10th
Forbo Linoleum Bridge Tournament
February 22-24, 2002
This
weekend the 10th Forbo Linoleum International Bridge Tournament
took place in the Kurhaus Hotel at Scheveningen. It was the
last time that this very strong bridge event had been organized
under the auspices of Forbo Linoleum as the company has decided
to say farewell to the bridge world after ten years of sponsorship.
The event actually consisted of two major events: the Nations
Cup, a competition between four of the leading bridge nations
in the world, and the International Teams Tournament.
In
the Nations Cup the Dutch Open Bridge Team booked a
sensational 116-0 victory over Norway. Never before has a
bridge team won in serious competition by such a big margin.
Nevertheless the event was won by Italy. Last year’s
winner North America came in 2nd, the Netherlands 3rd and
Norway finished fourth.
Sixty-four
very strong teams played in the International Teams Tournament.
It was a very close finish. With one round to go, no fewer
than seven teams where in contention for first place: Bulgaria
(105), Italy (103), North America (102), Netherlands Orange
(101),Wijma (100), 't Onstein (98) and Polowan (97). When
the final-round smoke cleared, Italy prevailed by one VP:
1. Italy 121: Maria-Theresa Lavazza, Giorgio Duboin, Norberto
Bocchi, Lorenzo Lauria, Alfredo Versace and Guido Ferraro.
2. Polowan (USA/Poland: Polowan, Steve Robinson, Apolinary
Kowalski, Piotr Tuszynski) 120 3.'t Onstein (The Netherlands:
: Anton Maas, Vincent Ramondt, Jan Jansma, Louk Verhees) 120.
The tie broken on the basis of the 16-14 win by Polowan over
't Onstein.
HISTORY:
The 7th Forbo Linoleum Nations Cup.
In this
exclusive tournament, four of the strongest bridge nations
battle for honours: Olympic champion Italy, North America,
winner of last year’s Nations Cup, Norway, winner of
the silver medal in the Paris Bermuda Bowl and The Netherlands,
represented by Modalfa, the current Dutch teams champion.
The 10th Forbo Linoleum International
Teams.
In this
event 64 star-studded teams from all over the world participate.
Entries have been confirmed by teams from the USA, Canada,
Italy (last year’s winner),
Poland (with Kwiecien-Pszczola, the defending World Pairs
champions), Venice Cup holder Germany, Venice Cup runner-up
France, Indonesia, India, Portugal, Norway, UK, Austria, Belgium,
Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and Bulgaria. The field will be complemented
by a number of powerful domestic squads
PARTICIPANTS IN THE 7TH FORBO LINOLEUM
NATIONS CUP
Italy
Alfredo Versace-Lorenzo Lauria
Norberto Bocchi-Giorgio Duboin
Norway
Boye Brogeland-Erik Saelensminde
Geo Tislevoll-Artur Malinoswski
North-America
Fred Gitelman-Brad Moss
Howard Weinstein-John Carruthers
The Netherlands
Huub Bertens-Ton Bakkeren
Gert-Jan Paulissen-Bart Nab
