2025 Grand National Teams (GNT)
By Scott Nason
D16 GNT Coordinator
2025 District 16 GNT Finals Underway
Flights A & C were competed in Houston on Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6.
Flight A Competition
Flight A was open to D16 players with less than 6000 masterpoints and there were ten teams entered. The teams played all-day Swiss Teams qualifying games on April 5 which narrowed the field to four teams for the second day Knockouts.
The four Flight A teams that qualified to compete in the Sunday Knockouts were:
Chen: Steve Chen, Sarah Chen, Andrew Chen & Charlie Chen – Unit 207 (Austin)
Rangan: Kas Rangan (Spring), Ted Bain, Steven Bell (Cypress) & Joe Volanski (Magnolia) – Unit 174 – Unit 174
Hanus: Pawel Hanus (Carrolton), Ari Sippola (Richardson) – Unit 176, James Zhan & Ying Peng (Sugar Land)
Lee: Jessie Lee, Hao Deng, Hua Chen, Kyo Chen (Sugar Land) & Mark Pan (The Woodlands) – Unit 174
Sunday morning the top qualifier Chen team defeated the Rangan team. The second qualifier Hanus defeated the Lee team. Then on Sunday afternoon, the Hanus team defeated Chen
to earn the $2400 expenses stipend and the District 16 invite to the NABC GNT finals in Philadelphia in July.
Flight C Competition
Flight C was open to Non-Life Masters with fewer than 750 masterpoints and four teams entered. They played a round robin to qualify two teams and an all-day Knockout. The two qualifying teams were:
Xu: Wei Xu, Ryo Chen, Jinrong Wang (Sugar Land) & Kei Liu (Thomball) – Unit 174
Steele: Christopher Steele Unit 207 (Pfluggerville), Matthew Rippin Unit 176 (Plano), D16 Treasurer Jamie Southerland, Victoria Collins Beck Unit 207 (Austin) & Teresa Mack Unit 207 (Georgetown)
The Xu team defeated the Steele team to win the flight and earn the trip to Philly.
Championship and Flight B Competition
Two more flights will compete in the GNT district finals in Dallas on May 2-3. The Championship Flight is open to anyone in District 16. Flight B is open to D16 players with less than 3000 masterpoints. If there are three or fewer teams in the Championship Flight, that event will conclude in one day (May 2). The winners from each flight will advance to the NABC GNT finals in Philadelphia in July, and will be eligible for an expense stipend if they actually play in Philadelphia event.
Note also that if Flight B has eight or more teams, the top two teams will qualify for the NABC. So, get your team together and pre-register with me at sdnason@sbcglobal.net no later than April 27. For more information, you may consult the Conditions of Contest, which are posted on the D16 website (make link), and the event flyer (below).