Day 1 of the Finals is in the books and oh how I wish the next page read “The End” because USA II is leading Italy 102.33 to 93. The .33 is an interesting number because if the match should end in a tie, then USA II would win by .33. Now that would be a story! A previous match up of these two teams in the finals resulted in USA winning with the carryover from the Round Robin match. Could it happen again? We will have to wait and see since there are 80 more hands of bridge to be played over the next two days.
USA II had a great start in yesterday’s first segment (46-19 imps) increasing the 8.33 carryover lead to 35.33. Then came the second segment in which Italy had their way with USA II winning the segment 57-1. This segment will soon be erased from the American history books. Suddenly, USA II found themselves down 21 going into the last segement of the day. After a quick pep talk and a sushi snack, I sent Meckstroth/Rodwell and Zia/Hamman out to collect our lost imps and they didn’t let me down. When the third segment ended, USA out scored Italy 47-17 to take back the lead by 9.33 imps. It is always good for the morning bulletin to show your team in the lead. It helps to erase any nightmare hands a player may have had from the previous day.
USA II is pyched about this match and ready to play going into Day 2 of the Finals. The history between USA and Italy tells us that this match will be a photofinish. So with 80 hands to play, the key is to keep the intensity and play every hand like it is THE HAND because it just may be THE HAND that determines the match. As an aside, the players in this match are being watched by over 8,000 people live on BBO. Oh, and if you happen to miss a hand on BBO, jounalists around the would are writing up all of the hands (good and bad) as they happen. So the pressure is immense. This is exactly why our team eats the dinner buffet in the hotel and ends the night on a light note with “2 1/2 men” episodes. We watched three last night! We might need to watch a fourth tonight to get them ready for the last 32 hands on Saturday.
Other USA Results
A very sad ending for the other USA teams. In the Venice Cup, USA II lost to France in the bronze playoff while USA I is down to china 121-78. Now USA II is certainly capable of coming back from down 43 with 80 hands to go but it will be tough against the Chinese women. Equally as sad is USA 2 lost it’s bronze medal playoff against Indonesia so this will be the first year in the history of the Senior Bowl that a USA team does not win a medal.
USA will win two medals this World Championship – will it be two gold, two silver or a gold and silver? Stay tuned to your BBO at 9am, 12:30pm, and 3:20pm (Dallas time) and find out!
