McConnell Cup is a team event for women 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.
The next rendition will be at the "World Bridge Series Championships" meet in 2014. The Chinese Contract Bridge Association will host in Sanya, Hainan, from 10 to 25 October.[1] The series name for the meet is new but WBF calls this the 14th World Bridge Series, or 14th Red Bull World Bridge Series. It will be the 6th competition for the McConnell Cup, and the 6th world championship for women teams in the series.
| Year, Venue, Entries | Medalists | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 [2] Albuquerque, USA 16 teams< | --looks like straight KO--> | 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 [3] [4] Lille, France 56 < | --looks like 32 KO; plus six groups of 4--> | 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 [5] [6] Montreal, Canada 36 < | --looks like 16 KO; plus five groups of 4--> | 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, (Hjördis Eythorsdottir) (USA) | ||
| 3. |  Bessis Véronique Bessis, Bénédicte Cronier, Catherine D'Ovidio, Sylvie Willard (France) | ||
| 2006 [7] [8] Verona, Italy 39 < | --looks like 16 KO; plus five groups of 4, plus 3--> | 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 [9] [10] Philadelphia, USA 31 teams< | --looks like 16-team KO; plus seven groups of 2, plus 1--> | 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) | ||
| 2014 [11] < | -- not the best source and not sufficient --> Sanya, China 26 teams | 1. | Baker Lynn Baker (USA), Karen McCallum (USA), Sally Brock (ENG), Nicola Smith (ENG), Marion Michielsen (NED), Meike Wortel (NED) |
| 2. | China Red Lu Yan, Ran Jing Rong, Wang Hongli, Wang Wenfei, Wu Shaoyong, Zhang Yu (China) | ||
| 3. | Moss — Sylvia Moss (captain), Lynn Deas, Hjördis Eythorsdottir, Joann Glasson, Kerri Sanborn, Janice Seamon-Molson (USA) | ||
 Pertamina Ep — Rury Andhani, Lusje Oha Bojoh, Suci Amita Dewi, Kristina Wahyu Murniati, Conny Sumampouw, Julita Grace Tueje (Indonesia) | |||