The Leagues

Check the current standings for 2022:
Junior League

Intermediate League

Restricted Open League

The Intermediate and Junior Leagues

These are the Championship Leagues which the Waikato-Bays have been running for over ten years. Whole generations on now-Open players have taken part in the WB Leagues. They are only for Intermediate and Junior players and players accumulate points over the season.

Skip down to the Attachments to view the downloadable information for the Intermediate and Junior Leagues.

Juniors
For Juniors a six-event series runs from the Hamilton Junior tournament on the 27th of March through to the Te Awamutu Junior on the 2nd of October. Generous prize money is up for grabs.

Hamilton Sat 12-Mar
Cambridge Sat 09-Apr
Matamata Sat 30-Apr
Mt Maunganui Sat 16-Jul
Tauranga Sat 27-Aug
Te Awamutu Sun 09-Oct - includes prize-giving

Intermediates
The eight Intermediate events go from Taupo in February through to Cambridge in October. Generous prize money is up for grabs.

Taupo - online Sat 26-Feb
Hamilton - online Sat 12-Mar
Katikati Sun 14-May
Mt Maunganui Sat 16-Jul
Te Awamutu Sat 13 Aug
Tauranga Sat 27 Aug
Matamata Sun 11-Sep
Cambridge Sun 16-Oct - includes prize-giving

The Restricted Open League
This Championship League is aimed essentially at newly-Open players. Any Player registered as a member of a Waikato-Bays club who is of the rank of National Master or below may compete. Note: a qualifying player may not partner a non-qualifying player if they wish to get League points in any event.

Skip down to the Attachments to view the downloadable information for the Restricted Open League.

The nine nominated Restricted Open events run from Tauranga in January through to Hamilton in October. Generous prize money is up for grabs. The dates and tournaments are:

Tauranga Congress Restricted Open 8B on Sat 29-Jan
Matamata Open 8B on Sat 26 Mar
Waihi All Grades 8B Sat 5-Mar
Mount Maunganui Multi Grade 3A on Sat 2-Apr
Morrinsville Open 8B on Sat 28-May (cancelled)
Rotorua Open 5A on Sat 11-Jun (cancelled)
Te Puke Open 3A on Sat 24-Sep (cancelled)
Taupo Open 8B on Sat 15-Oct (cancelled)
Hamilton Congress Restricted Open 8B on Sat 23-Oct - includes prize-gving

The more of the tournaments listed that you can play in, the more points you will collect and the higher your chances of a prize.

The competitions award points both for participation and for success (final placing and a bonus point each for turning up, getting over 50% average for day or winning a session outright). Double points are awarded for A-point events. Ineligible players are not awarded League points if they do not qualify because of grading or home region. Any points that they may have won go into the ether.

In 2022, again, all three leagues are individual competitions so you can either play with the same partner each competition, a different one, or a combination.

Why have these league competitions?
To encourage Junior and Intermediate to play in more tournaments
To encourage players to form partnerships

What is in it for the players?

• Good bridge
• New Friends
• A handsome trophy
• Lots of $$$

The Waikato Bays Regional Committee is allocating generous prize money for the overall top place-getters in each competition.

It is good fun and gives you the impetus to develop sound friend/partner-ships and a better grasp of the game. Please book your partner(s) in for as many of these excellent tournaments as you can manage!