Harvard Tops Field of 31 to Win First CBO Special Team Tournament
On Sunday, Feb. 17, 31 teams from 20 colleges across North American competed in the ACBL’s Spring College Bridge Online Special Team Tournament, with the top three colleges receiving travel packages to attend and compete in the 2019 Collegiate Bridge Bowl in Las Vegas.
“It’s great to see the energy and excitement in our new and returning players,” said Stephanie Threlkeld, education and communications manager for ACBL. “We are looking forward to continuing this momentum in the second team tournament and the new online pairs tournament in April.”
Harvard University’s Crimson Aces topped the field with a final score of 122 IMPs. The University of Chicago’s UChicago team came in a close second with 121 IMPs. After a tie-breaker, the University of Minnesota’s Gopher the Squeeze team came in third place over the University of California – Berkeley’s Golden Bears.
Three more team travel packages will be awarded in the second spring tournament, which will be held on Sunday, April 7. Additionally, the ACBL will award six travel packages to college pairs in its inaugural Stratified Pairs Special Tournament on Sunday, April 14. Those receiving awards will be able to compete in the Stratified Pairs Championship during the Collegiate Bridge Bowl.
“We have several schools in our collegiate program that have wanted to attend the Bridge Bowl but haven’t had enough players to qualify for a team event,” Threlkeld said. “By adding a pairs championship, we are opening the competition to a group of students who haven’t necessarily had the opportunity to compete at the college championship level before.”
On Friday, May 4, the ACBL will also award five pair travel packages based on game activity. Players earn points by playing in the CBO Daily Tournament March 15–April 30, with pairs receiving one point per player, per day. Pairs with the most points will be eligible to win.
To learn more about the Collegiate Bridge Bowl or to register for an upcoming online tournament, visit https://acbl.org/bridgebowl.
Here are the final standings of the Feb. 17 event: https://live.acbl.org/event/1902113/1701/2/summary
