Texans aiming for Olympiad gold

It's unusual for each member of an American squad to come from the same place, but the USA entry in the Olympiad Women's series all live in the great state of Texas, where men are men and women sometimes let them play on their teams.

That was not permitted in this event, but they did allow Bob Hamman to be their non-playing captain, a role he has enjoyed as much as possible considering that he would rather have played.

Mildred Breed, who lives in Bryan, a college town west of Houston. She learned bridge at the age of 15 and now the former purchasing agent for a steel fabricator teaches bridge on the Internet. Mildred has two daughters, 13-year-old Rhiannon, who just started playing bridge two months ago (but will not play with her mom), and 29-year-old Monica, who is about to earn a doctorate in cognitive neuropsychology. Mildred has won six major North American championships. She was trying for her first world title in Maastricht.

When Petra Hamman came into the world, it was as Petra Voigt of Halle in what at the time was East Germany. Nine years later, the family moved to Hamburg, in West Germany. East German residents were allowed to leave at the time, but only if they took nothing with them. After two years in Hamburg, the family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Petra has two daughters, both self-employed in the horse industry (riding and training) in the Detroit area. Petra teaches bridge in Dallas and, on a daily basis, indulges her other passion - tennis. She and Bob have been married 15 years.

Joan Jackson, also a Dallas resident, is in financial management. She and partner Robin Klar have been playing together for only about a year and a half but were key members of the team which won the women's trials earlier this year. Joan has two children and three grandchildren, 9-year-old Rachael, who lives in Seattle, and 4-year-old Cameron and 2-year-old Janessa, who live in Denver. Joan has won two major championships in North America.

Robin Klar who lives in Spring, north of Houston, was only 18 when she won the national Women's Pairs in 1970 playing with Tina Rockaway. Robin was the youngest woman to win a North American championship. Seven years later, she retired from bridge to take care of her family, and she returned to the game only three years ago and already has added another major title to her trophy case with a win in the Women's Swiss Teams last year. Nowadays, Robin says, she "teaches teachers how to teach the Holocaust." She has a son, James Lent, who is a concert pianist living in New York, and a daughter, June Lent, who is a college student in Austin.

Shawn Quinn lives in Katy, a suburb of Houston, with husband Joe, one of her favorite partners. She started playing bridge in 1981 "to do something with my mother" and really took to the game. She broke through into the national scene in the early Nineties and since has added 10 major North American titles and two world championships, including the Women's Olympiad in 1996. She won the world Women's Pairs in 1998.

The former systems analyst just started a new job as site manager of a new online bridge site called Winbridge.

When Peggy Sutherlin went for her job interview as a flight attendant with American Airlines many years ago, she told them she wanted the job so that she would have a cheap way to fly to bridge tournaments. She must have said some other things that made a good impression because she spent 34 years at the job, much of the time in San Francisco. Now retired, Peggy and husband John (newly crowned world champion as a member of the winning Senior International Cup) now live in Dallas. She and Petra have been playing together seven years. Besides bridge, Peggy's hobby is genealogy. She is about to complete a book tracing her father's history.

Italian team

Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin, Dano de Falco, Guido Ferraro, Lorenzo Lauria and Alfredo Versace. The npc is Carlo Mosca and the coach is Maria Teresa Lavazza.

Lorenzo Lauria: born 1946 of Rome. World and European Grand Master. Insurance broker and currently best-ranked Italian player. Won the European teams championship in 1979 and silver medal in Bermuda Bowl the same year. In 10 years with his current partner Alfredo Versace, he has had great success, winning two consecutive European teams championships in 1995 and 1997, the Rosenblum Cup in 1998, the IOC Grand Prix in 1999, the Cavendish teams 1996 and 1997, the Macallan 1998, and the Vanderbilt 1999. Has also won many Italian titles, Italian cups, EEC championships and numerous international contests.

Alfredo Versace: born 1969, originally of Turin but now living in Rome. World Life Master and European Grand Master. Professional player, he started playing bridge early, around age 12. Learned from his grandfather and quickly became a promising young player, winning the Junior European teams championship 1990. Won several Italian titles, as well as national and international competitions. Started his partnership with Lorenzo Lauria in 1993, achieving an impressive series of successes. The Versace-Lauria partnership is considered one of the best in the world.

Norberto Bocchi: born 1961, originally from Parma, but now living in Milan. World Master and European Grand Master. Professional player. Comes from a family of champions. His sister Mabel was a basketball champion. He won several Italian and EEC championships, national and international competitions. Has the record of achieving first place in the Italian annual ranking 9 times. With partner Duboin, won the gold medal in the last two European teams championships 1997 and 1999, and the silver medal in 1999 in the European Open pairs.

Giorgio Duboin: born 1959, from Turin. World Master and European Grand Master. He's a professional player. Started Bridge at age 13, and soon became one of Europe's top juniors. With Guido Ferraro, won the European Junior pairs championship and two EEC pairs championships. Has won several Italian championships, national and international competitions. In the '90s, started his partnership with Norberto Bocchi, which is considered one of the strongest in the world, and won the gold medal in the European teams 1997 and 1999, and the silver medal in the European Open pairs 1999.

Dano De Falco: born 1943 of Padua. World and European Grand Master. Owns a computer company, but finds time to play bridge professionally. Was a member of the mythical Blue Team, which led world bridge for more than a decade, and won his first European Championship in Ostend in 1973 the day his first son, Matteo, was born. Won in the Bermuda Bowl in Venice 1974 and won another European title in Lausanne 1979. In addition, was among Italy's runners-up in both the 1979 Bermuda Bowl in Rio de Janeiro and 1983 in Stockholm. With Giorgio Belladonna, holds the record number of victories in the Italian Cup. Won the 1st World Transnational teams championship 1997 and European teams championship 1999 with Guido Ferraro.

Guido Ferraro: born 1959 of Turin. Was one of the best junior players in the 80's. Partnered with Giorgio Duboin before deciding to give up this promising career to start another on the sidelines of the Bridge Rama as a humorous and witty commentator. Finally and luckily, the 'wise old man' De Falco pulled him out of the darkness back into the limelight of the bridge table. The victory in 1999 European teams championship is Ferraro's first big international victory.

Carlo Mosca, npc: born 1946 of Rome but lives in Milan. World and European Life Master. Bridge teacher. A graduate in Economics and Business Studies. Also a well known player worldwide. He's another former member of the Blue Team. Won gold in the European teams 1973, silver in the European teams 1983, and the Bermuda Bowl 1976 and 1983. In the 90's started teaching bridge, and since 1994 he has been the Club Azzurro Chief Coach and open team non-playing captain.

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