The Western Mustangs bridge team is heading to Philadelphia for major competition

Tiffany Mongu · CBC News

· Posted: May 04, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

A squad of students from the Western University Mustangs span squad precocious won a apical spot to vie astatine this year's Collegiate Bridge Bowl competition in Philadelphia this summer. 

After coming successful 4th spot successful an online qualifying tourney wherever they competed against 37 different post-secondary teams from Canada and the U.S. in February, the Mustangs won question packages to be the bowl.

Simon Hungate, a Western engineering pupil and skipper of the span team, said helium and his teammates Garrett Liu, Jeffrey Martinovic, Rachel Penney and Sean McBride were thrilled erstwhile they received the unexpected news.

"To person the accidental to get to spell to Philadelphia and play against each the different apical collegiate players successful North America, we're each truly excited," helium said. "We're excited to correspond Western, and besides excited to conscionable different radical our property who are playing the game."

The Mustangs volition vie against much than 20 different teams astatine the extremity of July for the apical prize $10,000.

A 'challenging, engaging' game

Bridge is simply a trick-taking paper crippled played by 4 players successful 2 partnerships, utilizing a standard deck. They vie to triumph tricks by bidding and strategically playing cards. Scoring successful span rewards palmy contracts and penalizes failures, with strategy, communication, and representation playing cardinal roles.

Hungate said the crippled forces him and his peers to deliberation critically.

"I deliberation it's precise challenging, it's engaging and it's a puzzle," said Hungate. "That thought that you're ever having a occupation to lick and you're ever having to fig worldly out, and you're doing it with a partner… astatine the table, to maine is highly appealing."

Hungate said his emotion for the crippled came from playing with his precocious gramps during summertime visits, starting erstwhile helium was astir 12 years old. When helium started university, helium was anxious to signifier his ain squad and thatch his friends however to play the game.

Before each match, Hungate and his teammates stitchery play for signifier sessions and discuss the antithetic playing styles progressive successful the game. 

"It's a batch of amusive astatine the extremity of the day," helium said. "We'll beryllium and idiosyncratic volition bring baked goods oregon we'll person a snack, and we'll play and we'll chat."

The Mustangs will vie for assistance money, with a $10,000 prize for the apical squad and $3,000 for the first-place pair.  

"[Winning] would assistance america turn the crippled astatine Western because that's 1 of the superior goals," said Hungate. "Obviously, we privation to vie and win, but we besides privation to get different radical playing. This is a societal crippled arsenic good arsenic a competitory game."

The 2025 Collegiate Bridge Bowl volition instrumentality spot from July 31 to August 2 in Pennsylvania.