Indonesia wins NEC Cup bridge in Japan

Indonesia wins NEC Cup bridge in Japan

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's men's team wrote another success
bridge story when it won the NEC Cup championship in Tokyo
Friday.

It was the second victory since the Indonesian team won the
Australia Open last month by beating the favorites, the host
team.

Indonesia's top pairs, Henky Lasut/Eddy Manoppo and Denny
Sacul/Taufik Asbi defeated Japan's H Hisatomi/T Teramoto, D
Chen/H Abe and K Tatai/T Hara 216-105 VPs.

Commenting on the victory Denny said the Japanese players were
very nervous during the final of the championships.

Indonesia won 53-12 IMP in the first round because of a weak
defense from the Japanese. In the second round, Indonesia won 61-
35 IMP.

After a break, Indonesia won the third session 62-48 and the
fourth and final round 40-10.

Indonesia won the championship 216-105 plus one IMP carry
over. The national team brought home the NEC Cup and the
US$15,000 first prize.

Indonesian Contract Bridge Association's chairman Wiranto
greeted the victory and directly contacted the players in Japan.

Roy E Tirtadji, a top association official said the
association had successfully created the new partnership of Denny
and Taufik.

The association's spokesman Ananta Widjaja said the
organization was still waiting for the results of the other
national teams, competing on the Gold Coast, Australia, and in
Iceland.

Bert Polii/Giovani Watulingas and Hasyim Arief/Noldy George
are competing at the Gold Coast Bridge Open Tournament today
while Sance Panelewen/Franky Karwur and Munawar Sawirudin/Dadan
Waradia play at the Iceland Bridge competition on Saturday. (yan)