Way back at the beginning of this Championship, the smart
money was on a final between Poland and USA1 and that is
exactly what we have got.The two favourites started their
semi-final matches against France and Canada respectively with
16 IMP carry-over advantages from the round robin direct
matches. Both led their semi-final throughout and there was
rarely any doubt regarding the outcome, hard as the French and
Canadians fought to the end. The final scores were Poland
172-116 France, USA1 181-115 Canada.
Today the finalists and the teams playing-off for the
bronze medal will play 4 x 16-board sessions. At the end of
those 64 deals, the bronze medal will have been decided, while
there are two more 16-board sessions to play tomorrow in the
final, making a 96-board match in all. Having finished ahead
of USA1 in the round robin and won the direct match by 9 IMPs,
Poland take a 4.5 IMP carry-over advantage into the final.
Canada finished behind France in the round robin but defeated
them by 49 IMPs in the direct match so take a 16 IMP
carry-over into the third-place match.
|