Thailand, Indonesia share bridge glory<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Thailand shared the pride at the
\nSoutheast Asian bridge inter-club championships in Manila on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
It was the Thai men who stole the limelight, however, as they
\nscored a historic victory that ended Indonesia's 15-year
\nsupremacy in the annual event.<\/p>\n
Thailand's representative team, ROSC, silenced the home crowd
\nwith a 63-33 win over YASC of the Philippines in Tuesday's final.
\nROSC, the only Thai team to reach the knock-out quarterfinals,
\nthen toppled giant killer Pattimura of South Jakarta 41-37 in the
\nsemifinals.<\/p>\n
Pattimura had sprung a surprise in the quarterfinals when it
\nupset defending champion and 12-time winner Volta of Manado,
\nNorth Sulawesi. In the other semifinal YASC edged out Pertamina
\nof Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
For 15 years, Indonesian clubs had total control of the annual
\nthe tournament which began in 1979. Volta, Pattimura, Garuda of
\nEast Jakarta and Lippo Arangam of Central Jakarta have all won
\nthe President Soeharto's trophy.<\/p>\n
"The tournament has seen encouraging progress despite our
\nupset defeat. The bridge situation in the region seems to be
\nbalancing out.<\/p>\n
"We will have to keep an eye on other countries more than ever
\nfrom now on," Volta's ace player, Hengky Lasut, said.<\/p>\n
Hengky and his fellow bridge wizard Eddie Manoppo managed to
\nlead Volta to no more than fourth place in the round-robin group
\nmatches en route to the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Pattimura took the third place after beating Pertamina 13-7 in
\nthe playoff.<\/p>\n
Pattimura's women salvaged Indonesia's pride when they grabbed
\nthe Madame Tien Soeharto trophy. The South Jakartans fielded
\nLusye Doyoh, Joise Tueye, Sarce Pontoh and Tian Arwin Budisusanto
\nto thrash home favorite Santiago 65-28 in the final.<\/p>\n
It was the second victory for Pattimura after 1993 in
\nDenpasar, Bali.<\/p>\n
Pattimura made it to the final with a 56-16 rout of ROSC of
\nThailand. YASC claimed its final berth after downing TAS 55-25 in
\nan all-Philippines semifinal.<\/p>\n
Indonesian teams have now taken the symbol of Southeast Asian
\nwomen's bridge team supremacy six times since the initial
\ncompetition in 1983. Thailand and Singapore have won four and
\nfive times respectively. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thailand-indonesia-share-bridge-glory-1447893297",
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