RI second in bridge tournament

RI second in bridge tournament

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's most seasoned bridge pair, Henky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo, just fell short in the final day to finish second in the Cap-Volmac international bridge invitational tournament in The Hague on Sunday.

It was the Indonesians' finest finish at the prestigious bridge meet which restricts only to the world's best 16 pairs.

Overnight leaders Lasut and Manoppo suffered two losses before fighting back with a 58-42 win over Steve Hamaoui and Claudio Caponi of Venezuela to collect 862 Victory Points, 19 points away from triumphant Norwegian pair Geir Helgemo and Tor Helness.

Defending champions Zia Mahmood and Michael Rosenberg of the United States, who spurred their team to win the Bermuda Bowl world championship last year, settled for fourth place with 811 points, behind local favorites Andy Muller and Van de Boer who garnered 848 points.

The top three received automatic berths to the 1997 episode of the 16-field event. The other 13 entrants will be picked from a series of tournaments of the season.

The Norwegian pair won the winners' prize money worth 15,000 guilder (US$9,200), while the Indonesians pocketed 8,000 guilder. (amd)