Britain first to qualify for semis

KUTA, Bali (JP): A massive 25-3 win over Italy assured Great Britain of its semifinal berth at the fifth World Junior Bridge championship here yesterday.

Britain, which has won all but one of its matches, is sitting firmly atop of the standings with 177 victory points and is the first team to have qualified for tomorrow's semifinals.

Canada came third with 158 VP, but will have to struggle in the final three matches to qualify for the final fourth round against Denmark, fourth in the 1993 championship, Italy, New Zealand and China. Grouped closely together, the five teams each have about the same chance of advancing to the semis.

Host Indonesia, which surprised China for its only win on Tuesday, slumped into worsening luck when it lost 14-16 to Japan yesterday. That loss ensures that Indonesia will finish with the wooden spoon in the 12-field competition.

USA 2 and Japan hold a slim chance of making a semifinal appearance. The Americans (104 VP) and the Japanese (102 VP) will have to amass a minimum score of 25 in each of their final three matches to make the semis.

On Wednesday night, Britain took the measure of host Indonesia 24-6 to break a top place tie with Canada, which ran into rough times in its 8-22 defeat to USA 1.

Italy enjoyed a solid 23-7 set against Asian favorite China, while Denmark blitzed Argentina 25-5. (rsl/amd)