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