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CHENNAI: A quiet start and some keen competition featured the opening day’s action in the HCL-42nd World Bridge Team championship which got underway at the ITC-Grand Chola hotel on Sunday.
It is too early to read into the day’s standings, particularly after two rounds, but observers believe that the competition in this year’s edition looks quite open and may be interesting days are ahead. At the end of two rounds, Brazil led the field in the Bermuda Bowl pushing a top team like USA 1 to second spot. In the Venice Cup for women, Canada is up there on top followed by Denmark and in the d’Orsi trophy for seniors, Austria is in the lead with USA 2 in second place.
For India, it was a touch of mixed fortune. The team lost in both in the open and women’s section, but the seniors garnered one win, against Sweden. In the Open category the Indian team, represented by Subir Majumder, Amarnath Banerjee, Rana Roy, Sumit Mukherjee, Debbrata Majumder and Gopinath Manna lost its first match against England by 41-32 (13.55-7.45 VPs). It was no different in the second against USA1, losing 29-44 (6.03-13.97 VPs) and are currently placed at 17th position (out of 22) with 13.48 Victory Points (VPs).
In the Women’s section, the Indian team is represented by Hema Deora, Marianne Karmarkar, Firoza Chotia, Aparna Sain, Puja Batra & Monica Jajoo. The team lost its first match against the strong Netherlands by 36-7 (16.58-3.42 VPs) and the 2nd match against USA1 by 48-22 (16.09-3.91 VPs) and are currently placed at 17th position (out of 22) with 7.33 VPs.
In the Senior’s category for the d’Orsi cup, the Indian team is represented by Ashok Kumar Goel, K R Venkatraman, Sunil Machhar, R. Krishnan, Badal Das & Aloke Sadhu. They lost their first match against Ireland by 42-37 (11.48-8.52 VPs) but came back strongly to defeat Sweden next by 41-31 (15-5 VPs) to jump to 7th position (out of 22) with 23.52 VPs.
On Monday, India is playing New Zealand in the first match, then UAE and followed by China in the Bermuda Bowl. In the Venice cup, India will play Japan, Brazil and Jordan in that order. And in the senior section, India starts off with USA 2 then China and Chile.
Standings: (after 2 rounds): Bermuda bowl: 1. Brazil (35.92 VPs); 2. USA 1 (33.13); 3. France (32.87); 4. Bulgaria (29.27); 17. India (13.48); Venice Cup: 1. Canada (38.97); 2. Denmark (37.41); 3. Netherlands (36.58); 4. USA 1 (31.09); 17. India (7.33); d’Orsi trophy: 1. Austria (38.48 ); 2. USA 2 (33.97); 3. England (29.74); 4. Japan (28.08); 7. India (23.52)
