Ten years after their first success

USA are the new World Junior Champions

Runner-up - Israel Team		Winners - USA Team		Third Place - Denmark Team

USA I comprising Joel Wooldridge, John Hurd, Joe Grue, John Kranyak, Brad Campbell & Kent Mignocchi, with Robert Rosen, npc and Dennis McGarry, coach are the eighth World Youth Team Champions. The USA team won the Ortiz-Patiño Trophy outscoring Israel, the other finalist, in the 96-board match. USA went ahead and led the race by 144-40 at half way. Israel fought back and outscored their opponents on the fourth and fifth segments, bringing the score down to 191-148. However, the USA came back strongly to win the last one 71-8 and secure the title. The final score was 262-156.

The USA are the only non European team to take the title and they join Great Britain as the only two time winners, their previous victory being in 1991 in Ann Arbour. Their supporters will be hoping they do not have to wait until 2011 for a third triumph.

ISRAEL, represented by Asaf Amit, Yaniv Vax, Aran Warzawsky, Inon Liran, Ranny Schneider, Yossi Roll with Michael Barel, npc made the USA fight all the way, and contributed in full to an exciting final.

DENMARK, represented by Michael Askgaard, Gregers Bjarnarson, Kare Gjaldbaek, Jonas Houmoller, Andreas Marquardsen and Martin Schaltz took third place, beating Thailand in the playoff 191-123.5. It was the fourth consecutive medal for Denmark in the World Youth Team Championship, having previously won bronze medals in Bali and Fort Lauderdale and a gold in Hamilton in 1997.

The 8th World Youth Bridge Team Championship was held in Mangaratiba, a picturesque town near Angra dos Reis which lies in the heart of one of Brazil’s most attractive destinations, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, from 6 to 15 August 2001.

All Zones of the World Bridge Federation, except Zone 4 (Asia & Middle East), took part in the competition. They were represented by 17 teams consisting of players up to 26 years old. For a complete list of participating teams, click here.

The Championship consisted of a qualifying stage, semifinals,a final and a playoff for third place. The winners of the final are the new World Junior Champions: they received the Ortiz-Patiño Trophy and silver replicas for each player and the non-playing captain. Those who failed to qualify were able to participate in a Swiss Pairs contest arranged exclusively for young people.

This was the eighth event of the series that was inaugurated in 1987 in Amsterdam,The Netherlands. As a biennial competition, it was held in 1989 in Nottingham, Great Britain; in 1991 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; in 1993 in Århus, Denmark; in 1995 in Bali, Indonesia; in 1997 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; and in 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.The host country won the Championship on the first three occasions, but this tradition was broken in 1993 by Germany. In 1995, Great Britain became the first country to win the title twice. Denmark won the title in 1997, and Italy in 1999.