Ireland recovered at the Generali European bridge championships in Tenerife yesterday when Tom Hanlon, Hugh McGann, Padraig O'Briain and Thomas Roche beat Denmark 23-7 in the opens team event.
The win ended a demoralising run of failures by the Irish. Earlier yesterday they lost 11-19 to the Czech Republic and 5-25 to Bulgaria.
Russia show no sign of weakening. Big wins over Hungary and Finland and a draw with the Netherlands put them further ahead of the field. Poland remain steady while Greece, after losing heavily to Scotland and Spain, bounced back to beat Sweden 25-4. Ireland's next opponents will be San Marino and Slovenia.
Ireland's seniors, Joe MacHale, Alex Montwill, Pat Barry, David Jackson and Greer McKenzie, had mixed fortune. Following a bye in round 16 they then lost 9-21 to championship leaders, France B, before drawing 15-15 with England A.
The women's championship looks to be between England and Austria but world champions, the Netherlands, having earlier struggled to find their top form, jumped to fourth after beating Wales 25-1.
Open Teams. Leaders after 28 rounds: 1.Russia 517, 2.Italy 503, 3.Poland 496, 4.Greece 491, 5.France 488, 6.Norway 481, 7.Bulgaria 470, 8.Israel 460, 9.Belgium 459, 10.Denmark 458, 12.England 450, 16.Scotland 440, 19.Wales 431, 31.IRELAND 334.
Women's Teams. Leaders after 16 rounds: 1.England 301, 2.Austria 295, 3.France 283, 4.Netherlands 278, 5.Spain 275, 6.Israel 272, 7.Italy 271, 8.Czech Republic 267, 9.Germany 265, 10.Sweden 255. 21 teams compete Seniors Teams. Leaders after 18 rounds:
1.France B 351, 2.Poland A 329, 3.France A 324, 4.Sweden 314, 5.Netherlands 310, 6.England A 309, 7.Germany, Italy B 306, 9.Poland B 295, 10.England B 292, 16.IRELAND 259. 27 teams compete.