Indonesia trails France in bridge final<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia got off to a nervy start and trailed
\ndefending champion France by 40 points midway through the men's
\nfinal of the 10th Bridge Olympics on Rhodes Island, Greece,
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian team, exhausted after a tense eight-board
\nplayoff against Denmark in Thursday's semifinal, went 49 points
\ndown in the first of eight sessions, played over two days, and
\ndropped another two points in the second session.<\/p>\n
In the third however Indonesia's experienced quartet of Henky
\nLasut\/Eddie Manoppo and Denny Sacul\/Franky Karwur turned the tide
\nby beating three-time gold medalist France by 17 points to narrow
\nthe margin to 34. They lost ground again in the fourth session,
\nthis time by six points, but Denny expressed guarded optimism
\nthat a historic win remained within Indonesia's reach.<\/p>\n
\"Everything has returned to normal. We have settled our nerves
\nfollowing the nail-biting semifinal,\" Denny told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
The final is a replay of a Group A match between the two teams
\nwon by the Indonesians 21-9.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's chief of mission Roy Tirtadji said he had
\nanticipated the first-session reverse.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was five points behind Denmark at the end of the
\nsix-session semifinal and was declared the loser. A recalculation
\nhowever showed that the two countries finished level on 217
\npoints.<\/p>\n
In the playoff, Indonesia looked hopeless after trailing
\nDenmark 1-8 after the first seven boards. On the last board,
\nhowever, Indonesia miraculously turned the tables on Denmark by
\nscoring a 12-1 win for its final berth.<\/p>\n
Franky said: \"We were all very exhausted. We have been playing
\nfrom 11 a.m. to 00:00 hours everyday for 12 days now, not to
\nmention the eight-board playoff against Denmark.\"<\/p>\n
In the women's division, China trailed 113-159 behind Bermuda
\nBowl champion the United States, also after the third session.<\/p>\n
Bridge observer Januar Dt. Majolelo said yesterday that the
\nIndonesians needed extra endurance to beat France, winner in
\n1960, 1980 and 1992.<\/p>\n
\"The final is always reduced to a battle of the fittest,
\ndisregarding the mastery in technique,\" Januar, a renowned bridge
\ncolumnist, said. (arf\/amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-trails-france-in-bridge-final-1447893297",
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