It went down the wire before Sweden and Poland got past USA2 and England to set up a promising finale in the Bermuda Bowl of the HCL-42nd World bridge championships at the ITC Grand Chola here on Wednesday.
And it was a moment to cherish for fans of the sport as there was considerable excitement in both the semifinals with the two matches being decided only after the last hand in the third session. This is the second ever entry for both into the final, Sweden having the grade before in 1953, and Poland in 1991.
Sweden, after being in the lead at close of play on Tuesday, was at the receiving end from USA2 in the first segment in which the Americans came with a strong showing to considerably reduce the 16.3 lead. And when the Swedes fumbled again in the second set of 16 boards it did seem that the American side, now into the lead, had sealed its entry into the final.
Turning pointThe turning point came after the Swedes had opened the segment well by taking a slam in 6 diamonds off the fourth hand in the closed room and setting up the same call by the Americans in the open room. In the open room, the Americans went one down after trying to finesse in clubs after having conceding a trick earlier in hearts. But in the closed, the Swedes purposefully checked themselves from taking a club finesse and instead cashed winners in spades from the west wherein the club losers from east were discarded.
But thereafter, the Swedes mishandled the next four hands to hand over 32 invaluable IMPs to the Americans, getting too aggressive and going for overcalls on all the four occasions. Going into the final session of play, the Americans thus were in the lead by 12.7 points and increased it further by gaining 10 IMPs off the first hand of the sixth segment.
However, this time around, the Swedes did not flutter like in the previous two rounds and through the next nine hands were able to overcome the lead enjoyed by their rivals, accumulating 35 IMPs. And when the Americans sought a comeback by taking 12 IMPs in the 11th hand, the Swedes hit back strong by gaining the same number of IMPs on the 13th board. Finally, it did not matter much as even though the Americans gained 7 IMPs of the last hand, the Swedes were still able to make it winning the tie with an overall score of 248-241.7.
Tightly-foughtThe Poland-England was even tightly fought as there were several twists and turns in the final segment. Having led 99-88.3 overnight, the Poles seemed fairly in line for a place in the final before England produced a brilliant showing in the sixth segment, getting to the lead midway through.
The double swings achieved by the English off the first hand and then again twice consecutive in the 8th and 9th did create a buzz all around but it was the Poles who had the last laugh by keeping their cool and gaining 14 IMPs over the 14th and 16th boards and finally turning successful in squeaking past their rivals narrowly at 207-205.3.
In contrast, the semifinals of both the d’Orsi Trophy and Venice Cup turned out to be tame affairs as USA1 and Sweden with wins over USA2 (216.5-169) and Poland (189.7-161) in the seniors section and France and USA2 got to the final of the women’s section defeating England (211-186) and the Netherlands (211.2-157) respectively.
In the Transnational event for the Dastur Trophy, city-based Formidables were among eight teams that progressed into the quarterfinals. Formidables defeated the Netherlands 102-84 after trailing 67-57 after the second segment.
The results (semifinals):
Men: Sweden bt USA2 248-241.7, Poland bt England 207-205.3.
Seniors: USA1 bt USA2 216.5-169, Sweden bt Poland 189.7-161.
Women: France bt England 211-186, USA2 bt the Netherlands 211.2-157.
