Following impressive wins against England and the US, respectively, Italy and Poland will contest the open final at the World Bridge Olympiad in Maastricht today and tomorrow. The English held on against the more favoured Italians but fell behind in the last 16 board sessions.
Result: Italy 241 - England 156. In the other semi-final the US conceded after 80 of the 96 deals against Poland when the score stood Poland 205, US 101. The women's final is between the US, who beat Norway 256 to 133, and Canada, who surprised the strong German team 177 to 133.
In accordance with the International Olympic Committee's doping policy a number of players taking part in the bridge Olympiad had been randomnly selected for drug-testing. The world bridge federation sees the action as an important step in pursuing its application for the participation in the Olympic Games. Out-of-competition sampling, which may become a fact of life for bridge players in the near future, may initially cause problems in countries where national Olympic committees have not yet accepted bridge as a sport despite the fact the International Olympic Committee has given the game full recognition.
Transnational Teams Championship. Results after 10 rounds: 1 Romik (Israel, US and Poland) 202; 2 Wernle (Austria) 189; 3 Volina (Russia) 177; 4 Senior (England, Bulgaria, Canada) 175; 5 Djunga (Belgium) 173; Joint 6th/7th Hackett (England and France) Eisenberg (US) 172; 68 teams compete. The Olympiad ends on Saturday.