RI finishes fourth in Senior Bowl

The Indonesian Senior Bowl team could only win 16-14 over Japan in the final round to finish in fourth place at the World Bridge Championships in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

USA1, Gaylor Kasle/Roger Bates, Steve Robinson/Kit Woolsey and Garey Hayden/Grant Baze, won the trophy followed by France in second place and USA2 in third.

Given the results from the other pairings in the last of 15 rounds on Monday, Indonesia, with its best pair of Eddy Manoppo/Henky Lasut, had the chance of ending the competition in better than fourth place, reports said.

The margin in France's win over USA1, and USA2's over Israel did not surpass ten points, which meant Indonesia would have become runner-up had it managed to sweep Japan 25-0.

"It's unlucky that Indonesia could only win 16-14 and had to be content with 271 points to take fourth place," Bert Toar Polii, an official of the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association (Gabsi), said in a release.

Meanwhile, Italy will face Norway and USA1 take on USA2 in the semifinals of the Bermuda Bowl while the Venice Cup semifinals will be played with China challenging the Netherlands and USA1 meeting USA2.

Indonesia's men's and women's teams narrowly missed out on quarterfinal spots in the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup respectively. --JP