Indonesia trails France in bridge final

Indonesia trails France in bridge final

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia got off to a nervy start and trailed
defending champion France by 40 points midway through the men's
final of the 10th Bridge Olympics on Rhodes Island, Greece,
yesterday.

The Indonesian team, exhausted after a tense eight-board
playoff against Denmark in Thursday's semifinal, went 49 points
down in the first of eight sessions, played over two days, and
dropped another two points in the second session.

In the third however Indonesia's experienced quartet of Henky
Lasut/Eddie Manoppo and Denny Sacul/Franky Karwur turned the tide
by beating three-time gold medalist France by 17 points to narrow
the margin to 34. They lost ground again in the fourth session,
this time by six points, but Denny expressed guarded optimism
that a historic win remained within Indonesia's reach.

"Everything has returned to normal. We have settled our nerves
following the nail-biting semifinal," Denny told The Jakarta
Post.

The final is a replay of a Group A match between the two teams
won by the Indonesians 21-9.

Indonesia's chief of mission Roy Tirtadji said he had
anticipated the first-session reverse.

Indonesia was five points behind Denmark at the end of the
six-session semifinal and was declared the loser. A recalculation
however showed that the two countries finished level on 217
points.

In the playoff, Indonesia looked hopeless after trailing
Denmark 1-8 after the first seven boards. On the last board,
however, Indonesia miraculously turned the tables on Denmark by
scoring a 12-1 win for its final berth.

Franky said: "We were all very exhausted. We have been playing
from 11 a.m. to 00:00 hours everyday for 12 days now, not to
mention the eight-board playoff against Denmark."

In the women's division, China trailed 113-159 behind Bermuda
Bowl champion the United States, also after the third session.

Bridge observer Januar Dt. Majolelo said yesterday that the
Indonesians needed extra endurance to beat France, winner in
1960, 1980 and 1992.

"The final is always reduced to a battle of the fittest,
disregarding the mastery in technique," Januar, a renowned bridge
columnist, said. (arf/amd)