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Winners of the 44th World Team Championships

From the Daily Bulletins


Bermuda Bowl

  1. POLAND: Krzysztof Buras, Bartosz Chmurski, Jacek Kalita, Grzegorz Narkiewicz, Michał Nowosadzki, Piotr Tuczyński, Marek Pietraszek (npc), Marek Wójcicki (coach)

2. NETHERLANDS: Simon de Wijs, Bob Drijver, Bauke Muller, Bart Nab, Ricco van Prooijen, Louk Verhees, Anton Maas (npc), Ton Bakkeren (coach)

3. NORWAY: Terje Aa, Boye Brogeland, Nils Kåre Kvangraven, Espen Lindqvist, Allan Livgård, Ulf Haakon Tundal, Christian Vennerød (npc), Sten Bjertnes (coach)

Venice Cup

1. SWEDEN: Kathrine Bertheau, Sanna Clementsson, Ida Grönkvist, Jessica Larsson, Emma Övelius, Cecilia Rimstedt, Kenneth Borin (npc), Carina Wademark (coach)

2. CHINA: Liu Yan, Lu Yan, Shen Qi, Wang Nan, Wang Wen Fei, Zuo Xiaoxue, Wang Xiaojing (npc & coach)

3. ENGLAND: Heather Dhondy, Catherine Draper, Gillian Fawcett, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith, Yvonne Wiseman, David Gold (npc), David Burn (coach)

D’Orsi Trophy

1. DENMARK: Knud-Aage Boesgaard, Søren Christiansen, Jørgen Hansen, HC Nielsen, Henrik Norman, Steen Schou, Bo Bilde (npc), Jan Nielsen (coach)

2. ENGLAND: John Holland, David Kendrick, Alan Mould, David Muller, Malcolm Pryor, Trevor Ward, David S. Jones (npc)

3. INDIA: Sukamal Das, Subhash Dhakras, Dipak Poddar, Subrata Saha, Jitendra Solani, Ramamurthy Sridharan, Vinay Desai (npc), Anal Shah (coach)

Wuhan Cup

1. RUSSIA: Alexander Dubinin, Alexej Gerasimov, Andrey Gromov, Anna Gulevich, Tatiana Ponomareva, Olga Vorobeychikova

2. USA1: Cheri Bjerkan, Allan Graves, Christal Henner, Uday Ivatury, Jill Meyers, Howard Weinstein, Joe Stokes (npc)

3. ROMANIA: Mihaela Balint, Marius Ioniţă, Bogdan Marina (pc), Geta Mihai, Radu Mihai, Marina Stegaroiu

Transnational Open Teams

1. SHANGHAILVCHENG: Chen Yong, Lian Yong, Luo Yide, Sun Shaolin, Yu Xiaoguang, Zhang Shengle, Zheng Lin (npc)

2. SAN CHEN FUND: Jiang Huibo, Li Rui; Shen Siyuan, Wu Shangjie, Xie Zhaobin, Xin Guofang, Su Hongbin (npc)

3. ZHEJIANGQIANTANG: Dai Jianming, Huang Yan, Ran Jing Rong, Yang Lixin, Zhang Yu, Zhao Jie, Zhang Feilan (npc)

Friday, 27th September 2019

Seven finalists were known with many boards to spare: Netherlands, Poland, China, Sweden, England, Denmark and USA1.

The eighth semi-final was a close match between Russia and Romania in the Wuhan Cup.

The match ended in a tie, which meant that Russia moves on to the final on the basis of having won their direct match in the Round Robin

Thursday, 26th September 2019

On the first day of play in the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d’Orsi Seniors Trophy and Mixed Teams semi-finals, there was a mixture of emotions — from exhilaration to gloom and, perhaps, resolve to do better, especially in the camps of the favored teams. USA 1, fresh off an amazing rally to overcome England on Tuesday in the Bermuda Bowl quarter-final, did not start well against Poland and were trailing 59-96 after 48 boards.

Norway, who defeated Italy to get to the semi-final round, was down 53-160 to the Netherlands. The Venice Cup team from England was also having trouble. The team had an impressive win over Poland in the QF, but after 48 boards in the semi-final, were down 43-137 to Sweden. China made a slow start, but came back strongly to lead Netherlands 81-62.

Wednesday, 25th September 2019

At the start of play in the Bermuda Bowl quarter-finals on Tuesday, USA 1 was down to England by 63 IMPs with 48 boards to play. England had looked strong in taking the big lead, so prospects were not good for the Americans. When the quarter-final was over, USA 1 was celebrating a remarkable comeback after outscoring their opponents 140-44 to win 195-162. USA 1, the leading round robin qualifier, are now in the semifinals with a chance to capture another title. All members of the team have world championships to their credit.

That was not the only excitement in the final day of quarter-final play. In the d’Orsi Senior Trophy, Denmark made it to the semi-final with a 1-IMP win over France. Denmark will play India, who advanced with a 3-IMP win over Chinese Taipei.

Tuesday, 24th September 2019

Today, the last day of quarterfinal play in the main events — Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d’Orsi Seniors Trophy and the Mixed Teams — will mean the end for some teams, and the list of squads on the brink of elimination is surprising. Heading that group is USA 1 in the Bermuda Bowl. The team led by Nick Nickell qualified at the top of the round robin standings but trail England 55-118. USA1 has a chance to regroup for three 16-board sets today, and the team is known for their ability to come from behind, but they are facing a difficult task.

Another favored team in danger of losing is Sweden, who qualified third in the Bermuda Bowl, but trail The Netherlands 78-94. The only team that appears to be secure is Norway, leading Italy 171-71.

Ranking after Round 23. Top 8 qualify for the KO stages.

Monday, 23rd September 2019

It’s not easy making the cut for the knockout phase of the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d’Orsi Senior Trophy or Mixed Teams. The qualifying teams had to survive eight days of three 16-board matches — 368 deals in total — to finish the round robin in the top eight of whatever bracket they were in, not to mention having to contend along the way with seasoned players hungry for a chance to win a world championship.

The round robin chase is finally over and the happy qualifiers are preparing to do battle, starting today, one on one, with the winners moving on and the losers contemplating other opportunities.

USA 1 led the qualifiers in the Bermuda Bowl. China was No. 1 on the qualifying list in the Venice Cup. USA 2 moved from second to first on Sunday in the d’Orsi Seniors Trophy, overtaking India, the leader for most of the round robin. England heads the list of qualifiers in the Mixed Teams

Sunday, 22nd September 2019

When you are No. 1 in a competitive endeavor, it’s not unusual for every opponent to come at you extra hard. The veteran Nick Nickell team — USA 1 in the Bermuda Bowl — know what that’s like as one opponent after another views a match against them as a chance for fame and maybe a championship. The Nickell team’s impressive record in high-level bridge competition indicates they know how to handle these situations. That’s not to say, however, that the team is unbeatable — just nearly so.

On Saturday in Wuhan, USA 1 suffered two defeats, one of them by the surprising score of 54-3 at the hands of the strong team from Norway. That disappointment was followed by a narrow loss to Israel, who moved from ninth to seventh. Even with the two losses, USA 1 is still a lock to qualify for the quarter-finals, which begin on Monday, by virtue of the fact that they are nearly 50 victory points ahead of the team in ninth place. Any of those behind them can earn a maximum of 40 victory points with just two rounds to go, so USA 1 is mathematically safe from being overtaken.

Three other teams are in the same position — Sweden in the Bermuda Bowl and England and USA 2 in the Mixed Teams.

Saturday, 21st September 2019

Competitors in the four main teams events have now finished 18 of 23 rounds of the qualifying round robin and can take a breath knowing only five rounds remain — three today and two on Sunday.

In the Bermuda Bowl, USA 1 is in a comfortable position at the top of the bracket with 277.76 victory points. Sweden is in second place with 244.90. The Netherlands are third with 233.43.

In the eighth and last qualifying spot is England with 217.36. In ninth and in danger of missing the cut is Israel.

In the Venice Cup, China is leading with 241.17 VPs. Poland is close behind at 236.15. Neither is in danger of missing a qualifying spot at this point. USA 1 is in eighth. Two strong teams — Sweden and USA 2 — are just outside the top eight .

India, in first place, looks good as a qualifier in the d’Orsi Seniors Trophy, as do Denmark and Chinese Taipei, second and third, respectively. Netherlands, in 9th place, is in danger of missing out on the quarter-finals.

In the Mixed Teams, England leads the pack with 249.53 VPs, followed in second by USA 2 with 244.83. In the eighth and final qualifying spot are Sweden with 211.85, but USA 1, in ninth, is within shouting distance with 207.71 VPs.

Friday, 20th September 2019

With only three days of round robin play remaining in the four main events, teams not currently in the top eight of their respective contests might well be feeling nonqualification anxiety at this point.

Even the leaders might be thinking along the lines of a quote from the legendary American baseball player Satchel Paige, who said famously, “Don’t look back – something might be gaining on you.”

Of the round robin leaders going into play today, USA 1 in the Bermuda Bowl and China in the Venice Cup have comfortable leads. China is ahead of second-place Poland in the women’s championship by over 18 victory points — better than most but not an impregnable lead.

In the Bermuda Bowl, USA 1 — the Nick Nickell powerhouse — is ahead of second-place Netherlands by 12.77 VPs.

India, the team currently at the top in the round robin standings in the d’Orsi Seniors Trophy, has a lead of 5.23 VPs over England, sitting close to the top in second place. Finally, in the Mixed Teams, England, with 220.52, is ahead of France at the top of the rankings by 24.1 VPs. Play continues through Sunday, after which qualifiers — the top eight in each bracket — begin knockout play.

Thursday, 19th September 2019

Winning a major teams championship is a marathon, not a sprint, so it’s not unusual to see some competitors slow down a bit as the grind of the round robin qualifying matches goes on.

That’s not true in all cases, however, as some of the leaders in the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d’Orsi Seniors Trophy and Mixed Teams appear to be picking up the pace in anticipation of making the knockout phases of their respective events. For example, the Bermuda Bowl leaders, USA 1, have recently recorded scores of 65- 29, 52-15, 55-11 and 62-16 among many similar results — some of them against strong opposition.

Against a strong team from Russia, England scored a surprising 84-23 win. Poland, leading in the Venice Cup had several big wins, and in the Seniors, Denmark, the leaders, had scores of 69-27, 63-27 and 66-24. In the Mixed Teams, one of the scores that helped England to the top spot was 82- 1 for them. Teams are striving to finish in the top eight of their respective brackets so that they can continue playing after the round robin is completed on the coming weekend.

Wednesday, 18th September 2019

At the start of play in the teams events on Tuesday, the Nick Nickell team — USA 1 — was sitting in fourth place in the Bermuda Bowl, 12. 74 victory points out of first. After nine rounds, Nickell was sitting on top of the heap, having won eight of nine matches by an average margin of 30.375 IMPs, helping the team to a total of 134.58 VPs, just ahead of Sweden, in second with 132.78 VPs.

USA 1 was not the only team at the championships with a good showing on Tuesday. In the Venice Cup, China held onto their lead, ending the day with 130.80 VPs. Poland is second, 4.2 VPs behind, having moved up from third place. In the d’Orsi Seniors Trophy, Denmark, in third at the start of play on Tuesday, lost their first match but won seven of the next eight to take the lead. In the Mixed Teams, England maintained their lead, with USA 2 in second, having moved up from sixth.

There are 14 rounds of play remaining in each of the four competitions. Each team in the different categories is striving to finish in the top eight of their bracket, thereby qualifying for the knockout rounds, starting with the quarter-finals

Tuesday, 17th September 2019

In a day of wild matches and unexpected scores, teams from neighboring countries — Norway and Sweden — are leading the field in the Bermuda Bowl and surely are the betting favorites for at least the top three when all is said and done. Teams from the two Scandinavian nations have Bermuda Bowl wins on their respective resumes, as do some of the other contenders.

After the finish of play on Monday, Norway had a narrow victory-point edge in the standings, with 86.66 compared to 85.27 for Sweden. England is third, followed by Australia and USA 1.

USA 2, 2017 Bermuda Bowl winners, are well back in the field in 19th place but cannot be counted out with so much of the tournament left to play. Norway climbed into the leading spot with a series of blowout wins, including 78-7 over Guadeloupe and a 72-13 victory over China.

In the Venice Cup, England is at the top with 83.65 VPs. Leading the hopefuls in the d’Orsi Seniors Trophy is Chinese Taipei. Mixed Teams leader is England.


Wuhan 2019

The 44th World Team Championships (Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d’Orsi Senior Bowl) take place in Wuhan, China and will delight us with excellent bridge September 14 to 28. Vugraph on BBO started on Sunday, with 12 matches per session and 3 sessions a day.

Voice and written commentary will be available thanks to the wonderful BBO commentators. You can enjoy the voice commentary on BBO’s new html version, which is compatible with mobile devices too.

Stay tuned for more updates from Wuhan.


Comments

6 responses to “Winners of the 44th World Team Championships”

  1. Anonymous

    Looking for live vugraph China

  2. Looking for live vugraph China

    Looking for live vugraph China

  3. MEBlack

    Thanks for the update. I didn’t watch Vugraph this year, but if there is voice commentary, I will try it next year…. I am so proud of our team, and thank you, BBO, for all you do!

  4. lavandou

    Un grand “bravo” à toutes les équipes gagnantes et à BBO pour ses retransmissions que je suis le plus possible, très instructif.
    Cela m’amuse toujours de voir les hommes un bouquet dans les bras !!!!

  5. ganshanin

    Excellent indeed

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