Volta struggles in ASEAN match

JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Volta Manado has a rough road ahead, with the throne of the 17th ASEAN Cup open team bridge tournament in Manila, the Philippines, is still six sessions away.

As of Sunday, Volta was still straggling in fifth position in Group A, with 79 Victory Points.

The 12-time champion had earlier been ranked fourth, with 118 VP. But its 25-3 conquest of Hong Kong and its 16-14 win over Thailand's PTT Youth were excluded.

The tournament only recognizes senior teams from countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam.

Guest teams, such as Hong Kong and the junior Thai teams, were permitted to take part only up to the close of the qualifying rounds.

"We are still warm, not yet hot," said Indonesia's number one Hengky Lasut. Volta Manado is made up of Hengky, together with his seasoned teammates Eddy Manoppo, Y. Asuri and Ch. Nurhamidin.

In Group B, the other Indonesian teams, Pertamina (136 VP) and the 1992 champion Pattimura (131 VP) were in the second and third positions, respectively, behind host Cebu I (148 VP) on Sunday. (arf)