Special guest: Philippe Cronier
Stay tuned! We give you the opportunity to pit your skills against Philippe Cronier from time to time. Challenge him and try to win 25 Diamonds!
✨Philippe Cronier✨
Philippe Cronier was born in Ermont, a town in the suburbs of Paris, in the department of Val d’Oise. He studied statistical engineering and then worked for INSEE. He met his wife Bénédicte while playing the La Baule Bridge Festival. Later on, his passion for bridge became his main occupation after the birth of their first child.
🏆Playing record
- 2011: Champion of Europe – Mixed Teams
- 2011: European title (Mixed pairs) with Catherine d’Ovidio
- 2014: Senior Teams category in Sanya
- 2015: European title (Mixed pairs) with Sylvie Willard
- 1983: Champion of Europe – Open Teams
- 1983 et 1995: Two bronze medals in Bermuda Bowl
- 1987: A silver medal in Open pairs with Michel Lebel
- 2021: Online European qualification competitions in the Mixed category
- 2021: French Championships Mixed National Division with Donatella Halfon
- 2021: Teams National Division in Romain Zaleski’s team
🎤Philippe Cronier’s interview
How did you get into bridge?
I am now an experienced played (I’m 68). I learned bridge with my family over 50 years ago, more precisely with my grandparents who introduced me to the game. I played my first tournament with my grandfather when I was 13.
What’s your national ranking?
I currently rank 5th among French players. (I was ranking 4th until Jérôme Rombaut moved ahead of me at the last Pairs National Division)
What’s your best bridge memory?
My best bridge memory is one of these captaincies. I was managing the Seniors French team in Weldhoven, Netherlands, in 2011. In the semi-finals, we played against a very strong Polish team. They were the tournament favourites. We resisted quite well but the Poles were ahead with only a few deals to go.
We were bound to be honourably defeated but in the last deal, François Leenhardt and Patrice Piganeau produced a master stroke which gave them just the number of points they needed to move ahead of the Poles to finally beat them by 0.3 IMPs, the smallest margin ever recorded in an international knockout match.
Transcended by this minor miracle, the players (Philippe Vanhoutte & Patrick Grenthe, Philippe Poizat & Guy Lasserre on top of those already mentioned) played brilliantly in the final and outperformed an impressive American team to become world champions. This title was as gratifying (maybe more?) as winning it myself! We must be proud of all these successes because winning at bridge is hard. There’s plenty of strong players in big events and only Lady Luck’s continued action allows you to win…
📌Next tournaments
Philippe Cronier will be back soon on Funbridge. Stay tunned!
