Bronze medals were secured yesterday by these teams. From left and top, USA2 in the Bermuda Bowl, the Netherlands in the Venice Cup and Denmark in the Seniors Bowl.

Six teams still have dreams of gold as the finals in the Bermuda Bowl,Venice Cup and Seniors Bowl continue today - and the matches are all so close it is difficult to predict the winners. USA1 leads Italy, 105-74, in the Bermuda Bowl, which concludes on Saturday with a final 32 boards. The teams played nearly even through the first 48 deals, but the Americans had a 20-IMP carryover to start.

Play in the Venice Cup and Seniors Bowl will end today.

In the women's championship, France took a 49-1 lead against Germany, including carryover, after one set, but the Germans fought back to trail 68-87 at the halfway point.They won the next two sets by the combined score of 67-38 to get back into the match.

Likewise, Indonesia seized the initiative against USA1 in the Seniors Bowl, taking a big early lead only to see the Americans draw closer with a 57-20 third set. Bronze medals went to three teams yesterday. USA2 took a 12-IMP carryover into their Bermuda Bowl match with Sweden, winning by 15 IMPs in a tightly played match.There were big rallies in the other two bronze-medal fights.

USA1 had a 55-18 lead against the Netherlands after one set, and they were ahead by 25 with 16 deals to play, but the Dutch women took the final set 35-5 to earn the bronze. Similarly, the Netherlands took a 56-15 lead against Denmark in the Seniors Bowl but were outscored 92-34 over the final 48 deals.

Quarterfinals in the Transnational Open Teams began last night with the following matchups: 777 - Sofia Pessoa, Hussein - Schneider, Shugart - Spector and Shato Rosenovo - China Open. See the Saturday edition for more information about this competition.