The holders finally made it to the top of the table at the end of the seventh day of the Generali European Open Teams Championship. They lead only by virtue of having a better IMP ratio than second placed France has. When these two countries face each other later today on VuGraph it should be quite a match.

The surprise team of the tournament, Bulgaria, shows no sign of cracking and is only 10VP behind the leaders in third place. They are hotly pursued by Norway, Poland and Spain who occupy the next three places and behind those three countries the chasing pack is closing in. Malta celebrated its first ever double by winning two of its three matches and have already reached the target set by their coach in terms of the number of victories - bravo!

It was a big day for the Norwegian ladies as they racked up 47 Victory Points to jump to the top of the table in the Generali European Ladies Team Championship.

France and the Netherlands hotly pursue them, while Austria has recovered from a few early setbacks to move into fourth place. Great Britain is fifth and the overnight leaders Denmark are sixth following losses to both France and the Netherlands. Germany, one of the pre tournament favourites, lost two important matches and has a lot to do in order to earn a trip to Bermuda.

With nine rounds completed France 1 have taken the lead in the Generali European Seniors Team Championship. Their total of 185 VP leaves them 12 VP ahead of Germany.

The formidable 'equipe' President Emeritus/France are climbing higher and higher in the ranking and have made it to third place just another VP behind.