Wiranto hopes Indonesia can win 2000 Bermuda Bowl

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association (Gabbsi) Wiranto is hopeful that national players will continue a run of winning form to triumph in the Bermuda Bowl World Championships and Venice Cup in January 2000.

"I believe our team, especially the men's team, can win in the Bermuda Bowl because they eliminated other strong teams in the just concluded Asia Pacific Bridge Tournament," Wiranto said at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport during the arrival of the players on Tuesday.

"The men's team defeated New Zealand and Australian teams from zone VII and China from zone VI. It's not an exaggeration to hope they win the Bermuda Bowl. We finished second in the 1996 Bridge Olympics in Rhodes, Greece, after losing to France," said Wiranto, a general and chief of the Indonesian Military, as quoted by Media Indonesia.

Indonesia men's and women's teams won the 39th Asia Pacific Bridge Tournaments in Guangzhou, China, last week. Both teams also won tickets to the World Championships in Bermuda.

The team of six men, six women and six male juniors arrived at the airport's VIP Lounge on Tuesday night.

Men's team members Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Franky Karwur, Santje Panelewen, Robert Tobing, who won the trophy, received flowers from Wiranto. Gabbsi officials, who also attended the celebration, applauded when men's team manager Juniarto Hadimartono and nonplaying captain Munawar Samiruddin held up the 80-centimeter trophy.

Wiranto was satisfied with both the men's and women's team results in qualifying for the World Championships.

"This is the first time we have managed to have both the men's and women's teams qualify for the championships," he said.

Indonesia last won the Asia Pacific trophy in 1993.

"We had to fight hard in the tournament because in the last minutes three competing countries -- Indonesia, China and Australia -- still shared the same number of points," Henky Lasut said as quoted by Kompas.

The women's team's nonplaying captain, Donny Tuerah, said the team was more solid than previous teams playing in the same tournament.

"They worked really hard to make up for their failure two years ago when they lost to Chinese Taipei in a deciding contest. They failed to compete in the 1997 World Championships in Tunisia," he said.

Husein Argasasmita, the National Sports Council (KONI) vice secretary-general, said KONI would prioritize sports with a record of international achievements in its future development programs. He also said KONI would support bridge athletes development for the World Championships in 2000 and 2001.

"We hope athletes, being prepared for the 2000 World Championships which is also the 50th anniversary of the Bermuda Bowl, can show improved performances to win the championships. Consequently, they must prepare themselves better," he said. (yan)