Table of Contents Page Pressure Building for Knockout Hopefuls 1 China v Austria 2 Timeo Gallos et Dona Ferentes 3 Trading places (Sweden v Brazil) 4 Round 11: Israel v Netherlands – Seniors 5

With only five matches left in the Open series round-robin, it’s time for teams on the fringes of qualifying to put some oomph in their performances if they hope to make it to the championship round of the World Bridge Olympiad.

Although only four teams in each of the four groups in the Open series will still be playing in the Olympiad after Friday, there were many teams with hope remaining – and still danger for those now sitting in the 16 qualifying spots.

One disastrous round - or huge victory - could mean the difference between qualifying and sitting on the sidelines.

The Women’s round-robin will continue through Saturday and produce 16 qualifiers.

Leading the qualifiers in the Open series after 12 rounds were Italy, China, USA and France. In the Women’s series China and the Netherlands were in the top spots. The leaders of the respective groups in the Open and Women’s will have the privilege of picking their opponents for the round of 16.

In the International Senior Cup, where the winner of the round-robin takes the gold medal, the Netherlands were putting a bit of distance between themselves and the other contenders, but with 13 rounds left to play anything is possible. A veteran USA team finished play on Wednesday only 18 Vicotry Points out of first place.