The Champions' Cup Stays In Italy!

 
 
The European
Champions' Cup

Today’s hot news will not be a great surprise: the 2nd European Cup has also been won by a team from Italy. Last year, the Cup went to Turin. Lorenzo LAURIA and Alfredo VERSACE, the two holders playing here, no doubt brought it with them to Rome and now have the honour and the pleasure of lifting it again, this time with Francesco ANGELINI, Antonio SEMENTA, Claudio NUNES and Fulvio FANTONI as their team-mates. Our warmest congratulations on this victory go to them!

Today’s final has been a very slow, but very steady affair. The first three segments all ended with an Italian advantage, be it always a small one. Yet, the three of them amounted to 40 IMP’s when the last session started – few teams in the world can recoup a deficit like that against this formidable side and our friends from Stockholm were no exception. In fact, their deficit quickly went up when they lost two early swings. Still well done, Per-Olov SUNDELIN, Pierre BERTHEAU, Fredrik NYSTROM and Johan SYLVAN!

Parallel to the final, De Lombard from Rotterdam and the Bridge Club Plovdiv were playing 36 of these boards for the bronze. The first two segments both ended in draws, but in the decisive 3rd segment the Dutch turned a 1-IMP deficit against their Bulgarian opponents into a 39-IMP win as the segment score read 48-8 to them. Well done De Lombard Rotterdam: Berry WESTRA, Bas DRIJVER, Maarten SCHOLLAARDT and Vincent RAMONDT.

If there were a special prize, it could very well go to the wonderful Italian hospitality we all enjoyed here at the Tennis Club Parioli. Their bridge players hoisted the Cup, but their staff certainly are strong candidates for this type of Players Award. Thank you!

Daily Bulletins
Time
Event
Internet Edition
PDF
Friday 10 October 2003 14:45
Round Robin - Match 1
 Group A Group B
20:30
Round Robin - Match 2
 Group A Group B
Saturday 11 October 2003 13:00
Round Robin - Match 3
 Group A Group B
17:30
Session 1
 Semifinal Places 5-8
20:30
Session 2
 Semifinal Places 5-8
22:30
Session 3
 Semifinal  
Sunday 12 October 2003
10:00
 Session 1 Final Places 5-6
Playoff Places 7-8
13:00
Session 2
 Final Places 5-6
Playoff Places 7-8
15:00
Session 3
 Final Places 5-6
Playoff Places 7-8
17:00
Session 4
 Final  
Sunday Evening
12 October 2003		 20:30
Prize Giving Ceremony

OLYMPIC AMBASSADORS

Yesterday afternoon Mario Pescante, State Under-Secretary of Sport and President of the European Olympic Committees, and Gianni Petrucci, Italian Olympic Committee President, honoured the Champions Cup with their presence. Accompanied by the EBL President and the President of Tennis Club Parioli, they visited the venue and congratulated the organisers and champions on the great success of the event and its impact in the media, which is extremely significant in the development of the image of sport and bridge.

On-line Vugraph presentation of the semifinals and final

The 2nd European Champions’ Cup was held at the Parioli Tennis Club, in Rome, Italy, 10-12 October 2003. The top eight contenders of the European Team Championship 2002 were invited to participate: Bulgaria, France, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. The format is a round-robin qualifier, followed by semifinals and a final and playoffs.

This is the second event of the competition which was revived in 2002 in Warsaw, Poland with the above format. The winners of this event were Italy, followed by Israel and Norway.

The European Champions’ Cup competition was originally tried under the support of PHILIP MORRIS in the eighties. The ‘Europa Cup’ addressed the winners of the national club championship in each EBL country. Every two years, the winners of neighbouring countries met in a qualifying stage, with the top ones advancing to the European final. The competition was discontinued in 1988, and gave way to another championship that was established in 1990 as a biennial event: the European Mixed Championships.
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