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Table of
Contents
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Page |
European Teams
Flex Their Muscles |
1 |
View from the top |
2 |
Uphill Climb |
3 |
Bridge
is a Game of Two Halfs |
4 |
Meet the Stars |
5 |
Dreaming with Sabine |
6 |
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When the qualifying stages of the 4th IOC Grand
Prix for the Generali Trophy were concluded it was the teams
from Europe that were the dominant force.
In the Men's Teams Italy, Norway and
Poland were joined by Canada. The only drama involved
the head to head confrontation between Poland and Indonesia
in the last round. The Polish team needed to win the match by a
reasonable margin to ensure that they, rather than their opponents,
would survive to the knock-out stages, and although they suffered
a few minor scares towards the end, they achieved their aim.
After one session of the semi-finals Italy
and Norway hold a significant, but by no means decisive,
advantage over Canada and Poland respectively.
The Netherlands, Germany, France
and the USA are the last four in the Women's Teams. Of the
teams that failed to progress, Austria came closest, but
they were unable to achieve any significant victories in their final
three matches.
Two low scoring encounters in the opening semi-final
sessions saw France and Germany stay on course for
a repeat of the recent Venice Cup Final. However, there are still
thirty-six boards to play, plenty of time for all the trailing teams
to turn things round.
The European Junior Teams dominated their American
counterparts, and finished well ahead on the same number of victory
points. The conditions of contest meant that they could not meet
in the final, and the tie was split in favour of Europe North,
who face Americas in the final. The third place playoff is
between Europe South and North America.
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