The main interest for Irish players at the World Bridge Championships in Lille, France, yesterday centred on the Elf Senior, over 55, teams. Paul Hanratty, with S. Dowling and two Israelis, O. Dan and N. Saxon, moved up to eighth of the 38 competing teams at the halfway stage after a 23-7 victory over a Canadian side.
Earlier they had lost narrowly to an Italian team. They are now four points behind the fourth-placed team. The first four at the end of three days of qualifying rounds go forward to the semi-finals. However, from here on Hanratty's team faces stiff opposition, as they move up to the top four tables in the Swiss Movement. In the next round, they face a team captained by Austrian Karl Rohan.
Richard King and Thomas MacCormac, fourth at halfway in the junior, under 25, pairs, had a poor third session before rallying in the final round to finish a respectable 16th in the 66 pairs field. This event was won by Poland with Italy second and the Netherlands taking the bronze medal.
Gordon Lessels, Limerick, and Pat McCarthy, Killarney, put Ireland on the scoreboard with a win in a round of the continuous pairs. These single-session events continue daily.
The main pairs championships begin today. Ireland will be strongly represented in the open pairs with Tom Hanlon and Hugh McGann leading the Irish challenge. In the women's pairs, Patsy Meehan and Petra O'Neill are Ireland's sole entrants.
Over the weekend, the main team event, the Vivendi Rosen blum Open Teams, will have progressed to the quarter-finals and the Louis Vuitton McConnell Cup women's teams to the semi-finals.