QBA Profiles

Bill Hunt

Bill Hunt has been one of the leading bridge players in Queensland for some years - a status underlined by his recent achievement of becoming the first gold grandmaster in the state. (For the uninitiated, a gold grandmaster must have accumulated more than 5000 masterpoints, and that represents a wealth of winning bridge.)

Bill started on this path at an early age. His parents were keen bridge players in Holland, and he was taught the elements of the game before he was ten.

His family came to Australia in 1952 to work for a major construction company on the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme; and soon after, Bill became involved in the bridge scene in Canberra, where he directed and taught for nearly three decades.

Moving to Brisbane in 1982, Bill took over the running of the Brisbane Bridge Club for several years, and in 1995 was appointed as an official bridge teacher to the QBA. During the following five years, he travelled to many bridge clubs throughout the length and breadth of the state in this role. These days Bill teaches privately, but is still an active player.

It is of interest to look back on his extensive representative career - his record of representing the ACT and Queensland 31 times at the Australian national Championships would be bettered by very few players. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is the fact that he has been a member of the winning teams at the interstate teams title for both the ACT and Queensland - another rare feat. Among his most successful partnerships in Queensland, he lists those with Steve Hurley, Jim Wallis, Mike Pemberton, Colin Stone, Magnus Moren, Neville Francis and Rosa Lachman.