Ireland got off to a good start at the European bridge teams championships at Citywest in Dublin yesterday, winning the first two matches in the open competition.
The Irish faced a tough contest in the opening match against former champions Norway but Tom Hanlon, Hugh McGann, Nick FitzGibbon and Adam Mesbur rose to the occasion to win 16-14.
John Carroll and Tommy Garvey joined FitzGibbon and Mesbur for the second-round match against Ukraine, and after an uneventful first half the Irish quartet pulled away to win impressively 22-8. Their total of 38 points puts them in fifth place in the group behind Sweden, who had two maximum scores of 25 against Scotland and Greece.