United States I and France topped the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup round-robins respectively, but all that is history now. Today marks the start of the knockout phase, with eight teams remaining in each event. The round-robin surprises - Brazil and Denmark failed to make the Bermuda Bowl playoffs, and Germany, the defending champion, didn't make it into the Venice Cup quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals in both events will consist of 96 boards, two 32-board segments today and another 16-board segment tomorrow. Playing for United States I are Seymon Deutsch, Paul Soloway, Zia, Michael Rosenberg, Chip Martel and Lew Stansby, with Hugh Ross as non-playing captain. The French round-robin champions consist of Veronique Bessis, Catherine Saul, Catherine de Guillebon, Pascale Thuillez, Benedicte Cronier and Sylvie Willard, with Jean-Christophe Quantin as non-playing captain.

Bermuda Bowl

The American teams I and II finished on top, followed by France, Norway, Italy, Poland, China and Chinese Taipei. USA I, given the choice of any team from fifth to eighth, selected China, then chose to play the semifinal against the winner of the USA II - Chinese Taipei match. France will oppose Poland and Norway will play Italy. If USA I loses, China will play the winner of the other match.

Brazil made a determined bid for the last qualifying position. Down by 27 IMPs with eight boards to play, they performed magnificently the rest of the way and actually defeated Norway, 19-11. It appeared that this possibly would be good enough to unseat Chinese Taipei, but the Chinese also had a good match, winning 18-12. As a result Brazil's stars missed qualification by 3 Victory Points.

The American teams performed strongly throughout. If they both win their quarterfinal matches, they will play each other in the semifinal. USA I defeated USA II in their round-robin match here and in the American trials in New Orleans.

Venice Cup

France led at the close of play every day, but the final standings found the top six teams well bunched. USA I and II were second and third, and the rest of the qualifiers were China, Great Britain, Canada, Netherlands and Italy.

Italy and Germany were in a dingdong battle for the last qualifying spot. Italy, which replaced Israel when Israel withdrew, held on in their final match to edge Germany by 2 Victory Points. France was challenged at times by the American teams, but they always had enough to stay out front. China came on very strong to finish in fourth place.

Today's pairings: France vs. Netherlands, USA I vs. Italy, USA II vs. Canada and China vs. Great Britain. The winner of the France-Netherlands match will oppose the victor of the China-Great Britain battle in the semifinals. If both American teams win, they will play each other. WBF rules stipulate that two teams from the same country may not play each other in the final.