair was yet again Bruno and Pedro Macedo, with +40.9.

Full results HERE

The first winners of the 2019 Madeira International are Rob van den Bergh and Hans Kreuning of the Netherlands, who won the Portuguese Simultaneous Pairs of 31st October with 65.99%. 

In second place were Johanna Gisladottir and Vigfus Vigfusson (Iceland) with 63.69%, and in third Hans Metselaar and Mike Reuser (Netherlands) on 60.12%.  The top Madeiran pair were Bruno and Pedro Macedo, in 7th place on 55.51%.

Full results HERE