Two Men And A Truck sponsors Gold Coast Bridge Congress

“If South had won the first diamond with the ace, would East have found the killing heart shift to cut declarer off from his clubs?” Bridge player Barry Rigal asks.

More than 3000 Bridge players battled torrential weather across the country to put their skills into action during a whole week of Bridge at the Gold Coast Bride Congress on 23 February – March 2.

Two Men And A Truck sponsored the event, much to the delight of Queensland Bridge Association’s Manager Kim Ellaway.

“In Brisbane we have two storage sheds and on the Gold Coast one storage shed. We are told that one storage shed is equivalent to a three bedroom house,” Kim says.

“Two Men and a Truck moved three houseloads to our venue and [at the end of the congress] returned it to the storage sheds, always with a smile on their faces.”

Players competed in Matchpoint Pairs, Open Swiss Pairs, Ivy Dahler pairs, Holiday Pairs and new events including Swiss Matchpoint Pairs, Swiss Butler Pairs and Rookie Pairs.

The tournament culminated with four Open Team final segments. Ashley Bach, Ron Klinger, Matt Mullamphy and Michael Cornelly (see picture) claimed victory ahead of runners-up GeO Tislevoll, Tony Nunn, Michael Ware, Hugh McGann, Kieran Dyke and Fiona Brown.

Two Men And A Truck’s founder Richard Kuipers threw his hat in the Holiday Pairs with Bridge partner Therese Tully (see picture). They finished with a score of 45.05.

But tragically they couldn’t reach the winners Danny and Linda Osmund with an overall average score of 54.37.

Next year’s Gold Coast Bridge Congress has been set for February 22 to March 1, and everyone is welcome to compete.

Games are offered at senior, intermediate, restricted and novice levels.

“Bridge can be competitive or a social game – it can be played by all ages and in any weather and at any time,” Kim Ellaway says.

“Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, online and with friends at home, making it one of the world’s most popular card games.”

“You need four players to play the game and as long as you can count and hold thirteen cards and learn the rules you can play.”

For more information visit the Queensland Bridge Association website