Pupuk Kaltim keeps title
Pupuk Kaltim keeps title
SURABAYA (JP): The pretournament favorite Pupuk Kaltim team,
led by world star Denny Sacul, retained the Pahlawan Cup bridge
title after beating the Sekayu team 51-28 in the final at the
Satelite hotel here Sunday night.
Pupuk Kaltim, which also included world beaters Berce Polii
and Franky Karwur among its six members, lived up to its favorite
status once the two-day event reached the semifinals on Sunday.
"We found all the teams we encountered from the beginning of
the qualifying matches Saturday tough squads to crack," said
Denny. He, Berce, Franky, Hengky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo have
helped Indonesia dominate the Fareast Bridge Federation
Championship several times in recent years.
On this occasion however they had to compete against each
other as they were playing for their respective teams in what is
one of the country's premier domestic competitions.
It was clear from the first few boards of the final that
Sekayu, which fielded a relatively inexperienced team, would have
to be content with second place.
The Prasidha team, spearheaded by East Java's leading players
Indra Kusuma and Chris Patty, finished third.
"Considering that we were playing against such big names who
are ranked among the best in the world, I think it was a good
enough result for the Prasidha team to finish third," Mansjur
Tandiono, the president & C.E.O of the Prasidha Group said.
The group came to the rescue of the annual event after Mansjur
learned the event was scrapped last year -- after 10 years of
sponsorship by PT Petro Kimia Gresik -- because no replacement
sponsor could be found.
Mansjur said the Prasidha Group was honored when asked by the
East Java branch of the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association to
become the major sponsor of the championships held in conjunction
with National Heroes Day, November 10.
After the inaugural event in 1983 was played in the Sidoarjo
regency, the competition folded for two years before Petro Kimia
stepped in 1986 and moved the venue to Gresik, an industrial
center close to Surabaya.
As part of the Prasidha Group's sponsorship, the tournament
moved to Surabaya itself.
The widely diversified group runs the largest instant coffee
plant in southeast Asia in Sidoarjo, just outside Surabaya.
The bridge championship is the second sporting competition the
group has sponsored. Last September it backed the Prasidha East
Java Open Golf Championship, held at Ciputra & Keluarga Golf
Club. (rsl)