RI top pair trains for NEC Cup

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's top bridge pair of Henky Lasut and Eddy Manoppo is getting ready for the NEC Cup Bridge Tournament in Japan from Feb. 8 to Feb. 16.

"The tournament is a warm up for us to prepare for the Asia Pacific bridge championship in Hong Kong in May. The championship will be a do-or-die performance for us before the Bermuda Bowl in Tunisia in October," Henky said yesterday.

Henky said that he and his veteran partner would do their best in Japan. They would evaluate their results to find their strengths and weaknesses before the championship.

Indonesia must be wary of their competitors at the tournament from Europe, the United States and other Asian countries which will tend to send their best duos, who are being groomed for the Bermuda Bowl.

Henky was quoted by Antara as saying that his partnership would prove at the tournament that it was still the best in Asia, although they only finished seventh at the Volmac Cup World Top Tournament in The Hague, Netherlands. (yan)