6th WUC Bridge opens in Reims

REIMS – On Monday evening, competitors, organisers and guests gathered in the city hall of Reims to celebrate the opening ceremony of the 6th World University Bridge Championship which will be staged in Reims from July 10th to 15th.

Patrick Bogacki, vice-president of the French Bridge Federation and Chairman of the Organising Committee welcomed all the distinguished guests, among them Mr Jacques Meyer, vice-mayor of Reims.

The teams paraded behind their respective flags and the vice-mayor welcomed them to Reims and France. He was happy to see another sports federation choose the Champagne-Ardennes region to stage a championship.

Geert Magerman, FISU Technical Chair for Bridge stressed that this was one of 28 World University Championships (in different sports) that FISU would organise throughout 2012. The championships were then officially declared opened and the FISU anthem was played.

Anne-Laure Tartarin pronounced the athletes’ oath

Next, Anne-Laure Tartarin pronounced the oath of the players and declared on behalf of all the student-athletes that the championship will be held “in the true spirit of sportsmanship, fair-play, for the glory of our country, for the honor of our teams and for the achievement of International University Sport Movement.” Jean-François Chevallier pronounced the oath for the referees.

Following the official part of the ceremony, the spectators were entertained by a concert and treated to a generous champagne reception.

(Source: Herman De Wael, 2012 WUC Bridge Organising Committee)