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Playoffs & Target Events for Open, Mixed, Women’s and Seniors’ Teams

Playoffs to select Australian Open, Mixed, Women’s and Seniors’ Teams

The ABF conducts Australian Team Selection Playoffs each year to select Australian Open, Mixed, Women’s and Seniors’ Representative Teams for the coming year. Currently the playoffs are held in November, December and January each year.

Eligibility

Eligibility to enter the Open and Mixed Playoffs is based on Playoff Qualifying Points earned during the PQP cycle leading to the Playoffs, and the number of entries may be limited. Details are at Playoff Qualifying Points.  Entry to the Women’s and Seniors’ Playoffs is via qualification from the National Women’s Teams Championship and the National Seniors’ Teams Championship respectively. All players who enter a Playoff must be eligible to play for Australia as per the ABF’s Eligibility to represent Australia Policy.

Target Events

By entering a Playoff, all players declare that they are available and intend to represent Australia in any Target Event/s if they qualify.

Target events for Open, Mixed, Women’s and Seniors’ Representative Teams are set by the ABF annually. We follow the World Bridge Federation and Asia Pacific Bridge Federation programs, which operate on a four year cycle. Target events normally are determined before entries to the Playoffs open. Currently the expectation, subject to travel policy and other considerations, is that target events will include:

  • In odd years (2025, 2027, …), the Zone 7 Playoffs and, for successful teams, the WBF World Bridge Teams Championships.
  • In leap years (2028, 2032, …), the WBF World Bridge Games.
  • In even non-leap years (2026, 2030, …), there are no WBF events in these years for National Representative Teams. In previous cycles the target event has been the Asia Cup.

From time to time, the ABF may send teams to other “non-target” events throughout the world. Entering the Playoffs does not require players to commit to be available for non-target events. The selection policy for non-target events is Team Selection Policy for Non-Target Events.

August, 2024