Fall of Eagles

At the start of a major event theoretically every team has an equal chance of success, but of course realistically some chances are greater than others. However, surprises are always possible, especially in the early stages when the teams are still warming up.
Perhaps the biggest upset of the first days play was the elimination of the Lavazza team, who would have been on everyone’s list as possible winners.
However they were not the only major casualties, as two more power packed squads crashed out of the tournament. It was only a few days ago that Fred Gitelman and Brad Moss were members of the team that won the US trials and the right to contest the next Bermuda Bowl, but this time they could not make the first cut.
You would not expect a team comprising only World and European Champions to fail to survive but that is what happened to team Armstrong. We are sure everyone will join us in sending best wishes to Bep Vriend who is recovering from medical treatment following a life threatening illness and who was with Anton Maas scheduled to be a member of the team. (You will recall they won the Mixed Pairs Championship in Menton.)
The good news for these teams – and the others who finished outside the top three in their groups, is that they can still make it back to the knockout stage by doing well inn Swiss B.
Indeed, we are tempted to predict that at least one of them will be amongst the medals.