WITH SIX MATCHES TO GO ….

The magic EIGHTH PLACE (where you need to finish to qualify for the next grueling stage) kept changing hands and after fifteen matches, here are the standings:

BERMUDA BOWL:   NORWAY, ITALY, BULGARIA, RUSSIA, USA2, NETHERLANDS, ARGENTINA, CHINA LONG ZHU OPEN

VENICE CUP:   CHINA LONG ZHU WOMEN, FRANCE, USA 1, USA 2, DENMARK, SPAIN, GERMANY, ITALY

D’ORSI SENIORS:  ENGLAND, BELGIUM, USA 2, SWEDEN, EGYPT, POLAND, USA 1, INDONESIA

Of course my main interest is USA 1 SENIORS (MORSE/WOLFF; FISHER/HAMILTON; SWANSON/SOLODAR).  We have been hovering around the number eight mark for the last couple of days, this afternoon dropped to 9th but ended the day with a great flourish against Indonesia and entrenched ourselves in 7th for the time being —  but its far from over and the verdicts won’t be in until Saturday evening. We have some very tough matches remaining — especially England and Italy.

An interesting aside — as I was rushing to the game seconds from starting time, I was stopped by a good looking young man named “Michael.”   I was a bit bewildered until he added “Yuen.”   Then, of course, I recognized my fellow bridgeblogging.com  buddy whom I had only read but never met.   I hope we meet again this week and have a chance to compare notes.   You never know whom  you are going to bump into at a world championship in some far-off foreign land!

We are all looking forward go greeting Linda and Ray Lee who arrive this weekend.   They are the owners of Master Point Press and promoters of the bridgeblogging.com site — both very dedicated to the welfare of the game.