UW students win chance to compete in top North American bridge competition
A group of University of Waterloo (UW) students will join other universities across North America, to complete in a prestigious bridge competition later this month.
The local team is excited as this card competition could be compared to the “March Madness” of post-secondary bridge tournaments.
The Collegiate Bridge Bowl takes place in Toronto, as part of the 2024 Summer North American Bridge Championships.
The four-person UW team won a qualifying tournament in the winter which meant they were awarded a travel package that will cover their expenses.
“So our team competed against a host of other university teams, maybe 20 or 30,” said team captain Olivia Laufer.
Here’s the catch – the bridge bowl will be in-person but they qualified by competing in sanctioned online college tournaments.
“I think taking away the face element and just the human element definitely takes away from some part of the game,” said Martin Zhao, a bridge player on the team.
Most of the players on the UW team have a computer science background and they’re ready to take the competition head-on.
“There's a lot of repetition and trying to find patterns,” explained Zhao.
Their program majors aren’t the only similarities.
“All of us were actually on the Canadian bridge team for the Youth World Championships happening in 2016 and 2018,” said Max Cheng, a team member. “Then somehow by chance, we all graduated high school and went to Waterloo.”
The group is also part of the reason the bridge team at the university was reborn.
“Waterloo had a bridge team back in early 2000s maybe. And this is the first bridge team we've had since then,” said Laufer.
Teams are competing for scholarship money, which includes $10,000 for the top team and $3,000 for the first place pair.
For the UW team, winning isn’t the only thing on their mind.
“I'm just excited to be able to go and compete against other college students,” said Laufer. “The average member of the American Contract Bridge League is in their late 60s. So I don't get as many opportunities to play against people my age.”
The American Contract Bridge League is the largest bridge organization in the world and has been around since 1937.
According the league, their championships can each attract up to 6,500 players from all over the world.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard found not guilty of sexual assault
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a young woman in northeastern Ontario eight years ago. The former Hedley frontman had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.
Police arrest Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides
Police have arrested a Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides and investigators say that they believe two of the victims may have been 'randomly targeted.'
Missing B.C. climber died from fall on Mount Baker, medical examiner says
The body of a British Columbia mountain climber has been located and recovered after the 39-year-old man was reported missing during a solo climb on Washington state's Mount Baker earlier this week.
Following child's death in Ontario, here's what you need to know about rabies and bats
An Ontario child died last month after coming into contact with a rabid bat in their bedroom, which was the first known human rabies case in Canada since 2019.
A French judge in a shocking rape case allows the public to see some of the video evidence
A French judge in the trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose now former husband had repeatedly drugged her so that he and others could assault her decided on Friday to allow the public to see some of the video recordings of the alleged rapes.
Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years for voting data scheme
A judge ripped into a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
Anne Hathaway confirms 'Princess Diaries 3': 'Miracles happen'
You might be thinking, 'Shut up!' but it’s officially true: the 'Princess Diaries' franchise is finally growing.
Youth pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of P.E.I. teen Tyson MacDonald
A teen charged with the murder of another teen on Prince Edward Island last year has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Sask. man pleads guilty in U.S. after unknowingly providing videos of men raping toddlers to FBI agent
A Saskatchewan man living in the United States has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after he unknowingly provided disturbing videos to an FBI agent he thought was a pedophile.