World Junior Pairs Championship

The World Junior Pairs Championship is a bridge competition organized by the World Bridge Federation. It was inaugurated 1995 in Ghent, Belgium, when it incorporated the European Junior Pairs Championship inaugurated 1991. Officially the Juniors and Youngsters Pairs Championships (jointly, Youth Pairs) are biennial in odd years, although there are parallel contests in some even years.

Junior Pairs is open to players who are "under 26" years old at the end of the calendar year (u-26, U26). So they may celebrate their 25th birthdays during the year; Junior competition during calendar 2011 is restricted to players born 1986 and later. The parallel Youngsters Pairs is for players under 21 (u-21, U21).[N 1]

The next rendition in Opatija, Croatia, concludes 30 August 2011.[1]

The 2011 Junior Pairs is a three-day matchpoints tournament with 61 entries. Only five are transnational.[2]

Although the Junior Pairs is the long-running event at the Youth Congress, it takes second place to teams tournament, with a big step back from 2009 to 2011. The first rendition scheduled five-day teams followed by four-day pairs, Saturday to Sunday in all.[3] The second scheduled five-day main event for teams, followed by one day to conclude the consolation event for teams (all that Monday to Saturday), and three-day pairs, Sunday to Tuesday.[2]

Scope

The Junior Pairs event (or tournament in a narrow sense) became part of the plural "World Youth Pairs Championships" in 2003 when a tournament for under-21 Youngster Pairs was initiated, pending sufficient entries by eligible players. Officially, that meet was discontinued and its two main events became part of the "World Youth Congress" in 2009, when teams events were added to the youth program for odd-number years, contested immediately prior to the older events for pairs.

Odd-year teams events are distinct from the older series of teams championships (now biennial in even years) and even-year pairs events are distinct from the older series of pairs championships (now biennial in odd years). Some conditions differ.

This article covers all "world championships" for youth pairs or individuals while World Junior Teams Championship covers all "world championships" for youth teams.

Results

List "to date"[4]

The World Bridge Federation calls the World Youth Congress—biennial in odd years, getting underway in 2009 and 2011— "the generalization of the World Youth Pairs Championships, inaugurated in Ghent, Belgium in 1995"—referring to the 'Juniors Pairs' which expanded to plural 'Youth' championships with Juniors and Youngsters flights in 2006.[5]

The Youngsters event is sometimes called "Schools", as it was called in Europe. In fact a Schools championship was officially part of the 2003 Junior Pairs: the Schools medalists were the first three eligible pairs in the unified field.[6]

Current definitions of u-26 and u-21 players may have evolved during the history of the WBF youth program but such details are not covered here. (The previous reference calls the Schools "up to 20" which suggests a difference.)


Juniors

The first official world champions, Geir Helgemo and Boye Brogeland of Norway, were the most successful in Open play through 2011. Helgemo had already played on Norway's second-place open team in 1993, and both would play in the Bermuda Bowls 1997 to 2007, as Norway placed third, fourth, second, fourth, out of the money, and finally first.[7]

For the first rendition as a WBF event, European pairs held the first 44 places, except only one France—Guadeloupe pair in 25th place.

Year, Site, EntriesMedalists
1995[8]

Ghent, Belgium

154 pairs

1. Norway Boye BrogelandNorway Geir Helgemo
2.Norway Thomas CharlsenNorway Espen Erichsen
3.Denmark Mik KristensenDenmark Morten Lund Madsen
1997[9]

Santa Sofia, Italy

156 pairs

1.Sweden Stefan SolbrandSweden Olle Wademark
2.Denmark Mette Drøgemüller  Germany Sebastian Reim
3.Norway Boye BrogelandNorway Trond Hantveit
1999[10]

Nymburk, Czech Republic

186 pairs

1.Austria Andreas GloyerAustria Bernd Saurer
2.France Félicien DauxFrance Julien Geitner
3.Italy Bernardo BiondoItaly Francesco Mazzadi
2001[11]

Stargard, Poland

220 pairs

1.Austria Andreas GloyerAustria Martin Schifko
2.Netherlands Sjoert BrinkNetherlands Bas Drijver
3.Italy Fabio Lo PrestiItaly Francesco Mazzadi
2003[12]

Tata, Hungary

189 pairs*

1.Israel Adi AziziIsrael Yuval Yener
2.France Guillaume GrentheFrance Jérôme Grenthe
3.Netherlands Bas DrijverNetherlands Bob Drijver
2006[13]

Piešťany, Slovakia  

142 pairs

1.Sweden Cecilia RimstedtSweden Sara Sivelind
2.Poland Jacek KalitaPoland Krzysztof Kotorowicz  
3.Netherlands Marion MichielsenNetherlands Vincent de Pagter
After 2006 the European Youth Pairs resumed as a distinct meet conducted in even years.  
Beginning 2009 the World Youth Pairs became part of a "Youth Congress" including teams events.  
2009[14][15]

Istanbul, Turkey

94 pairs

1.Netherlands Marion MichielsenNetherlands Tim Verbeek
2.Poland Adam KrysaPoland Justyna Zmuda
3.France Aymeric LebatteuxFrance Nicolas Lhuissier
2011[2]

Opatija, Croatia

61 pairs

1.Netherlands Berend van den Bos  Netherlands Joris van Lankveld  
2.France Aymeric LebatteuxFrance Simon Poulat
3.United States Marius AgicaRomania Radu Nistor
2013[16]

Atlanta, USA

32 pairs

1.Italy Massimiliano Di Franco Italy Gabriele Zanasi
2.Turkey Erkmen AydogduTurkey Akin Koclar
3.United States Alex PrairieUnited States Sylvia Shi
*The 2003 field of 189 pairs included the under-21 stratum covered below.

After 2006 the European Youth Pairs Championships were rejuvenated as a separate event, contested in even-number years, now restricted to European national pairs (two players from the same EBL member). European pairs had won all of the medals in six renditions of the world event, with only one transnational pair among the 18 medalists (1997 silver), and they have continued to win at the world level. [17]

The "World" event is now contested in odd years at the World Youth Bridge Congress.

Officially the 2006 and 2009 events are now the 6th and 7th in the Junior MP Pairs series. The 2009 events were reported as part of the "1st World Youth Congress",[15] much as the 2008 and 2010 events were reported as part of the 1st World Mind Sports Games and the World Bridge Series.

[quote] The 1st World Youth Bridge Congress was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 15 to 23 August 2009, hosted at the Yeditepe University. Young players from all member countries of the World Bridge Federation were invited to participate in this new competition, designed to be a massive event. Accordingly, transnational combinations were allowed in all events, and there were no restrictions on the number of players who could participate from any single country.
The new congress included various teams and pairs competitions. Teams were played according to the Swiss format, as well as Board-A-match. There were Match Point and IMP pairs. The championships were open to players born in 1984 or later (Under-26), while it was intended that players born in 1989 or later would form a separate category (Under-21) in all events, if the entry was sufficient.
The World Youth Pairs Championships have been discontinued, as they are now included in the World Youth Congress.[15]

Youngsters

The 2003 "Schools" medalists were the highest ranking eligible pairs in the unified field. They ranked 5, 21, and 37 among the 189 Juniors pairs from 27 countries.[6] About one quarter of the field was eligible for the Schools medals.[18]

In 2006 there were 210 Juniors pairs from 34 countries in 5 of 8 world zones. The Schools pairs competed separately for the first time, which the WBF calls the first championship in its Youngsters category. Six of the top twelve pairs were from Poland including the gold and silver medalists.[18]

Year, Site, EntriesMedalists
2003[6]


Tata, Hungary

1. Netherlands Jacco HopNetherlands Vincent de Pagter  
2.Argentina Agustin MadalaEngland Shivam Shah
3.France Jean-Francois Grias  France Romain Tembouret
2006[18]


Piešťany, Slovakia  
68 pairs

1.Poland Bartlomiej IglaPoland Artur Machno
2.Poland Andrzej BernatowiczPoland Jan Betley
3.France Pierre FranceschettiFrance Andrea Landry
2009, Istanbul (evidently there were too few under-21 entries)
2011, Opatija (evidently there were too few under-21 entries)
2013[16]

Atlanta, USA

40 pairs

1.United States Allison HuntUnited States Asya Ladyzhensky 
2.United States Andrew JengUnited States Richard Jeng
3.China Tianyi JinChina Kai Jin
2013


12 girls pairs

1.Italy Giorgia BottaItaly Margherita Chavarria 
2.Venezuela Karla De JesusVenezuela Adriana Suarez
3.United States Julie ArbitUnited States Isha Thapa

Contemporary reporting calls the Schools stratum in 2003 and Schools flight in 2006 successful, with 40-odd and 68 participants.[18] Yet WBF lists only the single official rendition in 2006.[13] The 2009 Congress homepage implies that entries by Youngsters must have been too few.[15]

With merely 61 entries, the 2011 Junior Pairs is smaller than the separate event for Youngsters in 2006, when the two flights saw 142 and 68 pairs.

European Junior Pairs

The European event was held 1991 in Fiesch, Switzerland and 1993 in Oberreifenberg, Germany, then incorporated in the new World event. (The field counts finalists only.)

For six cycles 1995 to 2006, the European championships were incorporated in the World championships. The European champion was the highest ranking pair with both players from Europe,[N 2] second place in Europe was the second-ranking such pair, and so on. In fact, all eighteen of the World medalists were European pairs.


European predecessor to World Juniors Pairs, before 1995
Year, Site, EntriesMedalists
1991 Europe[19]

Fiesch, Switzerland

104 pairs

1. Austria Tilmann SeidelAustria Alexander Wodniansky  
2.Germany Julia KorusGermany Michael Tomski
3.Denmark Mathias BruunDenmark Henrik Iversen
1993 Europe[20]

Oberreifenberg, Germany  

100 pairs

1.Denmark Jesper DallDenmark Jesper Thomsen
2.Poland Mariusz Puczynski  Poland Tomasz Puczynski  
3.Norway Tore SkoglundNorway Ole Torhaug

European Youth again, 2008 9th European Youth Pairs Championship, 2008. EBL. and 2010 10th European Youth Pairs Championship, 2010. EBL.

European complement to World Youth Pairs, after 2006
Year, Site, EntriesJuniorsYoungstersGirls
2008[21]


Wroclaw, Poland  


162 pairs

1. France France
Thomas Bessis, Frederic Volcker
Poland PolandPoland Poland
2.Poland Poland
Michal Nowosadzki, Piotr Wiankowski  
Poland PolandPoland Poland
3.Italy Italy
Arrigo Franchi, Matteo Montanari
Belarus Poland Belarus–Poland  Czech Republic Czech Republic  
  70 Juniors   59 Youngsters   33 Girls
2010[22]

Opatija, Croatia
  73 Juniors
  44 Youngsters
  22 Girls
139 pairs

1.Greece Greece
Konstantinos Doxiadis, Vassilis Vroustis  
Sweden SwedenPoland Poland
2.Latvia Latvia
Janis Bethers, Martins Lorencs
Poland PolandCzech Republic Czech Republic
3.Poland Poland
Joanna Krawczyk, Artur Wasiak
Poland PolandFrance France

The predecessor European event was held 1991 in Fiesch, Switzerland and 1993 in Oberreifenberg, Schmitten, Germany.[17] ("Oberreifenberg", German Wikipedia)

Even years

Youth pairs tournaments contested in even-number years are officially separate from the "World Youth Pairs" series. At the official world championship level, the recent instances have been under-28 pairs and individuals tournaments at the first "World Bridge Games" in 2008. There were no major events for youth pairs or individuals at the renamed "World Bridge Series" in 2010.

Under-28 Pairs
Year, Site, EntriesMedalistsmatchpoints
2008[23][24]

Beijing, China
World Mind Sports Games  

198 pairs

1. Turkey Turkey
Mehmet Remzi Şakirler, Melih Osman Şen  
59.81%
2.Israel Israel
Lotan Fisher, Ron Schwartz
59.65%
3.Poland Poland
Joanna Krawczyk, Piotr Tuczyński
58.82%

Youth events at the first "World Bridge Games" concluded with a two-day tournament for Individuals under age 28. The medal flight was restricted to 52 players who qualified in the preceding Pairs tournament.

Under-28 Individuals
Year, Site, EntriesMedalistsmatchpoints
2008[25][26]

Beijing, China
World Mind Sports Games  

220 entries
52 in medal flight

1. Turkey Salih Murat Anter58.22%
2.Romania Radu Nistor55.54%
3.Norway Lars Arthur Johansen  54.59%

See also

Notes

  1. Most world championship tournaments are played during summer and fall seasons. Thus more than half but not all players are eligible to compete as Juniors once after their 25th birthdays, as Youngsters once after their 20th birthdays.
    The European Bridge League demarcations are u-26 (Junior) and u-21 (Youngster, formerly Schools), and u-26 for women (Young Ladies). It appears that the WBF plans to use the same restrictions universally after the first World Bridge Games (2008), where the age limit was 28.
  2. That is, both partners registered in national organizations that belong to the EBL, which range geographically from Iceland to Israel.

References

  1. 2nd World Youth Bridge Congress contemporary coverage, 2011. World Bridge Federation (WBF).
  2. Results (linked schedule), 2nd World Youth Bridge Congress, 2011. WBF.
  3. Results (linked schedule), 1st World Youth Bridge Congress, 2009. WBF.
  4. World Juniors MP Pairs Championships to Date, World Youth Congress. WBF.
  5. World Youth Congress. WBF.
  6. 5th World Junior Pairs Championship contemporary coverage, 2003. WBF.
  7. Geir Helgemo player record (WBF).
    Boye Brogeland player record (WBF).
  8. Results & Participants, 1st World Junior Pairs Championship, 1995. WBF.
  9. Results & Participants, 2nd World Junior Pairs Championship, 1997. WBF.
  10. Results & Participants, 3rd World Junior Pairs Championship, 1999. WBF.
  11. Results & Participants, 4th World Junior Pairs Championship, 2001. WBF.
  12. Results & Participants, 5th World Junior Pairs Championship, 2003. WBF.
  13. Results & Participants, Junior Pairs, 2006. WBF.
  14. Results & Participants, Juniors MP Pairs, 2009. WBF.
  15. 1st World Youth Congress contemporary coverage, 2009. WBF.
  16. Results (contemporary coverage), 3rd World Youth Open Bridge Championships, 2013. WBF. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  17. European Youth Pairs Championships. European Bridge League (EBL).
  18. 6th World Youth Pairs Championships contemporary coverage, 2006. WBF.
  19. Results & Participants, 1st European Junior Pairs Championship, 1991. EBL.
  20. Results & Participants, 2nd European Junior Pairs Championship, 1993. EBL.
  21. 9th European Youth Pairs Championships contemporary coverage, 2008. EBL.
  22. 10th European Youth Pairs Championships contemporary coverage, 2010. EBL.
  23. Results & Participants, Juniors Pairs, (World Bridge Games) 2008. WBF.
  24. 1st WMSG: Youth Pairs final scores. WBF.
  25. Results & Participants, Juniors Individuals, (World Bridge Games) 2008. WBF.
  26. 1st WMSG: Youth Individuals final scores. WBF.
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