Date:07/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/07/stories/2008100757201900.htm

Sport - Bridge

Indian team in second position

R. Jayaram

Chennai: The Indian open team (Sunit Choksi, Rajesh Dalal, Kiran Nadar, Subhash Gupta, Bachiraju Satyanarayana and K. Raman Venkataraman) with a tally of 175 Victory Points is in the second position in Group B in the Beijing Bridge Olympiad.

In this group the team from Israel (194) had an unbeaten run so far, but lost to the Indians 10-20 in the third round on Saturday.

Having already played the stronger teams in this group of 18 teams, India has an excellent chance of being within the first four and qualifying for the round of sixteen.

Italy, which is looking for a hat-trick of golds in the Olympiad, created a record of sorts in the ninth round on Monday. In a blitzkrieg, rarely witnessed in international bridge, it outclassed Brazil by a whopping 90 International Match Points (94-4) to top Group A.

The surprise package in this group is the team from Estonia which is in the third position. Bermuda Bowl and European Championship winner Norway has now surrendered its top position in Group C to Poland. Germany (191) is the leader in Group D.

Mixed luck

The Indian Youth team had a mixed outing on Monday. In a field of 74 countries, it was in second position at the end of the eighth round. In lost 5-25 to England in the ninth round to be relegated to the seventh spot. But it is still very much in the running for a quarterfinal berth. The seniors from India continue to occupy the seventh spot in their group and are in with a chance to proceed to the next stage.