RI bridge team into Senior Bowl final

RI bridge team into Senior Bowl final

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The national contract bridge team mounted a comeback in
Thursday's semifinal against Denmark to reach the final of the
Senior Bowl in Estoril, Portugal.

The team trailed in the first three sessions and for part of
the fourth before recovering for a 168.5-156 international match
points victory, Bert Toar Polii from the Indonesian Contract
Bridge Association said.

They now meet two-time defending champion USA 1, which
thrashed the Netherlands 223-117, in the World Championship event
for players aged 57 and over.

"It was a truly amazing performance ... I told the players (by
SMS), 'if you stay calm, you can still beat your opponents',"
Bert said in an e-mail.

The foursome of Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul and
Munawar Sawiruddin were outstanding in the final two sessions,
winning 57-9 and 30-27.

On Monday, Indonesia defeated the host team 320-201 in the
last eight.

The final, to be played on Friday, is between the two
strongest teams from the qualifying. They drew 15-15 in their
qualifying match, before the U.S. team was able to win on a
countback of points.

The Indonesian team was runner up at the 1996 Bridge
Olympiade, champion in the 2000 IOC Grand Prix and runner-up in
the Rosenblum Cup in 2002. The team was fourth in the 2003 Senior
Bowl in Monte Carlo.

The USA 1 team consists of Alan Sontag, Peter Weischel, Rose
Meltzer and Garey Hayden. Meltzer is the only woman to have won
the Bermuda Bowl (2001), bridge's most important event which is
open to all age groups. The Bermuda Bowl and the women-only
Venice Bowl are played concurrently with the Senior Bowl.

"If our team play like they did in the final two sessions
against the Danes, they have a very strong chance of taking
gold," Bert said.