[Avoidance]

EBU Blog 3
"The Dutch managed to top that though with a 25-4 loss to mighty Guadeloupe, possibly the most extraordinary
result seen in world bridge”


Current score (after 13 of 16 boards) England 4 Guadeloupe 25

[paulg]

That was the final score, the difference being that the Netherlands are 39 VP ahead of England although fluffy is going to make sure that they don't qualify either.

A hugely disappointing showing from the England team and one that will make selection for the Bermuda Bowl team extremely difficult interesting.

[JLOGIC]

paulg, on 2012-August-14, 08:55, said:

A hugely disappointing showing from the England team and one that will make selection for the Bermuda Bowl team extremely difficult interesting.

Free bakhshi. And Frances/Jallerton obv.

[Cyberyeti]

Does anybody know why Guadeloupe (a part of the republic of France, as is Reunion) play bridge independently while their footballers (and athletes I think) play for France ?

[mgoetze]

Cyberyeti, on 2012-August-14, 15:20, said:

Does anybody know why Guadeloupe (a part of the republic of France, as is Reunion) play bridge independently while their footballers (and athletes I think) play for France ?

I will tell you as soon as you tell me why Scotland (a part of Great Britain, as is Wales) play bridge independently while their Go players play for Great Britain.

[paulg]

mgoetze, on 2012-August-14, 15:30, said:

I will tell you as soon as you tell me why Scotland (a part of Great Britain, as is Wales) play bridge independently while their Go players play for Great Britain.

At the end of 1999 the English, Scottish and Welsh Bridge Unions won the right to have teams representing them in European and World events, instead of playing as Great Britain (or, technically, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

In essence it is down to the world governing bodies what they want to accept and there is no simple rule. For example, the four countries compete as a single entity in the Olympics but independently in world football.

In terms of bridge, I expect that the WBF and EBL prefer more teams at their events.

[Cyberyeti]

mgoetze, on 2012-August-14, 15:30, said:

I will tell you as soon as you tell me why Scotland (a part of Great Britain, as is Wales) play bridge independently while their Go players play for Great Britain.

GB is an odd one, in football, the countries played separately before anybody else played the game, and it's stayed that way. We don't normally have an olympic football team because the other home nations see it as the first step on a slippery slope to one UK team. Note that any player born in Northern Ireland can opt to play for the republic instead at football, so the lines are pretty blurred there, and rugby is played with an all Ireland team, with players from the republic playing for the "British" team, the Lions.

In hockey, the home countries play separately for 4 years then become GB at the olympics.

In many sports, the home nations compete separately largely because they always have for a long time, newer sports (at least newer in terms of when we got serious at them) it's less clear.

[paulg]

There is little doubt that if bridge became an Olympic event then it would 'Great Britain' that would compete. I think it might take longer than four years to arrange the trials; it might take that long to pick the selectors.

[Cyberyeti]

paulg, on 2012-August-15, 03:17, said:

There is little doubt that if bridge became an Olympic event then it would 'Great Britain' that would compete. I think it might take longer than four years to arrange the trials; it might take that long to pick the selectors.

Anything Olympic has the precedent that we compete as GB. Had we started competing as separate countries, we'd probably have stuck that way, Hong Kong and Macau, now parts of China although with separate legislatures but competed separately in the past and still do.

The selection rules (sponsors ? hardly fitting for the olympic ideals) would be interesting too.

[gnasher]

Only sponsored teams would be able to afford to play in the trials, which would be held on some remote Scottish island accessible only by helicopter.

[jallerton]

Avoidance, on 2012-August-14, 08:03, said:

EBU Blog 3
"The Dutch managed to top that though with a 25-4 loss to mighty Guadeloupe, possibly the most extraordinary
result seen in world bridge”

Current score (after 13 of 16 boards) England 4 Guadeloupe 25

To be fair to the blogger, The Netherlands are the current holders of the Bermuda Bowl (which England weren't good enough to qualify for). Meanwhile, in the recent European Championships, when England were considered to have done well in finishing 4th, The Netherlands came 2nd.

So Guadelope would have every right to consider their 25-4 victory against The Netherlands to be a finer achievement than their 25-4 victory against England.

paulg, on 2012-August-14, 16:14, said:

At the end of 1999 the English, Scottish and Welsh Bridge Unions won the right to have teams representing them in European and World events, instead of playing as Great Britain (or, technically, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

My understanding is that Northern Ireland has always been part of Ireland (never Great Britan) for the purposes of European/World bridge events.

paulg, on 2012-August-15, 03:17, said:

There is little doubt that if bridge became an Olympic event then it would 'Great Britain' that would compete. I think it might take longer than four years to arrange the trials; it might take that long to pick the selectors.

Up until 1999, the British Bridge League had its own selectors, which seemed to work OK (at least relative to what we have now).

An Olympic team would be The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of course.

[NickRW]

jallerton, on 2012-August-15, 11:27, said:

An Olympic team would be The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of course.

Yeah, but what will happen when Scotland decides to become independent? (I tend to assume that will eventually happen)

Nick

[paulg]

NickRW, on 2012-August-16, 02:14, said:

Yeah, but what will happen when Scotland decides to become independent? (I tend to assume that will eventually happen)

But will anyone still be playing bridge?