Indonesia stays on course to Bermuda Bowl quaterfinals

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian men's team made a clean sweep of Japan, Italy and Brazil on Friday to return to the top eight on the provisional standings at the Bermuda Bowl bridge championship in Paris.

Henky Lasut/Eddy Manoppo led the team to a 17-13 victory over Japan in the opening session match which indicates that they have recovered from their shock defeat by Australia in the final session on Thursday.

"That's a relief. Last night's surprise loss did not appear to affect our national team's performance," coach Bert Toar Polii said from Paris.

Two following wins, 21-9 and 18-12 over 13-time champion Italy and world number six Brazil respectively, brought Indonesia's points to 234 and placed it in sixth.

Unlike previous matches, Indonesia made no reshuffle during the changeovers between sessions, with Henky/Eddy and Franky/Denny sitting in through all the sessions.

With two sessions remaining before the knock-out quarterfinals on Sunday, the United States I, the U.S. II, Poland, Norway and Italy look to be virtual qualifiers, with big gap separating them from the chasing pack.

Indonesia, India, France, Egypt and Russia will be vying for the three places left.

A contrasting fate befell their female compatriots competing in the cofeaturing Venice Cup as Lusje Bojoh and company slumped further in the three sessions on the day.

They were pounded by France, South Africa and the United States II and were pushed back to 16th with 173 points in the 18- field tournament.

The latest result seems to provide legitimate grounds for recent criticism at home, which has revolved around what people claim was the premature inclusion of young players.

However, Bert, who is the deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association (Gabsi), defended the women's team selection.

"I think Gabsi's decision to send young players is acceptable.

"Their appointment was in no way groundless. The four players, excluding Lusje Bojoh and Elita Sofyan, were 2000 national winners," he said.

He added that many senior players had no fixed partners.

"Speaking about the result, I'd bet it wouldn't have made a difference who was fielded," Bert said, recalling the 2000 Venice Cup in which the Indonesian women's team, comprised of seniors, ended up 15th out of 20.

Provisional standings

Bermuda Bowl: 1. U.S. I, 221 VP, 2. U.S. II, 220 VP, 3. Poland 218 VP, 4. Italy 214 VP, 5. Norway, 206 VP, 6. Egypt 185 VP, 7. Russia 184.6 VP, 8. Japan 180 VP, 9. Indonesia 178 VP, 10. India 177 VP, 11. Brazil 175 VP, 12. Australia 170.9 VP, 13. France 169 VP 14. Israel 168 VP, 15. Argentina 161.5 VP, 16. New Zealand 139 VP, 17. Guadalupe 137 VP, 18. Hong Kong 116 VP.

Venice Cup: 1. France 253 VP, 2. England 236 VP, 3/4. Austria/China 213 VP, 5. U.S. I 209 VP, 6/7. Germany/South Africa 192 VP, 8. Netherlands 190 VP, 9. Italy 177 VP, 10. U.S. II 174 VP, 11. Israel 173 VP, 12. Canada 167.6 VP, 13. Japan 162 VP, 14. Australia 149 VP, 15. Indonesia 146 VP, 16. Brazil 145.5 VP, 17. Venezuela 112.5 VP, 18. India 101.4.