Italy won its fourth successive European teams title and 16th in all at the Generali European Bridge Championships which ended in Tenerife on Saturday. Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin, Lorenzo Lauria, Alfredo Versace, Dano de Falco and Guido Ferraro secured victory by beating Turkey in the last round. Norway was second, Poland third. Russia lost to Scotland and dropped to fourth. The last qualifying place for the world championships in Bali in October went to Israel, which overtook Denmark and France at the end.
The Ireland team of Hugh McGann, Tom Hanlon, Tomas Roche, Michael MacDonagh, Padraig O Briain, Brendan O'Brien and non-playing captain Gay Keaveney had a disappointing championship, finishing 31st of the 35 competing teams. They had a consolation 18-12 win over Finland in the last round.
England won the women's championship when Sally Brock, Margaret Courtney, Heather Dhondy, Nicola Smith , Michelle Brunner and Rhona Goldenfield finished well ahead of the field. Dhondy and Smith were members of the Great Britain team which won in Malta in 1999. Silver and bronze went to Netherlands and Germany , with Austria and Italy getting the remaining places for Bali. Ireland were not represented in this event
The seniors over-55 championship went to Poland A from France B and France A. The Irish team of Joe MacHale, Alex Montwill, Pat Barry, David Jackson and Greer McKenzie were 15th. They finished well , beating Italy B 20-10 before losing narrowly 14-16 to the gold medallists in the last round.
Full results
Open teams: 1, Italy 647; 2, Norway 638; 3, Poland 624; 4, Russia 616; 5, Israel 594; 6, Denmark 592; 7, France 590; 8, Bulgaria 581; 9, Netherlands 577; 10, Greece 576; 11, Spain 567; 12, Turkey 564; 13, Austria 558; 14, England 552; 15, Scotland 550; 16, Hungary 548; 17, Iceland 546; 18, Germany 540; 19, Lebanon 540; 20, Belgium 539; 21, Sweden 532; 22, Wales 530; 23, Portugal 523; 24, Czech Republic 522; 25, Ukraine 485; 26, Romania 470; 27, Finland 459; 28, Switzerland 448; 29, Croatia 437; 30, Latvia 436; 31, Ireland 427; 32, Slovenia 404; 33, San Marino 387; 34, Luxembourg 383; 35, Liechtenstein 331.
Women's teams: 1, England 393; 2, Netherlands 378; 3, Germany 362; 4, Austria 361; 5, Italy 348; 6, France 347; 7, Israel 346; 8, Spain 337; 9, Czech Republic 335; 10, Norway 329; 11, Sweden and Poland 321; 13, Russia 309; 14, Finland 302; 15, Greece 295; 16, Hungary 290; 17, Croatia 286; 18, San Marino 257; 19, Denmark 250; 20, Wales 235; 21, Scotland 204.
Seniors teams: 1, Poland A 519; 2, France B 506; 3, France A 480; 4, Sweden 471; 5, England B 468; 6, Italy B 461; 7, England A and Italy A 453; 9, Netherlands 449; 10, Poland B 448; 11, Germany A 440; 12, Scotland 437; 13, Norway 409; 14, Czech Republic 404; 15, Ireland 396; 16, Germany B 395; 17, Croatia 389; 18, Switzerland 374; 19, Belgium 368; 20, Israel A 367; 21, Portugal 349; 22, Israel B 343; 23, Wales A 338; 24, Spain 336; 25, Lebanon 300; 26, Wales B 290; 27, Malta 270.