Eligibility Rules for 2019 USBCs

At its meeting on January 28th, the USBF Board clarified and finalized the eligibility rules for players in the Mixed and Senior USBCS. The rules are:

1. No player who has qualified for the 2019 Bermuda Bowl is eligible to enter the 2019 Mixed or Senior USBC.

2. A player who has qualified for the 2019 Venice Cup is eligible to enter the Mixed and Senior USBCs.

3. A player who has qualified for the 2019 Mixed Teams is eligible to enter the Senior USBC

4. If a player who has qualified for the 2019 Venice Cup subsequently qualifies for the 2019 Mixed or Senior Team World Championship, she must resign from the Venice Cup team and may only resign from the Mixed or Senior team for a good reason that arose after the selection event.

5. If a player who has qualified for the 2019 World Mixed Teams subsequently qualifies for the 2019 D'Orsi Senior Bowl, that player must resign from the Mixed Team and may only resign from the Senior team for a good reason that arose after the 2019 Senior USBC

6. If a player or players resign from a team that is qualified for any event at the 2019 World Championships, the team will remain eligible so long as it has at least 4 eligible players (2 men and 2 women for the Mixed Team). An eligible player must have played 50% of the boards in the selection event.

7. If a team is no longer eligible, it will be replaced by the last eligible team that lost in the selection event - "eligible" for a replacement team means having a majority (3 of 4 or 5, 4 of 6) of the players from the selection event on the WC team.

8. If a team that qualified for the Mixed or Senior Teams is reduced below 4 players because one or two of its players are competing in the Venice Cup or Mixed Team on a replacement team it remains eligible so long as a majority (3 of 4 or 5, 4 of 6) of the players from the selection event will be on the WC team.

I hope this is clear. If you have any questions, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll try to answer them.

RUSS EKEBLAD - 1946-2018

Russ Ekeblad represented the United States in 2 Bermuda Bowls - 1998 in Chile, where his team finished 5-8 and 2005 in Estoril, where his team earned the bronze medal and in one Senior Bowl - 2008 in Beijing, where his team earned the silver medal. Russ finished 3rd in the Rosenblum in 1990 and won the IMP Pairs in 1998.

Russ has played in too many USBCs and Senior USBCs to count and his originality and smile will be sadly missed next year.