THE CHAMPIONS PARADE — KATOWICE 2026
Meet the Winners of the World Bridge Series, from the First Week to the Final Day
KATOWICE, POLAND — The curtain has finally come down on the 2026 World Bridge Series (WBS) in Katowice, Poland, after more than two weeks of world-class bridge competition from August 20 to September 3, 2026.
Players from around the world competed in four major categories—Mixed, Senior, Women and Open—in both Teams and Pairs events. Alongside the main championships, the World Bridge Federation also staged a number of side events, including the Barbados Swiss Cup, First Week BAM, Jacek Pszczoลa Swiss Cup, Second Week BAM, WBF Cup and President's Cup.
The result was a spectacular celebration of competitive bridge, producing champions from Europe, Asia, North America and beyond.
Here is the complete Champions Parade of Katowice 2026.
๐ FIRST WEEK
MIXED & SENIOR
August 20–26, 2026
The first week of the World Bridge Series was dedicated to Mixed and Senior competition.
๐ MIXED TEAMS
TICKET TO RIDE
The Mixed Teams World Championship was won by Ticket to Ride.
The Champions
Sabine Auken
Adam Grossack
Emma Kolesnik
Roy Welland
Ticket to Ride defeated Yettick in the final to capture the world title.
The Yettick team included Lotte de Wijs, Zachary Grossack, Adam Kaplan, Olivia Schireson, Gunn Tove Vist and Garth Yettick.
Final Podium
๐ฅ Ticket to Ride
๐ฅ Yettick
The victory gave Ticket to Ride the first major Mixed Teams title of the Katowice festival.
๐ SENIOR TEAMS
SIMSON
In the Senior Teams Championship, the title went to the experienced Simson squad.
The Champions
Iftikhar Baqai
Mitchell Dunitz
Bobby Levin
Eric Rodwell
Doug Simson
Alan Sontag
Simson defeated Milner in the final.
The Milner team featured Bart Bramley, Apolinary Kowalski, Hemant Lall, Zia Mahmood, Reese Milner and Piotr Tuszynski.
Final Podium
๐ฅ Simson — USA
๐ฅ Milner
The victory was particularly impressive because the Simson roster included several legendary names in the history of world bridge, including Bobby Levin, Eric Rodwell and Alan Sontag.
๐ MIXED PAIRS
YU WU – WEIMING HUANG
The Mixed Pairs World Championship was won by the Chinese partnership:
Yu Wu – Weiming Huang
They were already showing their strength from the opening session and remained among the leaders throughout the event.
Podium
๐ฅ Yu Wu – Weiming Huang — China
Their victory added another major title to China's impressive performance in Katowice.
๐ SENIOR PAIRS
KRZYSZTOF MARTENS – MAREK WITEK
The host nation Poland celebrated another major success when:
Krzysztof Martens – Marek Witek
won the Senior Pairs World Championship.
The Polish pair made an exceptionally strong start and maintained their position near the top throughout the competition.
Podium
๐ฅ Krzysztof Martens – Marek Witek — Poland
Another important title for the host nation.
๐ BARBADOS SWISS CUP
MILLENS
One of the major side events during the first week was the Barbados Swiss Cup.
The winner was:
MILLENS
The team displayed remarkable consistency throughout the competition and secured the title after a strong performance in the final.
Champions
Millens
๐ FIRST WEEK BAM
BOARD-A-MATCH — FINAL A
ZHANG
The First Week BAM (Board-a-Match) provided another exciting competition during the opening week.
The Final A podium was:
๐ฅ ZHANG — Gold Medal
๐ฅ MOSSOP — Silver Medal
๐ฅ OMEGA — Bronze Medal
Thus, Team ZHANG officially joins the list of Katowice 2026 champions.
The First Week BAM was played through a series of qualifying and knockout stages before reaching the Final A and Final B.
๐ต SECOND WEEK
OPEN & WOMEN
August 27–September 3, 2026
The second week brought the two most prestigious categories to center stage: Open and Women.
And this is where Katowice produced some of the biggest stories of the entire festival.
๐ ROSENBLUM CUP
OPEN TEAMS
FLEISHER
The biggest Open Teams title of the festival went to:
FLEISHER
The Champions
Thomas Bessis
Sjoert Brink
Bas Drijver
Martin Fleisher
Cedric Lorenzini
Chip Martel
NPC: Jan Martel
Fleisher defeated Rosenthal in the final, winning the Rosenblum Cup and becoming the Open Teams World Champions.
The Rosenthal team consisted of Christian Bakke, Boye Brogeland, Andrew Rosenthal, Martin Schaltz, Aaron Silverstein and Chris Willenken.
Final Podium
๐ฅ Fleisher
๐ฅ Rosenthal
๐ฅ Group One & Deep Finesse
The victory made Fleisher the biggest name in the Open competition in Katowice.
๐ McCONNELL CUP
WOMEN'S TEAMS
BAKER
In the Women's Teams World Championship, the title went to:
BAKER
The Champions
Lynn Baker
Katarzyna Dufrat
Cecilia Dwyer Rimstedt
Sandra Rimstedt
Olivia Schireson
Justyna Zmuda
Baker defeated Jiangsu Runtai in the final.
Final Podium
๐ฅ Baker
๐ฅ Jiangsu Runtai
Jiangsu Runtai included several of China's leading women players, including Xuefang Yuan and Xiaoxue Zuo, who would later make another major impact in the Women's Pairs.
๐ OPEN PAIRS
PIOTR LUTOSTAลSKI – KRZYSZTOF BURAS
Poland enjoyed another spectacular success when:
Piotr Lutostaลski – Krzysztof Buras
won the Open Pairs World Championship.
The Polish partnership produced a superb final session and climbed to the top of the final standings.
Podium
๐ฅ Piotr Lutostaลski – Krzysztof Buras — Poland
๐ฅ David Bakhshi – Steve Weinstein
๐ฅ Adam Kaplan – Radu Nistor
For the host nation, this was one of the highlights of the entire World Bridge Series.
๐ WOMEN'S PAIRS
XUEFANG YUAN – XIAOXUE ZUO
China claimed another major title in the Women's Pairs.
Xuefang Yuan – Xiaoxue Zuo
finished first to become the Women's Pairs World Champions.
Podium
๐ฅ Xuefang Yuan – Xiaoxue Zuo — China
๐ฅ Aslฤฑ Acar – Berrak Erkan — Tรผrkiye
๐ฅ Iwona Czajka – Elลผbieta Waniurska — Poland
The victory was particularly noteworthy because Yuan and Zuo had also been members of the Jiangsu Runtai team in the McConnell Cup.
๐ JACEK PSZCZOลA SWISS CUP
SILVER SURFERS
The Jacek Pszczoลa Swiss Cup was won by:
SILVER SURFERS
The Champions
Mark Bartusek
Kevin Bathurst
Chris Compton
Vincent Demuy
John Hurd
John Kranyak
NPC: Donna Compton
Final Podium
๐ฅ Silver Surfers
๐ฅ SV Bridge Club
๐ฅ Simson
Simson's third-place finish added another strong result to their already successful Katowice campaign.
๐ SECOND WEEK BAM
BOARD-A-MATCH — FINAL A
DEEP FINESSE
One of the most remarkable stories of Katowice 2026 was Deep Finesse.
After sharing the bronze medal in the Rosenblum Cup, Deep Finesse went on to win the Second Week BAM Final A.
The Champions
William Bailey
Alon Birman
Joshua Donn
Daniel Korbel
Roger Lee
Dror Padon
NPC: Arti Bhargava
Final Podium
๐ฅ Deep Finesse
๐ฅ Ardennes
๐ฅ Zhao
Winning a medal in the Rosenblum Cup and then capturing the Second Week BAM title made Deep Finesse one of the standout teams of the entire festival.
๐ WBF CUP
ANGELOPOULOS – BALOKAS
The WBF Cup was won by the Greek partnership:
Petros Angelopoulos – Dimitrios Konstantinos Balokas
Champions
๐ฅ Petros Angelopoulos – Dimitrios Konstantinos Balokas — Greece
Another international title for Greece in Katowice.
๐ PRESIDENT'S CUP
ZWIERCAN – PIETRZAK
One of the closing events of the festival was the President's Cup.
The winners were:
Nina Zwiercan – Marek Pietrzak
Champions
๐ฅ Nina Zwiercan – Marek Pietrzak — Poland
Another victory for the host nation as the World Bridge Series came to its conclusion.
๐ THE COMPLETE CHAMPIONS PARADE
| # | Event | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mixed Teams | ๐ฅ Ticket to Ride |
| 2 | Senior Teams | ๐ฅ Simson |
| 3 | Mixed Pairs | ๐ฅ Yu Wu – Weiming Huang |
| 4 | Senior Pairs | ๐ฅ Krzysztof Martens – Marek Witek |
| 5 | Barbados Swiss Cup | ๐ฅ Millens |
| 6 | First Week BAM – Final A | ๐ฅ Zhang |
| 7 | Rosenblum Cup – Open Teams | ๐ฅ Fleisher |
| 8 | McConnell Cup – Women's Teams | ๐ฅ Baker |
| 9 | Open Pairs | ๐ฅ Piotr Lutostaลski – Krzysztof Buras |
| 10 | Women's Pairs | ๐ฅ Xuefang Yuan – Xiaoxue Zuo |
| 11 | Jacek Pszczoลa Swiss Cup | ๐ฅ Silver Surfers |
| 12 | Second Week BAM – Final A | ๐ฅ Deep Finesse |
| 13 | WBF Cup | ๐ฅ Petros Angelopoulos – Dimitrios Konstantinos Balokas |
| 14 | President's Cup | ๐ฅ Nina Zwiercan – Marek Pietrzak |
WHO STOOD OUT IN KATOWICE?
Looking at the complete results, several countries and teams deserve special mention.
๐ต๐ฑ POLAND — A VERY SUCCESSFUL HOME CHAMPIONSHIP
The host nation enjoyed a memorable World Bridge Series.
Poland celebrated major victories in both Pairs categories:
Krzysztof Martens – Marek Witek won Senior Pairs, while Piotr Lutostaลski – Krzysztof Buras captured Open Pairs.
Polish players were also prominent in several other events.
๐จ๐ณ CHINA — A MAJOR FORCE IN MIXED AND WOMEN'S BRIDGE
China produced outstanding results in Katowice.
Yu Wu – Weiming Huang won Mixed Pairs.
Then Xuefang Yuan – Xiaoxue Zuo captured Women's Pairs after also being members of Jiangsu Runtai in the McConnell Cup.
These results demonstrate the depth of China's elite bridge program.
๐บ๐ธ SIMSON — SENIOR CHAMPIONS AND SWISS CUP MEDALLISTS
The Simson team had an excellent festival.
They won the Senior Teams World Championship and later finished third in the Jacek Pszczoลa Swiss Cup.
Their roster included some of the most famous names in modern bridge, making their Senior Teams victory one of the most prestigious results of the first week.
⭐ DEEP FINESSE — THE TEAM THAT KEPT WINNING
Deep Finesse deserves a special mention.
They shared the Rosenblum Cup bronze medal and then went on to win the Second Week BAM Final A.
Their results demonstrate remarkable consistency across two very different forms of team competition.
KATOWICE 2026 — A CELEBRATION OF WORLD BRIDGE
The 2026 World Bridge Series demonstrated the extraordinary breadth of modern bridge.
Mixed competition brought together men and women in a unique team format.
Senior competition demonstrated that experience remains a formidable force.
Women’s bridge showcased the growing strength and depth of players from China, Europe and North America.
And in the Open category, the world's strongest players battled for the prestigious Rosenblum Cup and the Open Pairs title.
For more than two weeks, Katowice became the capital of world bridge.
There were dramatic comebacks, legendary players, emerging stars, strong performances by the host nation and major victories for China, the United States, Greece and other bridge powers.
But above all, Katowice 2026 produced a long list of champions whose names will now become part of the history of the World Bridge Series.
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