The 41st PABF Championships

By Brian Senior

While our usual EBL Bulletin Editor, Mark Horton was on duty in Salsomaggiore at the European Teams Championships, I had the pleasure to be invited to edit the Daily Bulletins at the Pacific Asia Zonal in Bangkok, Thailand. I am a big fan of Thailand, its people and its food, so it was not a difficult decision to accept the offer.
There were Teams Championships in four categories, Open, Ladies, Youth and Senior, with a total entry of 34 teams. According to the size of the field, a double, triple or quadruple round robin was played over eight days, with no knock-out stage. Though this was a Zonal Championship, it differed from the European Championships in that it was not a qualifier for next year's Bermuda Bowl etc - that qualification will be decided at next year's PABF Championships in Manila. After the Teams Championships had been completed, there was the PABF Open Pairs Championship, played over two days, with two qualifying sessions and a two -session Final and Consolation event. While the Teams events were played under the conditions which we are used to in Europe, the pairs was played without screens and, so far as I could see, with a very small number of convention cards on display. This did not seem to cause any difficulties - there was just one appeal in the teams and none in the Pairs - and certainly the lack of screens made conditions much more pleasant and play much quicker.
Here is a selection of the best of the action:

Thailand v China H K Open

Board 16. Dealer West. East/West Vul.

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