Saturday, March 21th 2015
Schedule, Results, ACBL Live and Bulletins
Vanderbilt results in Bridgewinners, at the end of each set
This year in the month of October, in Sanya, China was played the World Bridge Championship 2014 . In the first week the players participated in the Mixed events: Pairs and Teams. Jack Zhao and Kerry Sanborn won the Pairs title and SALVO won the teams event.
After the match, Simon Fellus, asked Zia why the team name was: SALVO.
Zia was wearing a T-shirt with the name and the photo of Salvador Assael, he explained that the team name was in his honor. Zia told that Salvador, died at the World Bridge Championships, Lille 2012, where he was playing with his usual partner Nafiz Zorlu and that all the team decided to play the world champion in his honor.
Today a team named Assael is playing the Vanderbilt semifinal, this is how they arrived:
Team Assael, trailing by 40 IMPs with 15 boards to play, won the final set of their match with Team Monaco by a score of 70-16 to make the semifinal round of the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams with a 136-122 victory. The four-man Assael squad, named for a late Turkish player (Salvador Assael), rallied in the final set for the second day in a row. On Thursday, the team entered the fourth quarter down by 49 IMPs but outscored their opponents 63-3. The team is Mustafa Cem Tokay, Turkey; Antonio Sementa, Italy, and Josef Piekarek and Alexander Smirnov of Germany. (Source: Daily Bulletin)
Many players in the bridge universe are expectant about the Lavazza–Assael semifinal since Assael team seems to have an advantage, a fifth player.
Board 22; 2d set
Both teams arrived to the 6 spades slam played by South, Duboin led the club ace and afterwards Zia made a trump trick for one down…Zia doubled during the bidding asking a club lead, at the end of the board all the players were joking about the situation…At the other table, the same result…One board later, it seemed as if Assael was playing in the shadows at both tables:
Board 23; 2d set
After finding the spade fit, Bocchi-Madala arrived very quickly to the slam. Tokay led a heart, only lead to defeat the contract. At the other table Piekarek-Smirnov also arrived to the slam, but Zia chose to led a trump. Declarer won the trick, draw trumps, he lose the diamond finesse, while having the heart ace, and afterwards pitch a heart loser in the fourth diamond…12 tricks.
The board was 17 IMPs for Assael…
At the end of the second set: Lavazza 85 – Assael: 42.
Just 30 boards to play…and we will find out the end of the story … will continue …
