When the going got tough, the India OPEN and India SENIOR teams got going!
The day was predicted to be the toughest day yet. After 5 days and 16 gruelling rounds of Bridge, one needed to play FOUR rounds of Bridge and 64 deals. A really tough test of stamina, concentration and execution of ones skill. Another reason why the day would have been tough is that all Indian teams were coming after a bad day at office yesterday.
With just one day to go on Sunday, there was hardly any time for producing anything other than wins. and they did! But did they do enough? ....
We wish all the teams the very best of luck for day 7. And really hope that the OPEN and SENIOR teams qualify with flying colors
We have shared a few photographs from the playing arena (courtesy the Indian contingent)
The India Open team team had two matches against Denmark and Netherlands, both placed in the top. They beat Singapore and Denmark by identical margins of 13.97-6.03 (15 imps). They then beat Israel 11.76-8.24 (6 imps)
The final match of the day was against Netherlands who were placed third at that stage and are nearly sure of a qualifying slot. We picked up 33 IMPs in many boards, but again gave most of it back in two big boards. OPEN India vs Netherlands. India won by 5 IMPs, (=11.48).
Sumit-Laltu and Jaggi-Thakral played three rounds today
Indian Ladies got their first big win today against Argentina, but lost all other matches. They are still at the bottom of the heap.
India Seniors also showed their tough side today. But they didnt start well.
They laboured to beat MOROCCO who are third from bottom winning 37-31. SENIORS INDIA vs MOROCCO.
At this stage India were still in 9th position. After this, they needed a good match against France who were lying 4th. India started well leading 30-0 after 5 boards. They lost 7 IMps when Ashok Goel went down in 5C against good defense where declarer might have found himself with one entry, but needing to take two finesses from hand. India won 58-26 +17.03, an excellent result. SENIORS INDIA VS FRANCE.
Final match of the day saw India take on DENMARK, the second placed team. The match started with a swing against us in Board 2 when, 19 HCP opposite 6, Anil and Rajesh missed a game. While both 3N and 5D were making, the Danish pair bid the diamond while our pair languished in 3D. Deal 2 SENIORS INDIA VS DENMARK.
A few deals later, Anil-Rajesh found a sacrifice against a cold 4S to get back 8 IMPs. DEAL 25 SENIORS India VS Denmark.
A few more deals Subroto-Sukamal were one of the few pairs to reach and make 3NT. At the other table, Danes played in a partial. (+7 imps). DEAL 28 SENIORS India VS Denmark.
India won 22 imps on the last 4 boards to win the match 37-18 and +14.8 to accumulate 59+ IMPs in 4 rounds.
India is now at the 5th spot. Qualifying spot maybe at 262-268 and well within reach, but India should now look at beating all the top teams they meet tomorrow so that they have advantage in the KOs
Any fond hopes the India Mixed team may have held on to about qualifying would have been dashed in the first session itself when they were blanked 0-20 by Belgium. Argentina drove another nail in their coffin by beating them by 21 imps (4.81-15.19). They did have good wins against Tunisia (17.61-2.39) and Romania (12.03-7.97), but these are not enough for even a theoretical chance any more.