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The 10th World Youth Team Championship was officially opened by Her Excellency, Professor
Marie Bashir, the Governor of the state of New South Wales, at yesterday's Opening Ceremony
in the vugraph theatre at the Sydney Showground. Professor Bashir is the first womant to
become Governor of New South Wales. She welcomed us all to Sydney and spoke of all the
teams as being part of one big family. Professor Bashir also told of her own love for the game
of bridge and how she used to play as a student, plus the fact that her Aunt was still an active
player at the age of 94 years – truly, bridge is a game for our whole lives.
John Wignall, 1st Vice-President of the World Bridge Federation and WBF representative of
Zone 7, then officially opened the Championship on behalf of the Zone. Panos Gerontopoulos,
WBF Youth Committee Chairman, welcomed all the players and team officials and encouraged
everyone to enjoy not only the Championship, but also both Sydney and Australia.
Finally, our masters of ceremony, Stefan Back and Kim Neale, introduced each of the teams in
turn, to an impressive backdrop of scenes from their countries followed by their photographs. |
