The UK Women’s team was formed in anticipation of being allowed to play in Georgia in 2018. However, that didn’t materialise as the Worldwide Trophy didn’t happen, and the only match that has happened so far was the Team UK Men v Women match in Bradford last year in which the women were one gammon short of a major upset. There will be a rematch in London later this year, but before then a mixed UK team will be heading off to Gothenburg for the weekend of 21-23 February to take on the might of the Swedes: in no particular order:
- Martin Barkwill
- Anna Price
- Tim Cross
- Julia Hayward
- Steve Bibby
- Becca Bell
- Jon Barnes
- Rachel Rhodes
- Peter Snape
- Anna Clarke
- Peter Bennet
Of course when I say “friendly”, I mean a friendly disposition, but still as keenly competitive as we backgammon players always are… we are going with every intention of making the UK proud and bringing home some trophies! Part of the aim is for it to be a social event with our hosts and to build strong relationships with our neighbours as well as promoting the game and the UKBGF more widely. As our reputation spreads we’re seeing an increasing number of overseas players coming to play in the UK’s main tournaments, which can only be a good thing.
It’s also a great chance for more UK players to experience playing at an international level and for the UK to develop strength in numbers when it comes to picking teams for future events.
The weekend will have a warm-up on Friday, a team event on Saturday (four rounds of 9pt), and an individual event on the Sunday, no doubt with other games squeezed in as time allows… indeed, the schedule allows us to get as much backgammon in as possible before a quick dash back to the airport on Sunday night! Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages as usual for news of how the team is doing, as well as our holiday snaps…
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