GOA whist drive is a success

The Goan Overseas Association (GOA) NSW organised a Bumper Whist Drive competition for its card playing community on February 12, at the Reg Byrne Community Centre in Wentworthville. The event was open to all and was well patronized by the Goan community and their friends. A total of 60 participants took part in the competition and it was encouraging to see not just the young, but also some seniors well into their eighties, hone up their card-playing acumen and bring out some old card tricks from their repertoire.

Whist drive is a game of cards where one pair comprising of a male and a female compete with another pair to make maximum tricks consisting of 13 tricks in a game. Each player is given a score sheet and the number of tricks made is recorded for each game. At the end of each game, the winning lady moves to a higher numbered table and partners with the losing gent on that table and the winning gent moves to a lower numbered table and partners the losing lady on that table for the next game. The losing lady remains at the same position and the losing gent moves to the right of the losing lady. The competition comprised of two sessions of ten games each.

The competition started after the Social Director Ralph Vaz officially welcomed all the participants and read out the rules. The game was keenly contested with the top honors going to Colleen D’Silva among the ladies with a score of 169, and to Patrick among the gents with a score of 150. A total of 15 prizes were given away comprising of top 3 winners among ladies and top 3 winners among gents, the top score among ladies and the top score among gents at half time, the lady and gent with maximum games won by making 10 tricks or more and the lady and gent with the least score.

During the break, lunch was served with mouth-watering dishes catered by Indo Lankan Restaurant, followed by a quick game of Bingo and raffle draw.

President of the Association to the winners of the raffle draw.

At the end of the day, it was a well-organised event which was enjoyed by all who attended, as they met and mingled with old friends, and caught up with the latest news.

Abel Do Rosario