After the championships in Poland in 2008, bridge went back to Asia in 2010. The town of Kaohsiung had already hosted several of our World University Championships but with bridge, it was tackling a very different kind of sport. This is the epitome of an intellectual discipline, and it was in its fifth edition in 2010. With an average of about a hundred participants, bridge has fully gained its place in our championships. This was a wager, but it owes its development to the tenacity of our technical delegate who never stopped working to promote it. The excellent collaboration with the World Bridge Federation (WBF) is also one on the drivers of this success.
In Chinese Taipei, 14 teams came from 10 different countries, for a total of 73 players of whom unfortunately only five were women.
Be that as it may, the Chinese Taipei University Sports Association went out of its way to host this tournament under the best possible conditions. José Damiani, the former President of WBF and actual IMSA President witnessed this on the site. “We were very happy to see that FISU has made every effort to promote bridge on an international scale. As a result, the future of our “sport” on university campuses is guaranteed. For that matter, FISU has already assigned the next edition of the World University championships for 2012, and it seems that the member associations of FISU are very interested in organizing this tournament.” Mr. Damiani also thanked the National Bridge Association that contributed its know-how and experience to the local organizing committee.
Note that almost all of the championship games could be followed directly on Internet, which is becoming increasingly frequent. In addition, a seminar was organized alongside the tournament, monitored by Mr. Gianarrigo Rona, the newly elected WBF President and Mr. Yves Aubry, President of the European Bridge League. One of the main subjects of discussion was the possibility of attracting a larger number of teams to our University championships. It is true that participation was slightly lower here than in Kaoshiung, but that may be due in part to the long distances that European teams would have had to travel to the site.
The leaders of the tournament stood out from the very beginning: Poland, Chinese Taipei (B) that essentially sent in the entire Golden Team Poland national team, the USA (A) and France stood in the best places at the end of the three first rounds. That order wouldn’t change in the second day of the competition, that ended with a visit to the city.
Poland seemed so strong this year that even when it experienced a minor defeat against Germany (A) in the third day of the competition, no team was realistically able to challenge its supremacy.
Behind it, there was an intense battle for the spots on the podium between the USA, France, Germany and the host country.
Playing bridge requires enormous logic and subtle analysis. Practice is the key to high-level play and many of our participants themselves said that keeping a cool head under all circumstances is crucial. Poland managed this beautifully – although it had practically won the competition at the beginning of the fifth and last day, it did not let go or celebrate too early. It kept on winning round after round, leaving no chance to its opponents and brilliantly taking the University tournament ahead of France and Israel, that slipped in right in front of the USA (A) snatching away the bronze medal.
Rendez-vous in 2012 for the sixth edition of the World University Bridge Championships to be held in Reims, France. We can be sure that France will be going for gold this time …
