Archive News

August 2011
 Paul won the Silver medal at Posnan in the Seniors Teams at the Open European Championships with Tony Waterlow, David Price, Colin Simpson, Gunnar Hallberg and Hans Gothe.

Paul was second in the Mixed Pairs at Deauville with Katia Lormant.

February 2011

Justin and Paul, together with Tom Hanlon and Hugh McGann, reached the semi finals of the NEC Cup In Yokohama, Japan.
Justin continued by finishing second with Masuru Naniwada in the Asuka Cup, the pairs event.

Click here for photos from NEC Cup


Jason finished second in the Cwmbran teams with Glynn Preece, Edward Levy and Alex Hydes.


November 2010

Paul is now double World Champion

In October the World Open Championships were held in the US.  Following on from the Senior's World Championship last year Paul Hackett continued his success at world level by winning the Rand Cup, the Senior's event.
The other members of the team were John Holland and Gunnar Hallberg with Americans Reese Milner and Garey Hayden.

Ross Harper, Martin Taylor, Justin and Paul were the winners of the Ruia Cup.
Jason won the Scarborough Pairs with Mike Bell.
For the seventh time in eight years Paul and Justin have won the Warwickshire Pairs league.
This year their teammates were Darren Evetts, Margaret Wort, Brian Senior and Edward Levy.
Barbara qualified to play for Germany in the Venice Cup, just missing out on a medal.
Paul and Edward Levy were runners-up in the Edgar Foster.

June 2010

Paul and Roger O’Shea won the pairs at Kings Lynn.

In the Bearn, the qualification for the Corwen, Edward Levy and Paul finished 2nd and went on to finish 4th in the Corwen.

Dan Crofts, Edward Levy, Michael Goldsmith, Justin and Paul won the Staffs Cup and have qualified for the Pachabo.

Janet De Botton, Nick Sandqvist, Artur Malinowski, Andrew McIntosh won Crockfords and was the unbeaten team in the Spring Foursomes.

Paul and Olivia hosted a bridge cruise in conjunction with Fred Olsen and the EBU.

Ross Harper, Gunnar Hallberg, John Holland, Malcolm Lewis and Pat Collins won the Senior Camrose trials proudly wearing the new shirts from Pharon Independent Financial Advisers.

Ross and Paul also won the Pairs at the Shrewsbury Congress.

Jason and Justin are in the European team for the Buffett Cup with Paul as captain which is taking place at Miskin Manor, Cardiff from 13th-16th September.


March 2010


Jason and Justin have been selected to represent England in the European Open teams. Teammates will be David Gold, Andrew McIntosh, Nick Sandqvist and Tom Townsend. Jeremy Dhondy will be captain and Simon Cope is the coach.

Paul and his Senior team, Gunnar Hallberg, Ross Harper, John Holland, David Price and Colin Simpson, winners of the Gold Medal in Brazil, won the trials and Peter Baxter, captain in Brazil, will be captaining them in the Senior teams in Ostende.

Barbara will also be competing, representing Germany in the Ladies.

Paul and Jason finished third in the pairs in the year end Congress in London and Paul went on to win the teams with Jonathan Davis, Gunnar Hallberg and Graham Osborne.

Ross had a very nasty fall in Australia, cracking his skull but on his return to bridge after a three month forced lay off he proceeded to win the Pairs with Paul in Harrogate. The week after Paul and Tony Waterlow won the Premier Grand Master Pairs.

December 2009

It has been an interesting year with Paul finally winning the coveted Gold Medal in the D’Orsi Senior World Championships.
The moving of the Autumn Congress to the Metropole at Birmingham persuaded Jason to enter the pairs with David Burn, which they duly won.
The Staffordshire league was won by Dan Crofts, Edward Levy, Paul, Jason and Justin. Tony Waterlow and Paul won the one day pairs at Deauville, winning a break at the Royal Hotel
Jason and Justin did the double in Donegal by winning both the pairs and the teams.
Paul was eliminated in the semi finals of the Gold Cup and Jason and Justin lost in the quarter-finals.
It is several years since Jason and Justin have played in the American nationals, but they returned this autumn to the Fall Nationals in San Diego where they had a top 10 finish in both the Blue Ribbon Pairs and the Reisinger teams, perhaps the two toughest tournaments of the year.
The Santa Claus Pairs in Manchester only lost three tables due to a severe snow storm.
This meant Paul had to find a new partner at the last minute but Mike Bell joined him to win the tournament.

The family is thinking constantly of Mike Alexander, Ross Harper and Chen Yeh who are suffering health problems.
Paul is looking forward to captaining the English team in the Camrose in Edinburgh in January and the European team in the Buffett Cup which will be held at the Miskin Manor hotel, near Cardiff from the 13th-16th September
Next year Paul is doing a bridge cruise in conjunction with Fred Olsen Lines.  The tournament directors will be John and Maggie Pyner and Olivia will be joining them.
They will be leaving Dover on the 3rd May and visiting Funchal, Santa Cruz, Las Palmas and Lisbon, returning on Saturday 15th.

Details from www.fredolsencruises.co.uk or phone 01473746170

Latest news: July 2009:


Justin, Janet De Botton, Artur Malinowski and Nick Sandqvist finished ruuners-up in the Hubert Phillips.
 
For the second year running Roy Moore, Edward Levy, Brian Senior, Justin and Paul did the double by winning the Warwickshire League and the handicap.
 
Barbara is off to Brazil to represent Germany in the Venice Cup while Paul will also be there playing for England in the Seniors.
 
Susie married Luzasz Mermel at All Saints Church Stradbrook on June 12th.

Latest news: April 2009:

Paul and Tom Hanlon finished third in the Yokohama Imp pairs.

Justin and Paul with team mates David Gold and Tom Townsend finished second in the round robin of the Yeh Bros Cup and were beaten by the eventual winners, The Netherlands, in the KO stage.

Jason and Justin with Janet de Botton and Nick Sandqvist won the North Wales Teams.

Dan Crofts, Edward Levy, Mike Goldsmith, Barbara, Paul and Justin won the Staffs and Shropshire League.

Dan Crofts, Gary Hyett and Paul retained the team’s title in the Shrewsbury Congress with Barbara as this year’s fourth player.

Suzy is getting married in Suffolk in June.

The family attended a civic reception at Manchester Town Hall where Jason, Justin and Michael Byrne were honoured for their results in Beijing last year.


December 2008: Gold Cup Win

Justin and Jason won the Gold Cup for the fourth time in an exciting finish coming from behind with two boards to go and winning by 1 Imp.
 
Paul had an excellent American Nationals, played in Boston in November, by getting to all the finals and having a top ten finish in both the Blue Ribbon Pairs and the Reisinger.
Paul's new regular partner for foreign events is Tom Hanlon.
 

October 2008: Silver medal for English Open Team

Jason and Justin were members of the English Open Team who won a Silver Medal in the Mind Sports Games at Beijing.
This is one of England's best results in international competition for many years.

September 2008

The death of John Armstrong shook our family to the core. Much has been written about him but he was an integral part of our lives. We miss him very much
 
Jason and Justin won the trials and will be in the English team for Beijing. Their teammates are Artur Malinowski, Nick Sandqvist, Tom Townsend and David Gold.
Barbara will also be there,playing for Germany.
Paul, together with Tony Waterlow, Peter Czerniewski and Ian Panto won the Swiss teams at Brighton.
In the first weekend of the Premier League Paul, Tony Waterlow, Michelle Brunner and John Holland scored 138 points to build a substantial lead.
Paul captained the victorious European team in the Buffett Cup (Europe v USA).

2008 Buffet

June 2008

Paul together with Dan Crofts, Gary Hyett and Edward Levy won the Shropshire teams at the Shrewsbury Congress.
 
Paul partnered Ross Harper together with team-mates Tony Waterlow, Ian Panto, Gunnar Hallberg, John Holland and Captain John Williams represented England in the Senior Camrose where they were convincing winners.
 
Roy Moore, Edward Levy, Justin and Paul with occasional help from Susan Stockdale and Brian Senior did the double by winning the Warwickshire League and the Handicap.
 
In Staffordshire Dan Crofts, Edward Levy, Justin and Paul won the Staffs Cup and finished second in the League.
 
Jason and Paul lost the money prize in a split tie in Croatia. Team-mates were Ross Harper, David Levy and Richard Probst.
 
In Moscow Justin celebrated with Andrew Gromov as they watched Manchester United winning the Champions League.
 
Jason, Justin and Paul joined by Tony Waterlow, John Armstrong and John Holland with Captain Bill Hirst and coach David Burn are in Pau representing the English  team in the European Championships.

Apr 2008

Paul, Ross Harper, Tony Waterlow, Ian Panto, Peter Czerniewski and Gunnar Hallberg won the Senior trials and will be representing England in the Senior Camrose to be held at the Oxford Spires Hotel, Oxford from the 30th May-June 1st.
 
Justin and Jason together with Janet de Botton and Nick Sandqvist won the Welsh foursomes at Llandudno.
 
Paul partnering Tony Waterlow and Irish teammates Tom Hanlon, Hugh McGann, Tommy Garvey and John Carroll have qualified for the final of Crockfords.
 
Justin and Paul with Jim McMahon and Jim Forsythe lost in the semi finals of the Scottish Cup to last years winners the Brian Short team.


Mar 2008

Paul has qualified to play for England in the Europeans in Pau in June with John Armstrong, Tony Waterlow and John Holland. Jason and Justin have been invited to join the team.
 
Together with John Armstrong, Paul won $10000 finishing second in the Yeh Bros cup in Taiwan. 4 more Imps would have won the $20000 first prize.
 
Jason won Cwmbran together with Ed Levy, Alex Hydes and Robert Myers.

Coming up soon - in May the Spring Foursomes in Stratford on Avon followed by the Southern Regionals in Port of Spain, Trinidad.  Then in June the European Championships in Pau, France followed by the Biarritz congress in July, then to North America for the Nationals in Las Vegas with the Chairman's Cup in Jonkoping, Sweden completing a busy spring and early summer for the Hacketts.


Dec 2007

For the second year in succession Paul and John Armstrong together with Jack Mizel and Brian Senior qualified for the final of the Reisinger held this year in San Francisco and considered by many as the world's toughest event. In the fourteen team final they improved on last year's performance to finish in the middle of the field.
 
Jason is unfortunately suffering from Deep Vein Thrombosis. This has forced him to rearrange his travel plans so he will be missing the NEC Cup, the Yeh Cup and poker tournaments in Prague and Melbourne as well as joining the Barmy Army for the Tests just passed In Sri Lanka and the upcoming New Zealand series.

Oct 2007

Barbara won her second Silver Medal in the Venice Cup in Shanghai, the world's Ladies Championship. Her tally is now 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze.
 
Paul won the Pairs at the October Peebles tournament partnered by Jonathan Davis.

Paul and Ross Harper won the senior Pairs at Brighton and then went on to win the Bedfordshire and Northants Pairs.
 
Jason finished 9th, winning over £34000 in the London leg of the European poker tour, the first major tournament he has played live in Europe.

June 2007

Paul and Ross Harper won the pairs at the Easter London Tournament
 
Jason and Justin, Janet de Botton, Nick Sandqvist, Artur Malinowski and David Burn won Crockfords.
 
Justin, Janet De Botton, Nick Sandqvist and Artur Malinowski won the Hubert Phillips


March 2007

3rd in the NEC Cup Japan (Jason, Justin Paul, John Armstrong and Geir Helgemo)
 
2nd in the Asaka Cup. Paul, John Armstrong plus the Australian National team.
 
1st in the teams in the Gold Coast Congress, Australia.(Jason, Paul, Tom Hanlon and Bill Hirst).
 
In the Yeh Bros Cup in Shenzhen, China England+ (Jason, Justin, Paul, John Armstrong, Geir Helgemo and Tor Helness) got to the quarter finals and John and Paul went on to win the $6000 first prize in the Pairs.

December 2006

Paul second with John Armstrong in Life Master Pairs at American Nationals in Honolulu

October 2006

Jason and Justin won the Camrose Trials (England selection) with Nick Sandqvist and  Artur Malinowski (npc)Janet de Botton.
Paul finished second with Tony Waterlow, John Armstrong and John Holland.
 
Jason won the Pairs, Teams and the Victor Ludorum at Drogheda.

August 2006:
The first week of August was an excellent week.
In the Presidents Cup Brian Cornelius, Gary Hyett, Craig Fisher, Ian Pendlebury, Dave Smith, Barbara, Justin and Paul finished 2nd representing Staffs and Shropshire.
The Ruia Cup was retained by Brian Cornelius, Michael Alexander, Justin and Paul with Gary Hyett helping out in an early round.
The team that won Cwmbran in 2004, Craig Fisher, Brian Cornelius, Gary Hyett and Paul went back again for the first time since their victory and repeated their success winning by a clear 10 V.P. margin.


July 2006:

It has been quite an unusual year. In the trials Paul beat Justin and Jason but failed to win the final. The Commonwealth Games saw John Armstrong and Paul winning the pairs. They then went on to Taiwan to play the Yeh Bros Cup with Justin and Geir Helgemo. We won the round Robin in convincing style but failed to capitalise in the knock out stage.

Paul won the Shropshire Congress with Ross Harper while Justin and Barbara joined Brian Cornelius and Gary Hyett to win the teams.
For the fifth year in a row Brian Cornelius, Brian Senior, Justin and Paul won the Warwickshire League. Brian, Gary Hyett, Justin and Paul won the Staffordshire Cup, but failed to impress in the finals.

The World Championships in Verona saw Jason and Justin finishing 9th, while Paul and Tony Waterlow finished 11th in the seniors. 

The support of Warren Buffett, who recently gave 31 billion dollars to the Melissa and Bill Gates Foundation, as well as Denis Robson and the Irish committee of Joe Moran, B.J.O’Brien and Paul Porteous, helped to put on a match between Europe and the USA. Called the Warren Buffett Cup, Paul is the captain of the European team, while Jason and Justin are members of the 12 man European contingent.

Barbara is our sole representative this year in the European Championships, representing Germany in the Ladies.

On a more personal note Jane and David Powell gave birth to a son, Erin May on the 3rd March.

Also Susie Hackett got a first in nutrition from Manchester University. As she has taken a job nearer her parents, Alison and Sam, we hope she still keeps in touch.

Olivia’s sister, Mary and her husband Arthur celebrated 50 years of marriage and we were delighted to join them at the Koh Samui on their special day.

Earlier in the year we met for the first time Rae and Norm Clarke, who live in Melbourne, distant relatives who have been helping me with the family tree.