Britain regains world junior bridge title
JAKARTA (JP): Great Britain won its second world junior bridge title after New Zealand surrendered at the end of the fifth session of their final in Kuta, Bali, yesterday.
With 16 boards remaining yesterday, New Zealand handed the title to the young Britons, knowing that only a miracle could help it bounce back from a massive 124-point deficit.
Pre-tournament favorite Britain has shown a nearly flawless performance since the qualifying round, suffering its only defeat to Japan, 14-16, during the 11-session qualifier.
Playing a marathon grand final since Saturday, the young Britons beat New Zealand in the first, second and fourth session, with 61-38, 47-28, and 79-7 respectively, to amass a total score of 276, including 24 carryovers they gained in their semifinal victory over Canada.
The New Zealanders, who reached the finals after beating Denmark 194.3-108, took the third and fifth sessions with a score of 29-24 and 50-41 respectively. The victories, however, were not enough to stop their opponents from triumphing in the fifth world junior bridge meet.
Britain, which won the championship at home in Nottingham six years ago, was declared the unanimous champion with 276-152.
Coming in third place was Denmark, which edged Canada 192-145 in the playoff.
Dr. Ananta Widjaja of the Indonesian Bridge Association (GABSI) told Antara that the British team deserved the championship title.
"The young Britons surprised Indonesia when they came out in June as the winner of the Djarum Cup international tournament in Semarang. They upset Indonesia's reputable bridge clubs fortified with several leading players," said Ananta.
According to Ananta, the European Zone I champion played commendably thanks to its solid pair of Jason and Justin Hackett. The twins have been playing together for 15 years, since the age of eight.
Britain fielded R.S. Brood, Phil Souter, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Tom Townsend, Danny Davies, and Jeffry Alberton in the finals. New Zealand, runner-up to Australia in Zone VII South Pacific qualifying round, paraded Niget Kearney, Charles Ker, Scott Smith, David Ackerley, Ishmael Delmonte, and Ashley Bach.
Only 12 teams qualified for the bridge meet held for the first time ever in Indonesia. Britain, Denmark, Italy, Canada, USA 1, USA 2, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan represented their respective zones, while host Indonesia was awarded the privilege of entering the biennial meet.