All-Indonesia quarter in SEA bridge meet

All-Indonesia quarter in SEA bridge meet

JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Volta of Manado, North
Sulawesi, edged Ibnu Armah of South Jakarta out of the Southeast
Asian inter-club bridge championships quarterfinals in Manila on
Monday.

Big wins in the final six sessions on Monday put the 12-time-
winner Volta in fourth place of Pool A with 158 victory points.
Volta left his fellow Indonesian behind by no more than a 14-
point margin.

The North Sulawesi team, bidding for its 13th title, will play
another Indonesian club, Pattimura of South Jakarta, for a place
in the semifinals.

Indonesia's regular backbones at the Bermuda Bowl world
championship, Henky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo, inspired Volta's late
fight-back on Monday. They stormed to four unanimous wins, a draw
and only one defeat in the final sessions.

The Philippines dominated the round-robin matches in Pool A,
with the Yang and Virola clubs finishing first and third
respectively. ROSC of Thailand came third to become the only Thai
team to make it to the quarterfinals.

Pattimura topped Pool B with 221 points, followed by
Pertamina. The other remaining quarterfinal berths went to Agrego
and Barredo of the Philippines.

Only the top four teams of each group qualify for the
quarterfinals which will be played in a knock-out format.

Pertamina surprisingly conceded a 1-25 rout by Singapore to
avoid an early meeting with title holder Volta. Group runner-up
Pertamina will meet Virola of the Philippines in the final eight
round.

In the women's division, Pattimura saved Indonesia from
blushing, when it booked a semifinal slot on Monday. Pattimura
finished second in the group and will now take on ROSC of
Thailand for a place in the final.

The other semifinals will be an all Philippines affair as
Santiago faces TAN. (amd)