Anne Martin (52) began playing bridge 23 years ago after spotting an advert for beginners' classes, and in October she will head to Beijing to compete in the first World Mind Sport Games.

Unlike the main Olympics, British teams in the Mind Games compete in separate Scottish, English, Irish and Welsh groupings, and Anne will be playing with five fellow members of the Scottish Bridge Union's women's team.

The Chinese capital will host the games from October 3 to 18, with around 3000 competitors from more than 100 countries competing for 35 gold medals in chess, bridge, draughts, Go and Xiang Qi – Chinese chess.

Anne, who lives in Polmont, has been a member of the Falkirk Bridge Club since taking up the game, and was taught by top Scottish player Bill Mitchell.

She said: "It is quite a skilled game and very hard to pick up, it takes years to master but you can play it at any sort of level which gives beginners lots of scope. The club always welcomes newcomers."

Bridge involves four players, split into two partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other at the table. In world championship games partners play with a partition between them to avoid communication.

It's not the first time Anne has competed in an international event; in 2004 she travelled to Istanbul to play with the Scottish team in a world contest.

As well as the women's team, Scotland is also sending an open team, which has men and women, and a junior team to Beijing. All contestants will be staying in the Olympic Village during their three-week visit.

She said: "I am just so excited about it. It is somewhere I would probably never go, so it is just a great opportunity to see the place.
We're staying on an extra few days to see the country – it looks pretty incredible."

The women's team have once reached the knockout round of an international contest, but have never taken home a medal.

Anne said: "All we can do is improve on our last performance and keep trying to get better."

Falkirk Bridge Club meets every Monday night from September to April at Falkirk Rugby Club and new members are welcome.

Phone Jennie McCartney on (01324) 570522 for information on the claub
To watch Anne and her team mates live during
the world games go to www.bridgebase.com.


PLAYING HER CARDS RIGHT: Anne Martin is heading for the World Mind Sports Games in Beijing