German Ladies Team Profile

Sabine Auken, wife and mother of two children, and until a few months ago working in the marketing of an ethical investment fund. For some years she has been living in Copenhagen, Denmark. The list of her bridge-successes with Daniela von Arnim in the last 17 years would exceed the pages of this journal. She also is the team's 'Dragon'. But in this Championship only once has she smashed her system-map (which is thick enough) on the floor shouting 'will you ever start concentrating'.

Daniela von Arnim lives in Heidelberg and is working as senior systems analyst for a small consultancy. At this time she is pregnant, with the baby to be born in April 2002. As her husband, Klaus Reps, is also one of Germany's top players, you all will have to watch out for the small von Arnim in a few years.

Pony Nehmert, our 'Oldie, but Goldie' from Wiesbaden, is a bridge-teacher. Her friend Michael Yuen from Canada was our Chief Scorer in the Round Robin, and not only there he did a fine job. Now for some more details of her private life … well, here her censor stopped me. So ask the coach in private if you would like to know.

Andrea Rauscheid also lives in Heidelberg. Half days she works as medical lab assistant, half days she teaches bridge and whole nights you can meet her dicing in Heidelberg's pubs. And since Wednesday evening she became a World Grandmaster. She won her first title in 1995 in Bejing, but that was like presenting a Ferrari to a new born baby. She had to wait till now to have collected enough Placement Points to be allowed to 'drive' it.

Katrin Farwig is a pharmacist and a certified tournament director living in Wiesbaden. As the rest of the team members, she is young, pretty and happily married (this of course only applies to the female members, the male ones only claim the last attribute). We are not yet sure, whether she will be aiming for the Nobel Price in pharmacy in future or continue her bridge carreer.

Barbara Hackett is a senior systems analyst and since September a member of the Hackett Family. Together with her husband Justin she is living in Manchester, England. And she is the only member of the team, who must admit that her husband is a better bridge-player than her (although all the other husbands and friends sometimes make the unsuccessful try to claim it for themselves).

Christoph Kemmer captains the German Ladies since Maastricht last year. He lives with his wife and two children in Stuttgart and is working as a teacher (school, not bridge). Not everybody in the team was always happy with his line-up, but especially in this championship success proved him to be right so far. He has had one international appearance as a player and, like the coach, has always competed to qualify for the Open Team.

Joerg Fritsche is the coach of the team. He is the executive manager for IT-Security at an insurance company in Wiesbaden, and you can consult him for safety-plays free of charge. He is married with a non-bridgeur, but his 10 year old daughter started to play last year. There are still no predictions possible, as to whether she will be a future rising star of the German Ladies.

The Louis Vuitton French Ladies Team

They have dreamt of it for years, now they've managed it. A strong formation, an average age of 42 years, they only needed a world title. Now they've got it.

"We send love from our hearts, and spades, diamonds and clubs too " Thomas and Olivier were very young when they sent this message to their mother Veronique Bessis, five-times European Champion. The children are now grown, and today are members of the French Junior team. Bridge is a family affair with the Bessis. Michel, the father, captain of the ladies team at the last European championships, is a well-known champion he is a regular commentator on bridge vision.

The Genius
She is considered by the experts as being the most gifted player of her generation. Catherine d'Ovidio has already articipated in four European championships, and has won three gold medals and one silver. Married, she has one daughter, Elodie, 22. Catherine works as a credit controller for a gas company. She started playing bridge at the Le Raincy club in Villemomble, which is also where another gifted player, Michel Perron, began his bridge playing career.

The tom-boy
Bénédicte Cronier has been playing for some years in the Open, the highest level of the French elite: few women to date have succeeded in gaining a place. Bénédicte has three European titles and a world silver medallist. She also won
Ladies Generali Masters. Parisien, mother of two children, she is married to Philippe Cronier, European champion, ournalist and teaching director of the bridge university of the FFB.

Hereditary, my dear Watson
Sylvie Willard is one eight daughters of Irénée de Heredia, a well-known international director, who forbade his children from playing bridge until they had passed their baccalauréat. Mission accomplished, Sylvie became one of our greatest players: five-times European champion and world silver medallist. She is married to François Willar, international bridge director and a keen bowls player, just like their son, Fabrice, who was European Junior bowls champion.

Like a fish in water
Catherine Fishpool , selected several times for the French team, is married to an Englishman and has been living in ondon for many years. Daughter of Sandra Girardin, a great French player, she is also the sister-in-law of the champion Thierry de Sainte Marie.

The southern sun
An exemplary team-mate, Babeth Hugon teaches bridge the Bridge Club de la Côte d'Azur in Nice, one of the largest clubs in the south-east of France. She received numerous messages of encouragement from her students by email. But
her most loyal supporter is Indy, her dog who appears regularly on the web to bark his support. The warmth of the north A bouquet of flowers for each of the players to celebrate their qualification after the round robin, Patrick Grenthe, the captain from Lille, takes good care of his players. In order to ensure that they could play in the best possible conditions and to maintain a team spirit, he insisted that they all, even those living in Paris, stay at the hotel throughout the championship. He knows his players very well as he was with them, and the coach, when four of them reached the semi-finals in the Open selection this season.

From a mining community in northern France
Pierre-Jean Louchart, PJ to his friends, is the other northerner in the team, national first league player, works in the IT epartment of the FFB. His kindness and gentle disposition have made him indispensable to the team in these world championships.

Cutting board
Alain Cotti, the mascot scorer of the French ladies, named "cutting board" because of the piece of wood he uses on hich to record the scores. This native of Provence has accompanied the Tricolors in all their international competitions for many years.