NEC 2014: February 11th – February 16th, 2014
Pacific Yokohama,Yokohama City, Japan
| Results | Bulletins |
February 14th: Russia strikes again!!!
| Team | Seg. 1 | Seg. 2 | Seg. 3 | Seg. 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England Hinden | 23 | 22 | 8 | Retiro | 53.00 |
| Russia | 92 | 40 | 38 | 170.00 | |
Russia for the second time in a row is the 2014 NEC Cup owner: Andrey Gromov, Evgeny Gladysh, Alexander Dubinin, Mikhail Krasnoselskii, Sebastiaan Drijver, Sjoert Brink
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The final 2014 NEC Cup final was Russia, the defending Champion and England Hinden: Frances Hinden, Graham Osbourne, Alex Hydes, Mike Bell. After the first set Russia was 71 IMPs ahead…two sets later Hinden withdrawn…
In the first set Russia generated 6 two digits swings, actually only 3 boards gave a few IMPs to Hinden. 
Board 4
Gladysh opened with a 3
bid and Hydes choose to pass. Krasnoselskii very quickly understood the situation…the slam was a N/S almost sure possibility, so he decided to disorient their opponents even more with 4
, showing heart support, and as they were vulnerable it was surely more preempting than 4, although Bell said 4
, North did not dare to look any further.
At the other table Hinden also opened with 3, Drijver also passed, and Osbourne passed.
Brink reopened with 3 and now Drijver took the bull by the horns and said 4, showing spade support and slam interest. To the keycards answer, continued the kings information and the partnership landed in the cold spade Grand Slam. The board generated 17 IMPs for Russia.
Board 7
Hinden opened 1
, North passed and Osbourne showed his spade suit. Now Brink, Vulnerable and with almost zero…said 1NT = 5+ hearts plus 4+ clubs. Hinden showed her short in clubs, spade support with 4 and Drijver went for more with 4.
Osbourne gave his partner the possibility to look for penalties, and after she chooses to play spades, he continued and declared the spade slam.
Brink with his void and knowing the opps lacked an ace, showed his diamond void, expecting to find his partner’s ace with the lead.
Lead: 5
North won with his A and returned a diamond for one down.
At the other table E/W arrived to the same slam, but this time North / South didnt appear in the bidding, the lead was a trump which gave declarer the opportunity to make the contract and add another 17 IMPs for his team.
Two punches that left groggy the Hinden team…who could never recover … and that decided to withdraw the fight before the last round.