WBF President's Closing Address

Here we are - at the end of one of the most famous Championships ever, if not the most famous.

Indeed, the Orbis World Bridge Championships have been very well received by the players and spectators who have attended the event on this marvellous Island of Bermuda. Furthermore, we know that all the people who have watched on the bermudabowl.com website throughout the event have really enjoyed the coverage and felt that they, too, have been a part of this great tournament.

This makes the World Bridge Federation very proud and happy, but none of this would have happened without the outstanding co-operation of the Bermuda Bridge Federation, its dynamic President, Sheena Rayner and the Organising Committee, Jack Rhind, Barbara Huntington, John Hoskins, Edna Clay and Tony Saunders. Our thanks also go to the Bermuda Ministry of Tourism, represented here tonight by the Minister, The Honourable David Allen. We promise you that we will come back to Bermuda as often as we can now that we have discovered your delightful Island and have made so many friends here.

We must also show our very sincere appreciation to Orbis Investment Management Ltd and in particular to its Chief Executive Officer, Allan Gray. They were so much more than "just" a sponsor, giving us tremendous support both before and during the Championship and we thank them very much for everything they have done So many people worked very hard behind the scenes and they all deserve our thanks for their efforts which ensured the smooth running of the tournament.

The Bermudian Bridge Federation found some wonderful volunteers to assist them for the Championship. Working in the playing rooms, moving hundreds of boards were the caddies, under their supervisor, Mary Jane Coelho. Greta Marshall co-ordinated all the recorders. Kevin Comeau was in charge of Public Relations and Janet Evans orchestrated the Opening and Closing Ceremonies which I know you will agree were magnificent, with Wendy Gray organising all the receptions. Penny Harvey handled the transport to and from the airport with enormous efficiency. Each team had an attaché arranged by Julia Beach. The superb flower arrangements for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were provided by a team supervised Debbie Burville and Liz Parker. Your Hospitality team, led by Jean Bath, did a wonderful job of looking after everyone and ensuring their comfort. David Ezekiel was a most entertaining Master of Ceremonies. I know that I speak for all of you in thanking the Bermudian Bridge Federation and its many friends for everything they have done for the Orbis World Bridge Championships.

In the background were the duplication team of Annie Checkroun, Helene Vivier and Simon Wieserma who dealt a staggering number of boards over the two weeks. Scoring and results were handled so efficiently by Claude Dadoun, Christiane Le Turdu and Brigitte Piquet. Ensuring the smooth running of the VuGraph were the Bridge Vision team, Elisabeth Antelme, Elisabeth Piganeau and Laurent Rigaud, together with the Video team of Bernard Delange, Paul Binisti and Bernamdette Pasquier. The Systems Desk was run with great efficiency by Chris Diment and Jan and Corrie Louwerse kept all the team captains in order at the Line Up Desk.

Jean-Paul Meyer co-ordinated a very distinguished panel of Commentators for the VuGraph - David Ezekiel, Eric Kokish, Barry Rigal and Bobby Wolff and I know everyone enjoyed the show.

Working hard on the Mezzanine Floor was Elly Ducheyne, managing a very high-tech Press Room. Next door, the Daily Bulletin Editors co-ordinated by Jean-Paul Meyer, produced an excellent Daily News and our thanks go to the Editor, Mark Horton, with his Assistant Editors Brent Manley and Brian Senior with Graham Fenton proof reading for them. Ron Tacchi took the excellent photographs, Stelios Hadjidakis undertook the layout and Tony Saunders rushed the film to the printers at midnight every night so that you had your Daily News in time for breakfast every day.

The Internet Site, www.bermudabowl.com, was edited by Thanassis Matziaris, and Koen Gijsman, Onno Eskes and Rob Donkersloot put up the VuGraph coverage. We had many emails complimenting us on the service provided, and I am sure many of you will find additional material about the Championships when you return home and log on.

The Orbis World Computer Bridge Championship was staged and co-ordinated by Al Levy. Mark Newton as IT Manager ensured that the computers and Internet worked properly and that there were no problems with the technology.

On the "floor" the team of Tournament Directors under the leadership of Bill Schoder, assisted by Max Bavin did a truly sterling job as I am sure all the players will agree. Thanks go to them and to the rest of the team: Bertrand Gignoux, Richard Grenside, Guillermo Poplawski, Antonio Riccardi, Jack Rhind and Sol Weinstein.

Of course, there are always times when the Tournament Directors have their decisions appealed, although there were less than usual because of our new policy.Here we had a distinguished Appeals Committee Chaired by Bobby Wolff. Thanks go to Joan Gerard, Jens Auken, John Wignall, Richard Colker, Ernesto d'Orsi, Grattan Endicott, Betty Ann Kennedy, Eric Kokish, Jean-Paul Meyer and Nissan Rand.

Every department was watched over by the Operations Director, Ton Kooijman, who in his own inimitable way kept an eye on everything to make sure that these Orbis World Championships will take their place as one of the greatest events in the history of the WBF.

No Championship would exist, however, without you, the players - these are your events, and we salute the winners … but indeed you are all winners, because to take part in such a great sporting event must be a winning play. We could not have dreamt of a better 50th Anniversary than this, the Orbis Bermuda Bowl Championship. We will long remember the exciting quarter-final, and the final in the Orbis Venice Cup meant that the vu-graph was just as crowded as it normally is for the Open event.

The field for the Orbis World Transnational Open Teams was so big and so strong that it has clearly found its place as one of our major WBF tournaments. So, my dear friends, we have come to the end, but believe me it is not the end of the love story between us and Bermuda. I promise you that we will come back for the 75th Anniversary. Thank you all. Thank you very much for what has been such a tremendous success.