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.