Team Orange from the Netherlands won the open teams at the European bridge championships in Tenerife yesterday when they beat the Polish Miroglio side decisively 103-23 in the final.
The Dutch team - Ton Bakkern, Huub Bertens, Jan Jansma, Banke Muller, Louk Verheees and Simon de Wijs - had built up the huge score over two of the three scheduled sessions, at which point their opponents conceded victory. Hecht (Norway) and Ozdil (England/Turkey) shared the bronze medals.
Team Orange with a squad of five pairs has taken a professional approach to bridge for the past two years. A sponsorship deal allows them to train together one full day a week, an arrangement which has brought results. In addition to the gold medals in Tenerife, they won silver at the Olympiad in Istanbul in October. Only one pair from the Istanbul side - Jansma and Verhees - played in Tenerife.
France (Catherine d'Ovidio, Daniele Gaviard, Benedicte Cronier and Sylvia Williard) won the women's championship. Weber (England/Germany) took silver while Pasman (Netherlands) and a Russian/USA squad shared bronze.
The seniors' event was won by Ezio Forniciari, Carlo Mariani, Adriano Abate, Fabrizio Morelli, Marco Ricciarelli and Franco Baroni (Italy) from Szenberg (Poland). Hollman (US) shared third with a team consisting of players from Israel, Canada, England and Germany.
In the open pairs championship, Ireland's Tom Hanlon and Hugh McGann, following an average first session, had a big second set to go to ninth place of the 104 competing pairs. With one session to go, they appear set to make the final with the leading 40 pairs guaranteed places. John Carroll and Tommy Garvey had a good start, lying 15th after the opening session, but aunder-average second set leaves them 55th.
A good last qualifying set can see a repeat of their European pairs final achievement in Sorrento in 2001.
Jim Sexton and Terry Walsh, with an under-average score, have too much to do to reach the final. Tom Townsend and David Gold lead the semi-finalists.
Cian Holland and Gay Keaveney are struggling in the repechage with no chance of reaching the final.
In the women's pairs championship, Gilda and Noreen Pender from Dublin are making a brave bid to get to the final from the more difficult B semi-final repechage. Lying second after two sessions, they need to finish in the top five. Ann Fitzgerald and Lucy Phelan are also in with a chance in eighth place.
Aoife MacHale withdrew from the competition when she learned that her father, Joe MacHale, one of Ireland's greatest bridge players, was ill. With her partner, Antoinette McGee, she had been sixth after one session of the repechage. Emer Joyce and Joan Kenny are down the field as are Patsy Meehan and Rose O'Farrell in the A semi-final.
Michael MacDonagh and Seán Ó Lúbaigh are also putting up a fight in the seniors repechage. They too lie second with one set to go. Only Welsh neighbours Mike Hirst and Patrick Jourdain are ahead of them. David Jackson and Greer McKenzie withdrew from the seniors event after one session of the B semifinal. The championships will end tomorrow when the pairs events will be concluded in all categories.