McConnell Cup

McConnell Cup is a team event for woman held every four years as part of the World Bridge Series Championships. The event was inaugurated in 1994 and is named in honor of Ruth McConnell, former treasurer for the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and former president of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). McConnell was also instrumental in inaugurating the Venice Cup women's team championship in 1974.

The full name of this championship is World Women Knockout Teams. The knockout format pertains only to the late stages, however, evidently a four-round knockout with 16 teams except for a five-round 32-team KO in 1998. It appears that the field has been divided into two groups or four groups for round-robin play, with the top eight or top four advancing from each group to the knockout stage.^{[citation needed]}

The next rendition will be at the "World Bridge Series Championships" meet in 2014.

Results

Year, Venue, Entries		Medalists
1994 [1] Albuquerque, USA 16 teams	1.	Letizia Jill Blanchard, Marinesa Letizia, Sue Picus, Rozanne Pollack, Judi Radin  (USA)
	2.	Woolsey Karen Allison, JoAnne Casen, Dori Cohen, Joann Glasson, JoAnn Manfield, Sally Woolsey  (USA)
	3.	Alder — Mildred Breed, Tobi Deutsch, Amalya Kearse, Joyce Lilie, Jacqui Mitchell, Jo Morse  (USA)
		Tornay — Judi Cody, Shelley Lapkoff, Linda Perlman, JoAnna Stansby, Carlyn Steiner, Claire Tornay  (USA)
1998 [2][3] Lille, France 56	1.	Erhart Maria Erhart, Doris Fischer, Sylvia Terraneo, Terry Weigkricht  (Austria)
	2.	Auken Daniela von Arnim, Sabine Auken, Katrin Farwig, Barbara Stawowy  (Germany)
	3.	Truscott — Jill Meyers, Shawn Quinn, Carol Sanders, Tobi Sokolow, JoAnn Sprung, Dorothy Truscott  (USA)
		Wood — Mickie Kivel, Ellee Lewis, Terry Michaels, Claire Tornay, Nadine Wood  (USA)
2002 [4][5] Montreal, Canada 36	1.	Sanborn Lynn Deas, Irina Levitina, Jill Meyers, Randi Montin, Beth Palmer, Kerri Sanborn  (USA)
	2.	Radin Mildred Breed, Rozanne Pollack, Shawn Quinn, Judi Radin, Valerie Westheimer, (Hjördís Eyþórsdóttir)*  (USA)
	3.	Bessis Véronique Bessis, Bénédicte Cronier, Catherine D'Ovidio, Sylvie Willard  (France)
2006 [6][7] Verona, Italy 39	1.	Steiner Victoria Gromova (RUS), Marinesa Letizia (USA), Tatiana Ponomareva (RUS), Janice Seamon-Molson (USA), Tobi Sokolow (USA), Carlyn Steiner (USA)
	2.	Narasimhan Jill Levin, Irina Levitina, Jill Meyers, Hansa Narasimhan, Debbie Rosenberg, JoAnna Stansby  (USA)
	3.	Katt-Bridge Kathrine Bertheau, Catarina Midskog, Jenny Wolpert, Mari Ryman  (Sweden)
2010 [8][9] Philadelphia, USA 31 teams	1.	China Ladies Xuefeng FENG, Ling GU, Yan LU, Ming SUN, Yanhui SUN, Hongli WANG  (China)
	2.	Netherlands Carla Arnolds, Jet Pasman, Anneke Simons, Martine Verbeek, Bep Vriend, Wietske van Zwol  (Netherlands)
	3.	Fireman Daniele Allouche-Gaviard (FRA), Shannon Cappelletti (USA), Catherine D'Ovidio (FRA), Phyllis Fireman (USA), Victoria Gromova (RUS), Tatiana Ponomareva (RUS)

* The WBF stripped Eyþórsdóttir of her silver medal for refusing to take a drug test^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Results & Participants (McConnell Cup), 9th World Championships, 1994. World Bridge Federation.
2. ^ Results & Participants (McConnell Cup), 10th World Championships, 1998. WBF.
3. ^ 1998 World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 1998. WBF.
4. ^ Results & Participants (McConnell Cup), 11th World Championships, 2002. WBF.
5. ^ World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 2002. WBF.
6. ^ Results & Participants (McConnell Cup), 12th World Championships, 2006. WBF.
7. ^ 12th World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 2006. WBF.
8. ^ Results & Participants (McConnell Cup), 13th World Series Championships, 2010. WBF.
9. ^ 13th World Bridge Series contemporary coverage, 2010. WBF.

External links

• Women program top page at the World Bridge Federation
• World Women KO Teams To Date (table) at the World Bridge Federation