Asia comes up trumps

MUMBAI, JAN 22: Two Asian nations vividly demonstrated the giant steps they are taking in international bridge by setting up a title clas...

MUMBAI, JAN 22: Two Asian nations vividly demonstrated the giant steps they are taking in international bridge by setting up a title clash in the Tolani International Grand Prix Bridge Championships at The Leela today. Their triumphs also came as a telling commentary on the effectiveness of training a generation of players with a specific goal 8212; to defeat the best in the world.

China, richly reaping the dividends of a grassroots programme which has seen bridge being introduced as a school subject, cut the flight of Indian hopefuls Raja8217;s, 106-100 on Table One. On the adjacent table, last year8217;s runner-up Indonesia, preparing a dream team for the 2001 Bermuda Bowl which that country will host, completely outplayed the sole European team left in the draw, Denmark. The 122-73 scoreline says it all.

The Chinese squad Shi Haojun, Dai Jianming, Cao Xueliang, Yang Lixin, An Yangbo had to draw deeply from their resources, which saw them claiming the inaugural IOC Grand Prix at Lausanne last September, to quellan upbeat Raja8217;s.

The Indian team Rajesh Dalal, Jaggy Shivdasani, Anil Padhye, Anand Mehta, Santanu Ghose, who had barely qualified for the quarter-final yesterday, demonstrated the promise India carries in the sport by knocking out top seeds and former world champions Poland 96-66 today morning. Then again, they ran China close in the semi-final, trailing 25-39 and 29-32 in the first two rounds. They won the third round 46-35, but fell six short of China in the cumulative tally.

The Indonesians Munawar Sawiruddin, Hengky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Franky Karwuf, Noldy George, Taufik Asbi easily wiped off the 8.5 carry-over Denmark PG Eliasson, Tomas Magnusson, Lauge Schaffer and Mathias Bruun enjoyed and won the three rounds 24-13, 58-20, 40-31. The winners had accounted for Indian squad Ingersoll Rand in the quarter-final.

RESULTS

Semi-finals: Indonesia bt Denmark 122-73; China bt Raja8217;s 106-100; Quarter-finals: Raja8217;s bt Poland 96-66 33-21, 21-15, 42-30; China bt Sweden125-64 60-175, 27-13, 38-29; Indonesia bt Ingersoll Rand 34-39, 44-10, 78-49; Denmark bt England 565.5-11, 32-19, England withdrew.