The round-robin qualifying sessions began on Sunday as teams in the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and the Seniors Bowl embarked on their 21-match odysseys, all in search of a finish in the top eight. Those teams will find themselves in the quarterfinal round, when head-to-head matches begin.

The early standings are not necessarily useful in predicting who will make it to the knockout stages, but the leaders can enjoy the view from the top even if it’s temporary.

In the Bermuda Bowl, England held a slim lead after three rounds, their 58 Victory Points just two ahead of Italy, followed closely by Argentina. The Englishmen played two close matches against Guadaloupe and Brazil but clobbered Russia to assume first place.

Two American teams were in qualifying spots --- USA2 in fourth place and defending champs USA1 in eighth but less than half a match out of first.

China led the Venice Cup round-robin, 8 VPs clear of second-place France. USAI followed just 3 VPs behind, with another North American squad, Canada close as well. China was impressive in dispatching Venezuela, the Netherlands and India in their first three matches.

In the Seniors Bowl, the round-robin this time will not be the end of play, as has been the case in the past.

The Netherlands took the lead among the Senior teams, handling Brazil, New Zealand and Denmark for a VP total of 64, seven ahead of USA1, made up of four members of the team that won the Bermuda Bowl in 2001 – Rose Meltzer, Alan Sontag, Lew Stansby and Peter Weichsel.

Italy , featuring two members of the legendary Italian Blue Team – Pietro Forquet and Benito Garozzo – were in third place.