The World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old.
Zonal signifies both organization by the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and qualification in eight WBF zones; for example (2006, 2008), six teams qualify from 'Europe' defined by European Bridge League membership. Zones may require national representation; for example, the six European teams must represent six member nations of the EBL.
The oldest event, sometimes called the Junior Teams without qualification, dates from 1987 with some changes in definition. Today that is the "open" u-26 tournament (Juniors) in contrast to the u-26 for women (Girls), the open u-21 (Youngsters) and the open u-16 (Kids). It has been held every two years, odd-number years to 2005 and even years from 2006. Competitors vie for the Ortiz-Patiño Trophy, formerly presented by WBF President Emeritus Jaime Ortiz-Patiño (1930–2013) who conceived the idea while serving as WBF President in 1985. The even-year tournaments officially constitute the World Youth Teams Championships for so-called juniors, girls, and youngsters. The entries are national teams, representing countries affiliated with the WBF via membership in the eight geographical "zonal organizations". Moreover, they must qualify within their zones, usually by high standing in a zonal championship tournament that is limited to one team per member nation.
The 2008 junior teams championships were part of the inaugural World Mind Sports Games in Beijing, China. Denmark won its second gold medal, beating Poland in the final, while Norway won the bronze. The 1st Games also included under-28 and under-21 team championships won by Norway and France. Under-21 and u-26 are part of the WBF youth program (namely, two of the three World Youth Teams Championships) but u-28 is not.
In 2010 Israel defeated France in the Juniors final while China won the bronze medal. The event was part of the newly christened World Bridge Series that also included World Young Ladies Teams and under-21 World Youngsters Teams, both won by Poland.[1]
In 2011, at the 2nd World Youth Congress, "Ned Juniors" comprising four players from the Netherlands won the main teams event, a six-day tournament with 27 entries. Ned Juniors won the full-day 56-deal final by 131 to 60 IMPs against "Arg Uru" from Argentina and Uruguay. Meanwhile, "Ned Rum", with one Dutch pair and one transnational pair from Romania and the United States, won third place against "France".[2]
Arg Uru led the preliminary round-robin from which eight teams advanced to full-day knockout matches, and its second-place finish matched that by Argentina in 1989, the best finish for any youth players from outside Europe and North America.
The Youth Congress in odd-number years is transnational: pairs and teams comprising players from different bridge nations are eligible to enter. Transnational teams finished second and third in the main event, but 23 of 27 entries have team names which imply nationality. Medal ceremonies raise the national flag and play the national anthem is the gold medal winner is national in composition.
The Junior Teams event (or tournament in a narrow sense) officially became part of the plural "World Youth Teams Championships" when a tournament for under-21 players was initiated. Beginning 2009, teams events were added to the WBF youth program for odd-number years, contested immediately prior to the older events for pairs in the newly christened "World Youth Congress".
Odd-year teams events are distinct from the older series of teams championships (now biennial in even years) and even-year pairs events are distinct from the older series of pairs championships (now biennial in odd years). Some conditions differ.
This article covers all "world championships" for youth teams while World Junior Pairs Championship covers all "world championships" for youth pairs or individuals.
The Youth Teams series has moved around the world, with only one of the last 10 renditions in Europe. Meanwhile, all eight renditions (to 30 August 2011) now counted in the Youth Pairs series have been in Europe.[3]
The distinct Youth Congress has been held 2009 in Turkey and 2011 in Croatia.
The World Youth Teams Championships now comprise three concurrent events or flights: the original Juniors, the Youngsters from 2004, and the Girls from 2010. The latter are sometimes called "Schools" and "Young Ladies", as they were christened in Europe before adoption at the world level.
The Juniors format has evolved. Currently all three flights determine three medalists. They end with a knockout stage and a playoff between losing semifinalists; that is, two concluding matches determine first and third places.
The Netherlands won the inaugural world championship for junior teams in 1987 and won the Bermuda Bowl in 1993 with three of the recent junior players: De Boer, Leufkens, and Westra. No other junior teams champions have so quickly won the Bermuda Bowl.
| Year, Site, Entries | Juniors Medalists | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987< | --two Europe; one USA; Argentina; Indonesia--> [4] Amsterdam, Netherlands 5 teams | 1. |  Netherlands Wubbo de Boer, Jan Jansma, Enri Leufkens, Marcel Nooijen, Rob van Wel, Berry Westra |
| 2. |  France Bénédicte Cronier, Alexis Damamme, Christian Desrousseaux, Franck Multon, Jean-Christophe Quantin, (François Crozet)* | ||
| 3. |  USA Guy Doherty, Jon Heller, Billy Hsieh, Asya Kamsky, Aaron Silverstein | ||
| 1989< | --GB one of two Europe; one USA; one CAC--> [5] Nottingham, England 8 teams | 1. | Great Britain John Hobson, Derrick Patterson, John Pottage, Andrew Robson, Gerald Tredinnick, Stuart Tredinnick |
| 2. |  Argentina Alejandro Bianchedi, Marcelo Cloppet, Juan Quitegui, Claudio Varela, (Alexis Pejacsevich, Leonardo Rizzo)* | ||
| 3. | France Alexis Damamme, Christian Desrousseaux, Pierre-Jean Louchart, Franck Multon, Jean-Christophe Quantin | ||
| 1991< | --three Europe incl Israel; two USA + Canada; one CAC--> [6] Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 12 teams | 1. | USA 2 Martha Benson, John Diamond, Jeff Ferro, Brian Platnick, Wayne Stuart, Debbie Zuckerberg |
| 2. |  Canada Mark Caplan, Fred Gitelman, Bronia Gmach, Geoff Hampson, Michael Roberts, Eric Sutherland | ||
| 3. |  Australia Robert Fruewirth, Matthew Mullamphy, Peter Newman, John Spooner, Ben Thompson, Jim Wallis | ||
| 1993< | --four Europe; two USA + Canada; two CAC--> [7] Aarhus, Denmark 15 teams | 1. |  Germany Guido Hopfenheit, Marcus Joest, Klaus Reps, Roland Rohowsky, (Rolf Kühn, Frank Pioch)** |
| 2. |  Norway Lasse Aaseng, Geir Helgemo, Svein Gunnar Karlberg, Espen Kvam, Jørgen Molberg, Kurt-Ove Thomassen | ||
| 3. | USA 1 Jeff Ferro, Eric Greco, Leni Holtz, Rich Pavlicek Jr., Kevin Wilson, Debbie Zuckerberg | ||
| 1995< | --three Europe incl GB; two USA + Canada; none from CAC--> [8] Bali, Indonesia 12 teams | 1. | Great Britain Jeffrey Allerton, Danny Davies, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Phil Souter, Tom Townsend |
| 2. |  New Zealand David Ackerley, Ashley Bach, Ishmael Del'Monte, Nigel Kearney, Charles Ker, Scott Smith | ||
| 3. |  Denmark Freddy Brøndum, Mathias Bruun, Nicolai Kampmann, Lars Lund Madsen, Morten Lund Madsen, Jacob Røn | ||
| 1997< | --four Europe incl Israel; two USA + two Canada; MARTINIQUE/GUADELOUPE + Colombia--> [9] Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 18 teams | 1. | Denmark Freddy Brøndum, Mik Kristensen, Lars Lund Madsen, Morten Lund Madsen, Mikkel Bensby Nøhr, Jacob Røn |
| 2. | Norway Boye Brogeland, Thomas Charlsen, Espen Erichsen, Christer Kristoffersen, Bjørn Morten Mathisen, Øyvind Saur | ||
| 3. | Russia Arseni Chour, Youri Khiouppenen, Jouri Khokhlov, Dmitri Lobov, Alexander Petrunin, Boris Sazonov | ||
| 1999< | --four Europe; two USA + two Canada; one CAC--> [10] Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA 16 teams | 1. |  Italy Bernardo Biondo, Mario D'Avossa, Riccardo Intonti, Matteo Mallardi, (Furio Di Bello, Stelio Di Bello)** |
| 2. | USA 2 Tom Carmichael, Eric Greco, Chris Willenken, Joel Wooldridge, (Chris Carmichael, David Wiegand)* | ||
| 3. | Denmark Gregers Bjarnarson, Anders Hagen, Kasper Konow, Mik Kristensen, Morten Lund Madsen, Mikkel Bensby Nøhr | ||
| 2001< | --five Europe; two USA + Canada; one CAC--> [11] Mangaratiba, Brazil 17 teams | 1. | USA 1 Brad Campbell, Joe Grue, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Kent Mignocchi, Joel Wooldridge |
| 2. |  Israel Asaf Amit, Inon Liran, Yossi Roll, Ranny Schneider, Yaniv Vax, Aran Warzawsky | ||
| 3. | Denmark Michael Askgaard, Gregers Bjarnarson, Kåre Gjaldbæk, Jonas Houmøller, Andreas Marquardsen, Martin Schaltz | ||
| 2003< | --six Europe incl England; two USA + Canada; none from CAC--> [12] Saint-Cloud, Paris, France 16 teams | 1. | Italy Furio Di Bello, Stelio Di Bello, Ruggiero Guariglia, Fabio Lo Presti, Francesco Mazzadi, Stefano Uccello |
| 2. | Denmark Kåre Gjaldbæk, Boje Henriksen, Bjørg Houmøller, Jonas Houmøller, Andreas Marquardsen, Martin Schaltz | ||
| 3. | USA 2 Kevin Bathurst, Joe Grue, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Kent Mignocchi, Joel Wooldridge | ||
| 2005< | --six Europe incl England; two USA + Canada; none from CAC--> [13] Sydney, Australia (Juniors only) 18 teams | 1. | USA 1 Ari Greenberg, Joe Grue, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Justin Lall, Joel Wooldridge |
| 2. |  Poland Konrad Araszkiewicz, Krzysztof Buras, Jacek Kalita, Krzysztof Kotorowicz, Piotr Mądry, Wojciech Strzemecki | ||
| 3. | Canada Tim Capes, Vincent Demuy, David Grainger, Charles Halasi, Daniel Lavee, Gavin Wolpert | ||
| 2006< | --six Europe incl Israel; two USA + Canada; none from CAC--> [14] Bangkok, Thailand 18 teams | 1. | USA 1 Joshua Donn, Jason Feldman, Ari Greenberg, Joe Grue, John Kranyak, Justin Lall |
| 2. | Italy Andrea Boldrini, Stelio Di Bello, Francesco Ferrari, Fabio Lo Presti, Alberto Sangiorgio, Matteo Sbarigia | ||
| 3. |  Singapore Alex Loh, Choon Chou Loo, Kelvin Ng, Hua Poon, Fabian Tan, Li Yu Tan | ||
| 2008< | --six Europe; one USA + Canada; none from CAC--> [15] Beijing, China 18 teams | 1. | Denmark Dennis Bilde, Anne-Sofie Houlberg, Jonas Houmoller, Emil Jepsen, Lars Kirkegaard Nielsen, Martin Schaltz |
| 2. | Poland Piotr Nawrocki, Michal Nowosadzki, Przemyslaw Piotrowski, Jan Sikora, Artur Wasiak, Piotr Wiankowski | ||
| 3. | Norway Erik Berg, Ivar Berg, Petter Eide, Espen Lindqvist, Allan Livgard, Tor Ove Reistad | ||
| 2010< | --eight Europe incl Israel; two USA + Canada; none from CAC--> [16] Philadelphia, USA 17 teams | 1. | Israel Eliran Argelazi, Alon Birman, Lotan Fisher, Ron Schwartz, Bar Tarnovski |
| 2. | France Thomas Bessis, Christophe Grosset, Nicolas Lhuissier, Cedric Lorenzini, Quentin Robert, Frederic Volcker | ||
| 3. |  China Yichao Chen, Junjie Hu, Zisu Lin, Yinghao Liu, Yinpei Shao, Di Zhuo | ||
| 2012 [17] Taicang, China 20 teams | 1. | Netherlands Berend van den Bos, Aarnout Helmich, Gerbrand Hop, Joris van Lankveld, Ernst Wackwitz, Chris Westerbeek | |
| 2. | Israel Eyal Erez, Lotan Fisher, Gal Gerstner, Moshe Meyuchas, Dror Padon, Lee Rosenthal | ||
| 3. | Australia Adam Edgtton, Nabil Edgtton, Peter Hollands, Justin Howard, Andy Pei-en Hung, Liam Milne | ||
| 2014 [18] Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey 22 teams < | -- CHECK 2012 too confirmed, 11/15/2018 --> | 1. | Norway Harald Eide, Mats Eide, Kristian Ellingsen, Tor Eivind Grude, Kristoffer Hegge |
| 2. | Netherlands Joris van Lankveld, Tobias Polak, Tom van Overbeeke, Ernst Wackwitz, Chris Westerbeek, Ricardo Westerbeek | ||
| 3. | Poland Maciej Bielawski, Pawel Jassem, Michal Klukowski, Slawomir Niajko, Piotr Tuczynski, Jakub Wojcieszek | ||
| 2016 [19] Salsomaggiore, Italy 22 teams | 1. | Poland Marcin Bojarski, Maksymilian Chodacki, Wojciech Kazmierczak, Michal Klukowski, Kamil Nowak, Justyna Zmuda, Marek Markowski (npc) | |
| 2. | China Yanfeng Chen, Sili Liu, Shiyu Sun, Zhi Tang, Yong Tao, Hongji Wei, Jun Ji (npc), Jun Ji (coach) | ||
| 3. |  Sweden Simon Ekenberg, Mikael Gronkvist, Daniel Gullberg, Simon Hult, Mikael Rimstedt, Ola Rimstedt, Martin Loefgren (npc), Tom Gards (coach) | ||
| 2018 [20] Wujiang District, Suzhou, China 22 teams | 1. | Sweden Ida Grönkvist, Mikael Gronkvist, Simon Hult, Mikael Rimstedt, Ola Rimstedt, Adam Stokka, Martin Loefgren (npc), Tom Gards (coach) | |
| 2. | Singapore Ryan Chan, Peter Haw, Yu Chen Liu, Jazlene Ong, Ming Yang Zhou, Xin Chen Zhu, Yisheng Kelvin Ong (npc), Choon Chou Loo (coach) | ||
| 3. | Netherlands Veri Kiljan, Guy Mendes De Leon, Michel Schols, Thibo Sprinkhuizen, Luc Tijssen, Ricardo Westerbeek, Agnes Snellers (npc), Wubbo De Boer (coach) | ||
* Crozet in 1987, Pejacsevich–Rizzo in 1989, and C. Carmichael–Wiegand in 1999 did not play enough boards in order to qualify for second place
** Kühn–Pioch in 1993 and F. Di Bello–S. Di Bello in 1999 did not play enough boards in order to qualify for the title of World Champion
| Year, Site, Entries | Youngsters Medalists | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004< | --three Europe; two USA + Canada--> [21] New York City, USA (Youngsters only) 6 teams | 1. | Poland Marcin Malesa, Piotr Nawrocki, Filip Niziol, Michal Nowosadzki, Przemyslaw Piotrowski, Jan Sikora |
| 2. | Israel Eliran Argelazi, Eran Assaraf, Alon Birman, Gilad Ofir | ||
| 3. | Norway Petter Eide, Espen Lindqvist, Allan Livgard, Steffen Fredrik Simonsen | ||
| 2006< | --six Europe incl Israel; USA red/blue + Canada--> Bangkok, Thailand 16 teams | 1. | Israel Eliran Argelazi, Alon Birman, Dror Padon, Ron Segev, Dana Tal, Bar Tarnovski |
| 2. |  LatviaJurijs Balasovs, Janis Bethers, Peteris Bethers, Adrians Imsa, Martins Lorencs | ||
| 3. | Poland Piotr Butryn, Bartlomiej Igla, Artur Machno, Maciej Sikora, Joanna Krawczyk, Artur Wasiak | ||
| 2008< | --six Europe incl England; one USA + Canada--> Beijing, China 18 teams | 1. | France Marion Canonne, Pierre Franceschetti, Alexandre Kilani, Aymeric Lebatteux, Nicolas Lhuissier, Cedric Lorenzini |
| 2. | England Adam Hickman, Edward Jones, Daniel McIntosh, Robert Myers, Benjamin Paske, Thomas Paske | ||
| 3. | China Simin Chen, Yichao Chen, Chunhui Dong, Junjie Hu, Yujie Jiang, Qi Song | ||
| 2010 < | --nine Europe incl England, Israel; USA 1/2 + Canada--> Philadelphia, USA 16 teams | 1. | Poland Pawel Jassem, Tomasz Jochymski, Wojciech Kazmierczak, Mateusz Mroczkowski, Adam Smieszkol, Piotr Tuczynski |
| 2. | England Daniel McIntosh, Thomas Paske, James Paul, Thomas Rainforth, Graeme Robertson, Shivam Shah | ||
| 3. | Netherlands Lotte Leufkens, Vincent Nab, Rens Philipsen, Rik van Leeuwen, Thijs Verbeek, Ernst Wackwitz | ||
| 2012 Taicang, China 20 teams | 1. | Poland Michal Gulczynski, Wojciech Kazmierczak, Michal Klukowski, Igor Losiewicz, Andrzej Terszak, Lukasz Witkowski | |
| 2. | USA 1 Zachary Brescoll, Adam Grossack, Zachary Grossack, Andrew Jeng, Richard Jeng, Adam Kaplan | ||
| 3. | France Julien Bernard, Ivan Caillau, Fabrice Charignon, Baptiste Combescure, Clement Laboureyre, Grégoire Lafont | ||
| 2014 Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey 16 teams | 1. | Sweden Ida Grönkvist, Mikael Rimstedt, Ola Rimstedt, Johan Säfsten | |
| 2. | USA1 Nolan Chang, Christopher Huber, Oren Kriegel, Benjamin Kristensen, Kevin Rosenberg, Cole Spencer | ||
| 3. | Norway Christian Bakke, Espen Flaatt, Joakim Saether, Marcus Scheie | --> | |
| 2016 Salsomaggiore, Italy
| 1. | Italy Francesco Chiarandini, Alvaro Gaiotti, Gianmarco Giubilo, Andrea Manganella, Federico Porta, Sebastiano Scata | |
| 2. | Netherlands Youp Caris, Pim Dupont, Oscar Nijssen, Sven Overvelde, Leen Stougie, Marc Stougie | ||
| 3. |  China Hong Kong Chris T H Chan, Alfred Lam, Niko Man, Jackson Tsang, Sam Tseng, Michael Wu | ||
| 2018 Wujiang District, Suzhou, China 22 teams | 1. | Sweden Teo Bodin, Sanna Clementsson, Erik Hansson, Castor Mann, Alexander Sandin | |
| 2. | Israel Ilai Ilan Baniri, Nir Khutorsky, Tomer Loonstein, Gal Matatyahou, Yonatan Sliwowicz, Aviv Zeitak | ||
| 3. | France Raphael Basler, Luc Bellicaud, Arthur Boulin, Melic Dufrene, Maxence Fragola, Theo Guillemin | ||
| Year, Site, Entries | Girls Medalists | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Philadelphia, USA 4 teams | 1. | Poland Ewa Grabowska, Magdalena Holeksa, Danuta Kazmucha, Natalia Sakowska, Joanna Krawczyk, Justyna Zmuda | |
| 2. | France Marion Canonne, Claire Chaugny, Jessie Carbonneaux, Carole Puillet, Aurely Thizy | ||
| 3. | China Xiufen Chang, Xing Li, Yanjiao Liu, Wei Meng, Lulu Peng | ||
| 2012 Taicang, China 20 teams | 1. | Poland Katarzyna Dufrat, Magdalena Holeksa, Danuta Kazmucha, Natalia Sakowska, Kamila Wesolowska, Justyna Zmuda | |
| 2. | Netherlands Natalia Banaś, Judith Nab, Jamilla Spangenberg, Sigrid Spangenberg, Magdaléna Tichá, Janneke Wackwitz | ||
| 3. | Italy Giorgia Botta, Federica Butto, Margherita Chavarria, Margherita Costa, Flavia Lanzuisi, Michela Salvato | ||
| 2014 Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey 13 teams < | -- CHECK this and 2012 too --> | 1. | France Jessie de Tessières-Carbonneaux, Anne-Laure Huberschwiller-Tatarin, Anaïs Leleu, Jennifer Murgues, Aurélie Thizy, Mathilde Thuillez |
| 2. | China Li Chen, Bo Fu, Hanxiao Li, Xinyi Li, Qihao Wu, Bing Zhao | ||
| 3. | Italy Giorgia Botta, Caterina Burgio, Federica Butto, Margherita Chavarria, Margherita Costa, Michela Salvato | ? badly beaten by China in the quarterfinal --> | |
| 2016 Salsomaggiore, Italy
| -- Check this --> | 1. | Netherlands Merel Bruijnsteen, Natalia Gawel, Magdalena Ticha, Maaike Van Ommen, Esther Visser, Janneke Wackwitz |
| 2. | Australia Jessica Brake, Renee Cooper, Kirstyn Fuller, Francesca McGrath, Ella Pattison | ||
| 3. | Norway Katarina Ekren, Thea Hove Hauge, Thea Lucia Indrebo, Agnethe Hansen Kjensli, Sofie Grasholt Sjodal | ||
| 2018 Wujiang District, Suzhou, China 15 teams < | -- this is right --> | 1. | China Yijing Cai, Bo Fu, Chengke Hu, Xinyi Li, Xinyi Ni, Yang Yang |
| 2. | Poland Zofia Baldysz, Hanna Ciunczyk, Joanna Kokot, Dominika Ocylok, Joanna Zalewska, Anna Zareba | ||
| 3. | France Sarah Combescure, Marie-Valentine Coupel, Beryl Dufrene, Emeline Jounin, Anais Leleu, Mathilde Thuillez | ||
Koç University, host of the 2014 championships, sponsored an invitational tournament for "National Kids Teams" of players born 1999 and later (age 15 and under, roughly). Seven invitations were accepted: five from Europe including host Turkey, India from Asia & the Middle East, and China from Asia Pacific.
The Kids played round-robin in three days with a four-team knockout, semifinals and finals, completed during the 5- and 6-day round-robin stages of the official events. France and Poland virtually tied the round robin (a margin less than 1/2 VP) and won the semifinals before Poland won the trophy over 42 deals. China beat Sweden in the third-place match. Meanwhile, India won a two-day, three-team contest for fifth place.[18]
Poland, France, India, China and the host were represented in all four tournaments.[18]
| Year, Site, Entries | Kids Medalists | |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey 7 teams | 1. | Poland Michael Kaleta, Kacper, Kopka, Michal Maszenda, Jakub Patreuha, Patryk Patreuha, Tomasz Pawelczyk |
| 2. | France Luc Bellicaud, Theo Guillemin, Romaric Guth, Victor Le Lez | |
| 3. | China Zhiyu Cheng, Dongke Fang, Baozhuo Jiang, Randy Pan, Jiahe Shen, Zihan Wang | |
| 2016 Salsomaggiore, Italy 14 teams | 1. | Israel Shahar Dank, Nir Khutorsky, Gilad Lifshitz, Tomer Loonstein, Gal Matatyahou, Aviv Zeitak |
| 2. | China 2 Yunpeng Chen, Cheng Deng, Yizhou Liu, Xinyao Ruan, Penghao Wang, Ruizhe Wang | |
| 3. | France Maxence Fragola, Romaric Guth, Hugo Rabourdin, Clement Teil, Benoit Deveze | |
| 2018 Wujiang District, Suzhou, China 18 teams | 1. | China 3 Tie Chen, Zanchao Cui, Xihong Dai, Sicheng Liu, Yiping Lu, Zichen Wang |
| 2. | France Romain Bloch, Aurele Gallard, Leo Rombaut, Thibaut Zobel | |
| 3. | USA Michael Hu, Harrison Anders Luba, Rory Xiao, Michael Xu, Jonathan Yue, Arthur Zhou | |
The World Youth Congress is a distinct meet in odd years with transnational entries permitted in all teams and pairs events. It was inaugurated 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey; reiterated 2011 in Opatija, Croatia. The 2013 rendition in Atlanta, United States, is termed the "3rd World Youth Open Bridge Championships" as of August 2014.
40 teams entered the main event at the 1st World Youth Congress in 2009. At least two-thirds of the team names, and more among the strong performers, suggest a single nationality. "Japan Czech" won the final against "Italy Red" while "USA 1" won third place against "Netherlands Red". Evidently 8 teams advanced from preliminary play to knockout matches and there were no playoffs to distinguish any of the quarterfinal losers, 5th to 8th places.
(Some of the main events for teams at WBF meets are scheduled so that preliminary and quarterfinal losers are eligible to enter a secondary event that begins during the main event semifinals. For others only preliminary losers are available to enter the first stage of another event. For example, the 2nd World Youth Congress in 2011, the secondary BAM teams event was a consolation tournament initially among preliminary losers, the 9th to 27th place teams in the main prelim. Quarterfinal losers in the main event joined the consolation on its second day.)
27 teams entered at the 2nd Congress in 2011, all but four having team names that suggest a single nationality.
| Year, Site, Entries | Medalists | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 [22] 1st Youth Congress Istanbul, Turkey 40 teams< | -- August 15-23 --> | 1. |   Japan Czech Noriaki KOIKE (Jap), Michal KOPECKY (Cze), Milan MACURA (Cze), Hiroaki MIURA (Jap) |
| 2. | Italy Red Massimiliano DI FRANCO, Arrigo FRANCHI, Andrea MANNO, Aldo PAPARO | ||
| 3. | USA 1 Jason CHIU, Kevin DWYER, Kevin FAY, Jeremy FOURNIER, Justin LALL, Matthew MECKSTROTH | ||
| 4. | Netherlands Red Bob DRIJVER, Marion MICHIELSEN, Danny MOLENAAR, Tim VERBEEK | ||
| < | -- 2011 --> | ||
| 2011 [23] 2nd Youth Congress Opatija, Croatia 27 teams | 1. | NED Juniors Berend van den BOS, Aarnout HELMICH, Gerbrand HOP, Joris van LANKVELD | |
| 2. |  ARG URU Maximo CRUSIZIO (Arg), Felipe Jose FERRO (Arg), Rodrigo GARCIA DA ROSA (Uru), Alejandro SCANAVINO (Arg) | ||
| 3. | NED RUM Marius AGICA (USA), Bob DRIJVER (Ned), Radu NISTOR (Rom), Ernst WACKWITZ (Ned) | ||
| 4. | France Edouard DU CORAIL, Nicolas GAYDIER, Aymeric LEBATTEUX, Simon POULAT | ||
| < | -- 2013 --> | ||
| 2013 [24] 3rd Youth Open Atlanta, USA 12 juniors teams < | -- August 3-11; this event 6-96 of 12 have country names: tur jap aus ita ven arg (finished in top 8); three more names suggest all-USA (finished 6, 9, 11); three inscrutable finished 1, 10,12 but WBF displays a US flag for the winners)Evidently three 48-deal knockout rounds --> | 1. | War of Roses Marius AGICA, Kevin DWYER, Adam GROSSACK, Zachary GROSSACK, Adam KAPLAN, Owen LIEN (all USA) |
| 2. | Australia Maxim HENBEST, Peter HOLLANDS, Justin HOWARD, Nathan HOWARD, Ellena MOSKOVSKY, Lauren TRAVIS | ||
| 3. |  Turkey Erkmen AYDOGDU, Altug GOBEKLI, Berk GOKCE, Akin KOCLAR, Muhammet OZGUR, Sarper USLUPEHLIVAN | ||
| 4. | Japan Yuki HARADA, Koichiro HASHIMOTO, Kosuke ITO, Tadahiro KIKUCHI, Ryoko OYAMA, Takumi SESHIMO | ||
15 youngsters teams < | -- August 3-11; this event 6-9 None carry simple country names. 5 "China" names plus a Chinese school, 1 "USA" name plus a primary school, WBF gives USA flags to two more semifinalistsEvidently three 32-deal knockout rounds --> | 1. | USA Jeng Andrew JENG, Richard JENG, Oren KRIEGEL, Burke SNOWDEN (all USA) |
| 2. | Kristensen Brandon HARPER, Gregory HERMAN, Ben KRISTENSEN, Ryan MILLER (all USA) | ||
| 3. | China XNWY Brandon Kai JIN, Tianyi JIN, Zhizhou SHA, Yiling SHEN, Kaiwen WU, Felica Xinying YU, Weichang QIU (NPC), Bing ZHAO (coach) | ||
| 4. | Berk Samuel AMER, Hakan BERK, Nolan CHANG, Jake OLSEN, David SOUKUP (all USA) | ||
World Championships & Events (double overview). World Bridge Federation.
World Youth Congress. World Bridge Federation.
The World Youth Congress (to conclude 29 August 2011) will include "world championships" for teams, pairs, and individuals, each with Juniors and Youngsters flights if the number of u-21 entries is sufficient. There will also be secondary contests with alternative forms of scoring, board-a-match teams and IMP pairs(*).
Some of these events may officially continue "world championships" for junior players contested before 2009: miscellaneous ones, not those now held in even-number years: biennial (zonal) World Youth Teams Championships and quadrennial World Bridge Games.
For the World Bridge Games, among 96 junior pairs in the final and 30 in the consolation, the WBF lists 124 co-national pairs, one England–Wales (because the Olympic movement recognizes Great Britain teams?), and one Argentina–Chile (why?).http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/pairschampRPperson.asp?qtournid=683
The 2011 events for teams and pairs will be transnational in that entries may comprise players from different countries and open in that there is no preliminary qualification at zonal level.
Here is a list of pertinent past championships.
Teams
2009 only(*), World Juniors Teams Championship to Date (Board-a-match), World Youth Congress. WBF.
2009 only, World Juniors Teams Championship to Date (Swiss), World Youth Congress. WBF.
2002 only, junior flight of the IOC Grand Prix[25]
Pairs
2009 only(*), World Juniors IMP Pairs Championships to Date (IMPs), World Youth Congress. WBF.
2006 only, youngsters pairs World Youngsters Pairs Championship to Date, World Youth Congress. WBF.
1995-2009, every two/three years World Juniors MP Pairs Championships to Date (matchpoints), World Youth Congress. WBF.
Individuals
2000 only, junior flight of the World Masters Individual Championships, World Masters Individual. WBF.
2004 only, World Juniors Individual Championship to Date, World Youth Congress. WBF.
"under the auspices of the FISU".World University Team Cup. WBF.
Teams comprise university student players from one nation, not one university.(2010 conditions)
Europe 1993 to 2001 (worldwide in 2000 and 2001)
1992 Antwerp World University Chess Championship, Lode Lambeets attended and initiated the same for bridge (2002)
1993 Antwerp, EBL President Paul Magerman
1994 DEN (2002)
1995
1996 NED (2008)
1997 NED
1998 DEN
1999 NED
Hagen of Denmark 2002 "He began in Palermo in 1997 and missed only the 1999 edition when he preferred to take part in the Junior World Championships being held in Florida at the same time." (2002)
2000
2001 NED
2005 NOR
first European (EUC) 1993 Antwerp, initiator Paul Magerman, son Geert M is now technical delegate FISU
Netherlands EUC champion 1996,97,99,01
Netherlands runaway Marion Michielsen–Meike Wortel, Bob Drijver–Merijn Groenenboom, Danny Molenaar–Tim Verbeek.
three Bulletins only, evidently days 1 to 3
Europe:
| Year | n | Champion | Runners up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 teams |  Austria Andreas Gloyer, Arno Lindermann, Bernd Saurer, Martin Schifko | Italy DEN NED | |
| 13 | Denmark Michael Askgaard, Gregers Bjanarson, Anders Hagen, Kasper Konow, | Italy NED POL | |
| 15 | Poland Krzysztof BURAS, Jacek KALITA, Krzysztof KOTOROWICZ, Piotr MADRY, Grzegorz NARKIEWICZ, Wojciech STRZEMECKI |  Belgium USA TUR | |
| 27 | China A Jing Jin, Xin Li, Jing Liu, Shu Liu, Yan Liu, Yan Wwang | United States POLb SWE | |
| 21 | Netherlands A Marion Michielsen–Meike Wortel, Bob Drijver–Merijn Groenenboom, Danny Molenaar–Tim Verbeek | Polanda NORa POLb | |
| 14 | Poland Wojciech GAWEL, Jacek KALITA, Michal NOWOSADZKI, Jan SIKORA, Piotr WIANKOWSKI, Piotr ZATORSKI | France ISR USA | |
| 18 | Poland |