There have been a lot of frantically close finishes in the big English tournaments recently. In the semi-final of the Gold Cup, the de Botton team edged the Norwegian Tøndel team by just one IMP (and went on to win the event). The Crockford’s Cup was even closer. Nick Irens and his team lost the final on a tie-break to the Hackett team (Paul Hackett, Tom Hanlon, Peter Lester, Hugh McGann and Ian Panto). That must have been particularly painful: I’d have been up all night agonising over every little missed trick.
For the victors, however, these close run-ins provide an opportunity to luxuriate in the memory of each hand that played a crucial role. I imagine this beautiful combined defence by Paul Hackett and Tom Hanlon is especially satisfying to recall:
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