European bridge championships: Ireland lost two of its three matches at the 48th Prokom Software SA European Bridge championships in Warsaw yesterday but still held on to third place on the leader board.
The Irish team suffered the first setback in round 27 when John Carroll, Tommy Garvey, Tom Hanlon and Hugh McGann lost 13-17 to Bulgaria. Only a big score by Hanlon on the last of the 20 deals saved them from a bigger defeat. Nick FitzGibbon and Adam Mesbur joined Hanlon and McGann against Luxembourg.
The Irish quartet made no mistake and scored the maximum 25 points. However, close rivals Norway and the Netherlands also scored 25 against Wales and Latvia respectively so Ireland gained no advantage. Sweden and Iceland also had big wins to maintain their challenges for medals.
In round 29, Carroll, Garvey, FitzGibbon and Mesbur went down 10-20 to Turkey while Sweden beat Russia 25-5 and Netherlands defeated Serbia 19-11.
Norway failed to take advantage of Ireland's slip, having tied its match with Denmark, and Iceland lost 14-16 to Latvia. Italy, despite losing to Poland 10-20, stays well ahead of the field. Norway, in second place, is 15 points ahead of Ireland.
Open championship leaders after 29 rounds: 1, Italy 582; 2, Norway 537; 3, IRELAND 522; 4, Sweden 519; 5, the Netherlands 518; 6, Iceland 508; 7, Poland 497; 8, France 481.5; 9, England 474; 10, Germany 472. Thirty-three teams compete.
Women after 17 rounds: 1, Germany 337; 2, the Netherlands 335; 3, England 330; 4, France 325; 5, Denmark 313; 6, Poland 298; 7, Croatia 296; 8, Spain 288; 9 Norway 279; 10, Italy 274; 18, IRELAND 230. Twenty-two teams compete.