RI to meet Denmark in world bridge meet

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will meet Denmark in the opening round of the 5th World Junior Bridge Team Championships on July 8 in Bali, the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association (Gabsi) announced yesterday.

Twelve teams from 11 countries submitted their entries to the World Bridge Federation for the Bali championships, for which the drawing was held in Lisbon on June 25.

Other teams drawn to play their first round are Japan vs USA 1, Italy vs Canada, USA 2 vs Great Britain, China vs New Zealand and Australia vs Argentina.

In conjunction with the world junior championships, Gabsi will also organize the 36th National Bridge Championships (July 5 to 7), the Inter-University Bridge Championships (July 12 to 16) and the World Invitation Championships (July 12 to 16).

"World bridge powerhouses the United States, the Netherlands and England are among the teams will compete in the invitational meet," Gabsi chief executive Amran Zamzami said yesterday. Other teams are coming from Canada, China, Japan, Egypt, India and Australia, representing their zonal groups respectively.

Amran said the opening match against Denmark will play a pivotal role for Indonesia's junior players as good results "usually give a morale boost to the players for their next matches."

The game will be played over 32 boards, 16 in the first half and another 16 boards in the second half. Two sessions will be played each day, during the day and evening.

"Judging from our serious preparation and the skills of our players and the advantage of being the host, we sincerely hope Indonesia will do its best to win the trophy," the soft-spoken Amran said with guarded optimism.

The four events are to celebrate the golden anniversary of Indonesia's independence.

"I think this is the best time to dedicate something we have been dreaming of to Indonesia, that is, winning a world championships in contract bridge," Amran said.

After taking on Denmark, Indonesia's next opponent will be Australia (round 2), USA 1 (round 3), Canada (round 4), Argentina (round 5), China (round 6), Great Britain (round 7), Japan (round 8), USA 2 (round 9), New Zealand (round 10) and Italy (round 11).

He said the world bridge quarters are focusing their attention on the Bali championships scheduled to be officially opened by the WBF president. The Minister of Youth and Sports Hayono Isman is also expected to attend.

All the participating players are expected to arrive in Bali on July 4. (rsl)