RI expects victory at Far East bridge event
RI expects victory at Far East bridge event
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Contract Bridge Association
expects its players to win the Far East Bridge Championship in
Hong Kong in May, which is a qualifying round for this year's
Bermuda Bowl.
The association's chairman Wiranto said yesterday that the
organization plans to send teams to three tournaments next month
in preparation for the championship.
"We'll send our players to Tokyo, Iceland and the Gold Coast
in February as preparation for the Far East. They must win the
championship because if they fail they can't go through to the
Bermuda Bowl," he said during a fast-breaking gathering with the
winners of the Australian Open.
Indonesia's men's team, consisting of Denny Sacul, Taufik
Asbi, Franky Karwur and Sance Panelewen, beat host Australia in
the final 117-77 IMP.
One session was dropped because Tim Courtney/P.Gill and
B.Travis/E.Havas were forced to default from the competition in
which 292 teams participated.
"One of the Australian athletes suffered a heart attack in the
second session. He took a break for one hour but after continuing
the match for a further session, he couldn't stand the pain any
longer," Denny said.
"The rules say that we should not give our opponents time to
take a break but he suffered a heart attack and I decided to give
him time to see a doctor," he added.
Wiranto said that the Indonesian players were under pressure
during the championship because they had won it for the previous
two years.
"This year, we didn't include our best pair of Eddy Manoppo
and Hengky Lasut because they were playing in a tournament in the
Netherlands," he said.
Wiranto said that he was very proud to see the newly formed
partnership of Denny and Taufik perform so well.
"We'll keep on trying to give our athletes more experience by
sending them abroad to take part in international tournaments or
hiring foreign coaches," he said.
Yaap van der Neut of the Netherlands is grooming juniors and
women athletes while Erick Kokish of Canada is coaching the
seniors.
Wiranto said that Indonesia must strive to become the World
Champion in 2001.
"In 2001, we will host the championship. Our athletes must be
able to win it before our own public," he said. (yan)