Date:16/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/16/stories/2008101659541900.htm

Sport - Bridge

China surprises USA

R. Jayaram

Chennai: In a pulsating semifinal of the women’s event of the 13th Bridge Olympiad now being played in Beijing, China beat USA, a champion many times, by a margin of just seven IMPs on Wednesday.

It entered the last segment of 16 boards of the 96-board semifinals with a deficit of 24 IMPs and by the end of Board 92 was still behind.

In Board 93, China correctly stopped at three spades in the closed room. In the open room, the American pair over-reached four spades that was promptly doubled by China which also defended impeccably to gain a penalty of 200 points.

This board gained 340 points, translating to 8 IMPs which made all the difference to the outcome of the match. China will meet England in the 96-board finals to be held on Thursday and Friday.

In fact, teams from England are in two finals. In the semifinals, its open team surprisingly beat a strong German team 277-143. England plays Italy in the finals, which easily accounted for Bermuda Bowl winner, Norway, 210-111.

Italy is looking for a third consecutive gold in the Olympiad. Like Italy in the open event, the seniors from USA are also in line for a hat-trick. They play Japan in the finals.