Jakarta and North Sulawesi rule the roost in bridge league

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Contract bridge players from regions other than Jakarta and North Sulawesi have yet to provide serious opposition as shown by the Indonesian Bridge League grand final which ended here on Tuesday.

"We must admit that most of the pairs from outside Jakarta and North Sulawesi have yet to secure good results but at least they got good experience facing more seasoned players," Bert Toar Polii of the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association (Gabsi) said in a written statement made available to The Jakarta Post.

"But we can expect them to present stronger challenges at the league's second round from July until December."

There were 10 pairs in the grand final from 48 pairs who made it into the semifinals. There were five Jakarta-based pairs and two pairs each from North Sulawesi and West Java and another from North Sumatra.

The Jakarta-based pairs, however, also dominated those from North Sulawesi.

Traditionally, contract bridge players from Jakarta and North Sulawesi dominate national bridge scene although there is also good opposition from other regions' players.

Asian champions of the senior bridge division, Ferdy Waluyan and WD Karamoy, won the grand final title adding to their collection after winning the grand final with convincing victory points of 403 Victory Points (VP).

In their last two sessions, the Jakarta-based couple of Waluyan and Karamoy defeated Elfrasi and Zainal Arif of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara 25-5 VPs and beat Elwindra and Syarifah Ayu of Bogor, West Java 24-6 VPs.

Waluyan and Karamoy, who won the Pacific Asia Bridge Federation senior division in Bangkok last month, were the clear favorites to grab the title amassing a total of 403 VPs.

Their points were well ahead of another Jakarta-based pair, Taufik Asbi and Robert Tobing, who gathered 382 VPs to claim second place.

The top two pairs will represent Indonesia at the Celestial Hong Kong Intercity Bridge tournament to be held from July 30 until Aug. 4.

If Waluyan and Karamoy led the pack easily, Taufik and Tobing had to work hard as the second to fourth places were only separated by one or two VPs.

Robby Lempoy and Jacky Tirayoh of Manado, North Sulawesi, were in third place with 380 VPs, one VP better than David Badawi and Mukhiban Darma Bakti of Jakarta and another VP from Freddy and Ravi Rahdewa of Bogor in fifth place.

Taufik and Robert, who had their own lead at the league, almost dropped from the second place after two consecutive losses of 8-22 VPs and 13-17 VPs to Robby and Jacky and to Medan, North Sumatra-based pair of Bahagia Lubis and Baharuddin Tampubolon respectively.

Lucky enough for Taufik and Tobing, their closest opponent for the runner-up title, Jacky and Robby, crashed against Taufik Nasution and Mahkota Ananda who booked a 22-8 VPs victory.