Indonesia trailing against Norway in Bermuda Bowl

Indonesia trailing against Norway in Bermuda Bowl

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With just two sessions remaining, Indonesia is trailing Norway
by 54 Individual Match Points (IMPs) in their six-game
quarterfinal match in the Bermuda Bowl World Bridge Championship
in Paris on Sunday.

"It's a rough road for Indonesia to reach the semifinals. With
another two sessions to be played today (Monday), the team is
facing the daunting task of having to overturn a big deficit,"
coach Bert Toar Polii said, in a statement released on Monday.

Indonesia fielded its key pair of Henky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo
in all four sessions, with Denny Sacul/Franky Karwur and Santje
Panelewen/Robert Tobing taking turns in their role as supporting
pairs.

Yet, the Norwegians, comprising Geir Helgemo/Tor Helness,
Terje AA/Glenn Grotheim and Boye Brogeland/Erik Saelensminde,
looked too strong for the Indonesians.

Indonesia, which held an advantage of 1.3 carry-over victory
points going into the tussle following its victory over the same
opponents in the preliminary round, appeared unable to carry on
with the form that helped them qualify for the knock-out
quarterfinals stage.

The team, led by Henky, was outscored 34 to 51 points in the
opening session.

The following two sessions looked somewhat tight with just a
narrow margin separating the two sides, with Indonesia trailing
Norway 45-49 points in the second session and 39-33 points in
third.

In the final session of the day, Indonesia was totally under
siege before crashing out on 30-67 points for an overall 152-206.

In the other pairings, Poland should be safe through to the
semifinals after their Sunday match gave them 211-62 points over
India.

The United States II led host France 183-131 while Olympiad
champion Italy held only a single point advantage over Bermuda
Bowl title-holder U.S. I on 138-137, which suggested that the
nerve-wracking battle would continue until the end.

The United States has been allowed to send two teams to
compete both in the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup, thanks to their
formidable record in international bridge. But the World Bridge
Federation has ruled out the possibility of an all-American
final,

Meanwhile, France, U.S. II, Germany and Austria were the
leading teams after four sessions of the Venice Cup
quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals scores after four sessions Bermuda Bowl:
Poland vs India 211-62, Norway vs Indonesia 206-152, U.S. II vs
France 183-131, Italy vs U.S. I 138-137

Venice Cup: France vs South Africa 185-115, U.S. II vs
England 186-141, Germany vs U.S. 1 169-151, Austria vs China
159-116