Young Player of the Year Award

The Young Player of the year award is also awarded annually to an individual that has proved their worth both in their ability, and more importantly in their attitude and manners, both at and away from the bridge table.

The recipient has been a member of the junior squad for many years, coming through as a precocious youngster until maturing into a helpful young man with a great future ahead of him.

In 2008 he too was on the Spring Fours team that knocked out the English open team in round 1, as well as being an instrumental part of the team for Beijing. Forming his Beijing partnership only in the previous April he put in the work and dedication necessary to be an integral part of the Silver medal wining team. Despite being less practiced than both the other partnerships he and his partner were ready and willing to be called upon whenever necessary and played a full and active role in the team's victory. In the semi-final against China he played both the last two sets, and keeping English hopes alive by bidding and making two grand slams.

After Beijing, with his partnership too old for under 20 bridge, he has now gone on to form a new partnership and made a great debut at the Channel trophy held in London last year.

More importantly he has grown up into a generous and caring individual who always make the time to contribute in any way he can.

It is therefore my great honour to announce that the award for Young player of the Year 2008 goes to Daniel McIntosh.

• Daniel is 19 and originally from Birmingham, he now lives in Gloucestershire. He is studying his A Levels at 6th form college.

Young Pair of the Year Award

The Young Pair of the year award is awarded annually to pairs that achieved a variety of good results at the bridge table, whilst also conducting themselves in a pleasant and friendly manner.

In just one year (2008) this up and coming pair went from being thought of as youngsters who were promising but had a long way to go, to being a pivotal and integral part of the Under 20 squad. They started the year by rising from below average to 3rd place in the Year End Congress Men's Pairs. By February they were the leading English pair at the Peggy Bayer trophy. In April they went on to score some tremendous results at the Spring Fours by reaching round 4 – indeed at the beginning they knocked out a team of four open internationals by over 30 imps.

In the Summer they were England’s best placed pair in the European youth pairs, finishing tantalisingly close to a medal.

As members of the under 20 squad they approached the challenges they faced at and away from the bridge table with enthusiasm and drive, and have always maintained a friendly and helpful attitude.

They finished playing together last Autumn and still play together on many teams – such as the 2009 Spring Fours!

It is my great joy to announce that the title of Young Pair of the Year 2008 is awarded to Graeme Robertson and James Paul.

• James is 18 and from reading in Berkshire, he is in his first year reading Maths at Balliol College Oxford.
• Graeme is 19 and from Bedford, he is in his second year studying Maths at Cambridge University.

Youth Bridge Challenge 2009

Just under a hundred junior bridge players took part in the Youth Bridge Challenge on Saturday 28th March. Each team represented schools or Bridge Clubs, and in some cases just themselves. There were a number of veterans who have been coming for years (surely Rob Myers must be too old soon!) and some players who came to their first ever bridge event. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and we are extremely grateful to Loughborough GS for their continued support and hospitality. Detailed results can be found here.

The Schools Cup has a long history and in recent years, Reading School have twice finished in second place. Unluckily (though they were the convincing winners in the qualifying round), they repeated this near-miss again when they lost a close final by just ten imps to the Grange School, Hertford.

The corresponding trophy for teams made up of bridge players from clubs or different schools is the Harry Scully trophy . The final was between Harrogate Bridge Club and a team from Nottingham. The result was perhaps a bit of a shock as the two teams had met earlier in the qualifying Swiss competition, and Harrogate Bridge Club had emerged with a small victory. Roles were reversed in the final with Nottingham winning by 35 to 9 imps

The Schools Plate was won by a team from Haberdashers School who finished first in the Swiss competition. They just pipped a team from Reading School who were given prizes as the next highest in the Swiss.

Minibridge players from Harrogate, Fionnuala, Harrison and Dominic had fun playing with Graham Jepson, an EBU Board member, who spent the day with us supporting the event and presented the prizes and trophies to some successful and also some less successful teams.

Dominic came out on top and was awarded the Minibridge trophy.

See all the photos from the event here.