Indonesia performs well in world bridge tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Failure need not always go hand in hand with shame. A loss, especially to a much stronger rival, can even evoke a feeling of pride.

"We are proud of our team even though it failed to go to the semifinals of the Bermuda Bowl men's team world bridge championship in Beijing, China," said Wiranto, chairman of the Indonesian Bridge Association (Gabsi).

Wiranto's pride is based on the fact that, after taking part in the championship on eight consecutive occasions, this year was the first time Indonesia managed to get into the quarterfinals.

The Indonesian team, spearheaded by veteran pair Hengky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo, fell to favorite USA-2 by 117-216 International Match Points in the championship's quarterfinals last week.

"The loss came as no surprise to us," Hengky Lasut added.

USA-2 is a solid team consisting of world-class players with relatively equal skills, such as Bob Hamman and Bobby Wolf, Eric Rodwell and Jeff Meckstroth, and Richard Freeman and Nick Michell.

Based on Master Points, Bob Hamman tops the ranking list of the world's bridge players with 5,318, followed by Eric Rodwell with 4,540. Bobby Wolf, with 4,293, and Jeff Meckstroth, with 4,110, rank world third and fourth respectively.

The Indonesian team, on the other hand, consisted of players with unmatched abilities. In descending order, the team was comprised of the country's most senior pair of Hengky and Eddy, junior pair, Denny Sakul and Franky Karwur and still more junior pair of Santje Panelewen and Giovani Watulingas.

Despite the marked difference in skills between the two teams, until the third session of the 16-board sixth session, the Indonesian team managed to reach a 129-99 lead over USA-2.

The Indonesian team came out as the loser in the end because it lacks experience in competing at the international level and because Hengky and Eddy, who played eight hours each day from Oct. 8 to Oct. 16, were exhausted and the skills of their juniors were not enough to support them.

Welcoming home the team, which arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta airport on Friday, Wiranto attributed their good showing to their one-year intensive training stint under the tutelage of Canadian world-class coach Eric Kokish. (arf)