An interview with Royal Sydney Bridge Player, Sophie Ashton
The Bridge Community extends its congratulations to Sophie Ashton on making history by winning the 2025 Australian Open Playoff alongside teammates Dave Wiltshire, Phil Markey and Joe Haffer. Royal Sydney Bridge Director Liam Milne and his partner James Coutts were selected to complete the required six person team for international teams. It was the first time a woman competed in Australia’s Open team since since 2007.
Sophie Ashton has been a member of Royal Sydney for more than 15 years and lives in Goulburn with her husband Sartaj Hans (who she met playing bridge), and their two daughters.
Sophie gained NSW State Representation in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. She made the Australian Women’s team in 2021 (not played due to COVID), Australian Mixed team in 2023 and the Australian Open team in 2025.
Sophie is also a trustee of the ABF Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to securing the future of bridge in Australia. Click here to find out more about the work of ABF Foundation, including a Bridge Day Out on 23rd September to support a nationwide Bridge in Schools initiative.
The Bridge Sub-Committee sat down with Sophie to discuss the role bridge plays in her life, from mind strategies to competition routines, and her insights on how to take Bridge to the next level.
The ABF describes you as a trailblazer making history. How does that make you feel?
Honestly, I feel a little uncomfortable with the attention. Everyone on my team put a huge amount of effort into winning the Open Playoff and then working on our game for overseas competitions. As a woman, juggling many responsibilities, it’s incredibly satisfying to have made the team and performed well in China.
The Australian Open Team placed third in China. What were your major takeaways from the experience?
Our recent success in China significantly boosted the team’s confidence, showing us that at our best, we can compete with anyone. My partner and I performed particularly well, largely due to our professional approach. We prioritised sleep (I was in my room by 9.30pm), avoided alcohol, and maintained pre-match rituals like meditation. I also made a conscious effort to eliminate distractions, minimising interaction with work or my children, which is unusual for me. I definitely plan to replicate this environment for our upcoming trip to Denmark.
You are clearly a highly intelligent, very busy woman in business who is also responsible for raising two daughters. What role does bridge play in your life?
Bridge is my passion and part of my identity. I’ve always loved problem-solving. While my work focuses on people and operations, bridge feeds the mathematical side of my brain.
How has your experience in the business world helped your bridge skills?
Working in investment banking and managing our growing business—with over 30 staff, 50 doctors, and several large tenants—has exposed me to significant financial deals and stressful moments. This background has certainly helped me manage ‘big moments’ in bridge and recover quickly after the inevitable setbacks. If you can keep your cool in a bridge match, you can win back lost imps; if you lose hope, a small loss can become a complete disaster.
What is your biggest tip for keen players?
My learning style is hands-on. For those who learn similarly, Bridge Master, available free in the solitaire section of Bridge Base Online, is excellent for practicing declarer play. With over 1000 hands from beginner to world-class, it’s a fantastic way to improve your technique.
Counting is essential for keen players. When defending, try to give the declarer’s hand an exact shape based on the bidding, and adjust it with every trick played. You’ll be amazed how quickly your defence improves if you do this on every hand.
How do you juggle family responsibilities and traveling for competitions?
Balancing competitive bridge and family life is a true team effort for Sartaj and me! We’re both competitive bridge players, so we understand and support each other’s travel for competitions. Sartaj just left for 2.5 weeks for the US Nationals, which he attends three times a year, plus one or two other international competitions. In turn, he’s happy for me to play in most Australian Nationals while he’s home with the kids.
We also have a fantastic support system. My father, Wallace Ashton, lives with us on the farm and is a huge help with school runs and errands. Our cleaner, who was the girls’ nanny before school, also pitches in when needed. Sartaj’s parents stay with us for two months each year and love being the primary carers for the girls during bridge tournaments. Essentially, we’re very lucky to have a lot of help!
David Wiltshire has been your bridge partner for 12 years. What qualities make up a good bridge partner?
Bridge partnerships are tough—honestly, more difficult to manage than life partnerships! The most important quality is respecting and rooting for your partner. Try to keep quiet if they make a bad bid or play, because you need them to maintain confidence for the next few boards. My partner is impeccable at staying silent at the table; I’m still working on it!
You met your husband Sartaj playing bridge and you still play together. What advice would you give to building a winning bridge partnership?
Sartaj and I play together occasionally, but it’s best for everyone if we limit it to once a year. My advice on building a winning bridge partnership comes from my experience with Dave Wiltshire. It helps that we both commit time and effort to refining our system, bidding many hands (using tools like BBO and cuebids), and perfecting our defensive agreements. It’s crucial to be on the same page about how you’ll put in the hours, both as a partnership and individually, and then be disciplined about following through.
Sartaj spoke on a podcast about the four pillars of belief to support resilience. How do you increase your mental acuity and toughness?
I’ve worked hard on my psychological game; it’s vital for winning at bridge. After developing self-belief, the main thing is to be mindful as much as possible. Be aware of the card you’re playing, the bid you’re making, and the emotions you’re feeling—especially after a very bad or good board. If you notice your heart pumping and face red, it might be a good decision to get a glass of water or take a quick break to settle down and regain focus for the next hand.
When you go into bridge rooms in most social clubs, the players are predominantly women. However, the world of elite bridge is dominated by men. Why is that?
I believe there are several reasons men dominate elite bridge. Firstly, it’s similar to why fewer women enrol in university maths: social expectations. Many girls grow up believing numbers are scary, or that humanities are expected interests for them. While this is changing, it’s still a reality, leading to fewer young women pursuing bridge professionally.
Secondly, becoming an elite bridge player demands an immense time commitment—months away from home. Understandably, many women are unwilling or unable to make this sacrifice, often due to raising or caring for family. Finally, there’s an argument that having separate female bridge fields has regressed the quality of the women’s game. Like any sport, to improve, you need exposure to the best players. This is partly why Australia struggles internationally; we don’t get the same opportunities to play international players as European and American teams do.
After a bridge competition, do you gain value or insights by going through the hands afterward? How do you maximize those benefits for less experienced players?
I’m not a very objective bridge player; Sartaj is better at answering this! If double dummy says 4S makes EW, I would think we should be there, regardless of the lay of the cards. However, a better measure is to look at the stronger section of the field and see where they end up. You’ll quickly notice patterns, like them reaching games with more shape and fewer high card points, or finding valuable sacrifices with double fits or defeating difficult games because of a particular lead or switch in defence.
What bridge books would you recommend for social bridge players seeking to improve their game after their initial ‘learning to play bridge’ books?
As I mentioned, I really like doing actual bridge problems. Eddie Kantar and Hugh Kelsey both have great defensive and declarer play problems in books and online—I particularly like the “Test Your” series.
You and the Ashton family have been members of the Club for many years. What role does the Club play in your life, or do you have a special memory made at the Club?
When I lived in Sydney, the Club was my outlet for exercise. I really enjoyed playing tennis, participating in fitness classes, and swimming. One of my fondest memories was a social tennis Sunday with other young members and friends of members; I made many lasting friendships that day. I also played my first game of golf at the Club with an old Maths supervisor. Unfortunately, living in Goulburn, I don’t get to visit as often as I’d like, but it’s a membership I’ll never give up.
Thank you for your time.