RI third in Group West world bridge tournament

JAKARTA (JP): With 139 victory points (VP), Indonesia remained Group West's number three behind Argentina (149) and France (143), after the ninth session of the Bermuda Bowl men's team world bridge championships in Beijing on Wednesday.

Indonesia still has a good chance of finishing among the top eight given that there are still five more matches to go in the championships' second round, which started with the eighth session.

"It's not going to be easy, but our chance of getting into the top eight remains open," said Hengky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo, Indonesia's number one pair.

USA-1, the Netherlands and South Africa, each with 129 VP, shared fourth place. Australia, with 127 VP, occupied the bottom of the group.

The seventh session, which ended the first round, saw Hengky and Eddy and the other seasoned pair of Denny Sacul and Franky Karwur tie 15-15 with Argentinean pairs Pablo Lombardi/ Carlos Lucena and Guillermo Mooney/ Martin Monjegur respectively.

Senior pairs

In the eight session early Wednesday morning, the Indonesian senior pairs fell 14-16 to the Netherlands, defending champion, of Anton Maas/ Erik Kirchhroff and Berry Westra/ Enri Leufkens.

Previously, in the fourth session, Indonesia also fell to the Netherlands. The score was 11-19. Compared to the fourth session loss, the eight session loss was an improvement.

Indonesia managed to overcome France 16-14 in the ninth session, although France was fortified with its legendary world champion pair of Paul Chemla and Michel Peron.

Yesterday, Indonesia was scheduled to take on Venezuela, Australia and Argentina. In the decider matches, which serve as a passport to the next round, Indonesia is slated to challenge Australia and USA-1. (arf)

Results

Seventh session Indonesia hld Argentine 15-15 France bt Australia 24-6 USA-1 bt South Africa 24-6 The Netherlands bt Venezuela 16-14

Eight session The Netherlands bt Indonesia 16-14 Argentina bt Australia 18-12 Venezuela bt USA-1 19-11 France bt South Africa 5-25

Ninth session Indonesia bt France 16-14 Argentine bt Venezuela 16-14 Australia bt USA-1 22- 8 South Africa bt the Netherlands 17-13