Originally published 7 August 2003

The University of Warwick Bridge Team have just returned from the annual European Universities Bridge Championship, finishing in an admirable sixth place.

The Warwick team were invited to the championship in southwest Poland following their recent victory in the British Universities Bridge Competition, the Portland Bowl, in April.

Twenty teams from 7 countries entered the competition, which took place over four days at the end of July, including combined-university teams from Poland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Warwick started well, lying in second place by the end of the third day, but a run of bad luck and high-risk play on the final day meant they missed out of a medal-place.

Team-member Ben Cowling, a research student in the Statistics department at Warwick, summed up the feelings of the team, “we were disappointed not to finish with a medal, but really enjoyed the overall experience”.

Ben and fellow team-members Leigh Chapman, Dave Cropper, and Sarah Whitehead are now looking forward to competing for a place at the World Universities Championship to be held next year in Prague. In the meantime Dave Cropper and Leigh Chapman, both undergraduate mathematics students at Warwick, will compete for the England under-25 team in the annual Camrose tournament.

For more information visit the Warwick University Bridge Society website.