NETHERLANDS WIN EUROPEAN JUNIOR TITLE |
AS POLAND TAKES GOLD IN SCHOOLS AND GIRLS |
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
NETHERLANDS - 1st place
Bob DRIJVER, Merijn GROENENBOOM, Jacco HOP,
Marion MICHIELSEN, Cincent de PAGTER,
Meike WORTEL, Frans BORM (npc) and
Kees TAMMENS (captain) |
|
ITALY - 2nd place
Irene BARONI, Andrea BOLDRINI,
Arrigo FRANCHI, Andrea MANNO,
Matteo MONTANARI,
Alberto SANGIORGIO and Gianpaolo RINALDI (npc) |
|
POLAND - 3rd place
Artur GULA, Piotr NAWROCKI,
Michal NOWOSADZKI, Jan SIKORA,
Mikolaj TACZEWSKI, Piotr WIANKOWSKI and
Marek MARKOWSKI (npc) |
|
| |
After an exciting championship, The Netherlands Junior team came from behind to win the 2007 European title, ahead of Italy and Poland. The 21st European Youth Teams Championship was held in Jesolo, Italy, and was attended by a total of 50 teams representing 26 European countries in the three series - Juniors, Schools and Girls.
The Netherlands Junior team showed that it was going to be a strong contender from the very beginning. However, it was Norway who took an early lead in the 21-round round robin. Norway remained at the top until round 10. Italy took the lead on round 11, and kept it for almost until the end, giving rise to thoughts that they would be the new title holders. But it was not to be. The penultimate round 20 brought an unexpected change when the leaders suffered a humiliating defeat in the hands of Latvia, collecting only 3 VPs. This allowed The Netherlands to take over the lead at the right moment. Italy still had a chance as their rivals - The Netherlands and Norway - were to play each other in the last round. Sure enough the Italians scored maximum points against Scotland, but the crucial match ended with 14 VPs to The Netherlands - enough to give the Dutch the title with a comfortable 5.5 VPs lead. Italy finished second, and Poland third.
This is the second time that The Netherlands win the European Junior title, following the gold medal they won in 1986 in Budapest. That was the prelude to their victory at the 1st World Youth Teams the year after, when the world event was launched in Amsterdam. The nucleus of that team went on to win the Bermuda Bowl in 1993 in Santiago, Chile.
With this result, Poland joins Norway at the top of the accumulated performance table with 4 gold medals at the European Junior Championship each. Italy follows with 3 titles, while 2 medals have been won by Sweden, Great Britain, France and The Netherlands.
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
POLAND - 1st place
Bartolomiej IGLA, Pawel JASSEM,
Joanna KRAWCZYK, Artur MACHNO,
Piotr TUCZYNSKI, Piotr ZATORSKI and
Andrej ALEKSANDRZAK (npc)
|
|
BULGARIA - 2nd place
Zhivko SIDEROV, Stefan SKORCHEV,
Dean SPASOV
and Ivan SYUSYUKIN
|
|
FRANCE - 3rd place
Marion CANONNE, Pierre FRANCESCHETTI,
Anexandre KILANI, Aymeric LEBATTEUX,
Nicolas LHUISSIER, Cedric LORENZINI,
Christophe OURSEL (npc) and
Jean Marc DAVOINE (coach) |
|
| |
The Schools series attracted a record entry this year, when 16 countries stood at the starting line. Poland was the clear favorite, and so it proved! The Polish team took an early lead and they never relinquished it, finishing at the top of the final classification with a comfortable advantage of 46.5 VPs!
The greatest surprise of the championship came from the Bulgaria. Participating for the first time in any series of the European Youth Teams Championships since 1988, the Bulgarian Schools team, playing with four players only, managed to beat opponents of much stronger reputation, and finish in second place, more than 10 VPs ahead of France who took the bronze medal.
Poland's dominance in the field of Schools bridge cannot be disputed, as they have won 4 titles in 8 events! The other four have been taken by Israel, Italy, Germany and France. |
| |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
POLAND - 1st place
Joanna KRAWCZYK, Marta MAJ, Natalia SAKOWSKA, Kamila SZCZEPANSKA,
Kamila WESOLOWSKA, Justyna ZMUDA and
Roman KRZEMIEN (npc)
|
|
NETHERLANDS - 2nd place
Rosaline BARENDREGT, Astrid DEKKER,
Marleen van GELDER, Jamilla SPANGENBERG and Maarten SCHOLLAARDT (coach)
|
|
SWEDEN - 3rd place
Freja ANDERSSON, Kristin NEDLICH,
Sandra RIMSTED, Emma SJOBERG,
Tobias TORNQVIST (npc) and
Pia ANDERSSON (coach) |
|
| |
Poland was triumphant in the Girls series too. There was a record attendance in the Girls series with 12 countries participating.
Continuously chased by The Netherlands, the defending champions, Poland went to the top at the very beginning, and stayed there until the end. The Netherlands took the silver medal, and Sweden the bronze.
Poland becomes the third country to win a European Girls title. The other two are The Netherlands and Austria. |
|
