China stamped their authority in the Asian bridge circuit reaching the finals in three events; while Indian Seniors “B” lived up to the expectations to advance to the title clash defeating Japan in a thrilling finish in the semi-finals of Bonus 5th Asia Bridge Cup at Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon, Dona Paula on Friday.
Ahead of the finals day where China features in the men and women’s events apart from Mixed category, the Chinese teams have already been assured of a gold and silver medal each as the Mixed event final will be an all-Chinese affair on Saturday.
The other four countries who will be competing for medals include Hong Kong China “A”, Indonesia, Australia in men, women, mixed and seniors event respectively.
India, who are assured of either a gold or a silver, still have chances to win bronze if they can win the play-off matches for third position against Bangladesh in men and against Japan in Women’s group.
In the first semi-final of the Seniors event, India “B” started poorly and could collect only 22 International Match points (IMPs) against 66 by Japan in the first round. Stung by the reverse India pulled up their socks and improved their performance in the second round to narrow down the gap earning 41 IMPs against 24 by their rivals.
Inspired with their better show, the hosts started confidently in the third and concluding round and scored 56 IMPs while Japan could score 39 IMPs. India finally entered the finals clinching the issue by a margin of just two IMPs.
In the final, Indian Senior “B” will take on another strong contender Australia who in the second semi-final outplayed Bangladesh 170-67 IMPs leading in all three rounds.
In the two other semi-finals, the hosts featured today, India “A” went down to Hong Kong China “A” 129- 80. 67 IMPs in the men’s event;
while in women’s event, India “A” lost to Indonesia 159- 77.33 IMPs.
While the hosts are assured of at least a silver in Seniors group, they can still earn a bronze each if they can win their their play off for the third place against Bangladesh and Japan in Men and Women sections on Saturday.
Meanwhile in a change in nomenclature progressing from league stage to the knock-outs, scores are counted as International Match Points (IMPs) instead of Victory points (VPs) as mentioned in the league stage.
