Perhaps there has never been such an exciting single day in the history of world bridge. There have been totally fascinating single matches - remember Norway vs. Netherlands for the Bermuda Bowl in 1993? But the difference here was that there were three incredible comebacks. Only five of the teams that led at the end of the first day's action managed to win their matches.

United States II, down 51 going into yesterday's final 32 boards, finally took the lead on Board 94 and advanced to the semifinals with a 2-IMP win over Canada. Norway trailed powerful Italy by 42 in their Bermuda Bowl match after the first 64 deals, but when it was all over Norway was in the semifinals. United States I had a 29-IMP deficit against China in their Bermuda Bowl encounter, but an exceptional final 32 boards saw USA I overpower China by 50 IMPs.

In another Venice Cup thriller, United States 1 held only a 1-IMP edge after the first day's play. Italy pulled close on several occasions yesterday, but USA I held on to win. France had an easy time with Netherlands and China led all the way against Great Britain. Poland gave France some hiccups at times, but in the end France won their Bermuda Bowl battle by 22. USA II led all the way in eliminating Chinese Taipei.

All eight winners begin their 96-board semifinals today. In the Bermuda Bowl, the two American teams play each other, and France takes on Norway. In the Venice Cup, once again the American teams will oppose each other. In the other match, France will battle with China. The American teams must play each other because WBF regulations bar two teams from the same country from playing each other in the final.

Yesterday's most exciting match was the Venice Cup match between USA II and Canada. Sue Sachs, npc of the American team, thought her team's play was somewhat stale. She felt that drastic action was called for, so she shook up her lineup a bit. She recalled that Lynn Deas and Juanita Chambers had performed extremely well in the Marlboro Cup in China, so she put them together for the first 16 boards yesterday. Kerri Sanborn and Irina Levitina played in the other room. This apparently worked well, for the Americans gained 29 IMPs and then were only 22 points behind. For the last 16 boards, Sachs put Deas back with her regular partner, Beth Palmer, and the team found that it had regained its momentum. They gained 24 IMPs to win by 2. In the Bermuda Bowl, USA I outscored China, 114-35 yesterday - they managed to turn the match completely around. Italy actually pulled ahead of Norway on Board 92, but Norway turned it around immediately, regaining the lead for good on Board 93.

The Transnational Teams event also started today with 74 teams competing. The event is a Swiss of 18 rounds of 10 boards with the first four teams after 16 rounds playing semifinals of 32 boards and a final of 48 boards. The event will be concluded on Saturday.