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News from the Nationals
Nickell rallies for breath-taking
victory in Vanderbilt Knockout
In a match that could have
gone the other way on the final board, the Nickell squad won their
first Vanderbilt Knockout Teams title with a thrilling 161-143 victory
over the valiant Richard Schwartz team.
The champions are Nickell,
Richard Freeman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bob Hamman and Paul
Soloway, the veteran who kept returning to the bridge table from
the hospital, where he was being treated for an infection.
The runners-up are Schwartz,
Drew Casen, Zia Mahmood, Michael Rosenberg, Robert Levin and Steve
Weinstein.
Schwartz vs Nickell in final
today
Paul Soloway, going back and forth
to the hospital for treatment of an infection, was available to
play the second half of his squad’s Vanderbilt Knock-out Teams semifinal
match Friday. He wasn’t needed for long.
The Nick Nickell team, ahead by 108-25
at the break, upped the lead to 130 IMPs after three quar-ters,
prompting their opponents (Bobby Wolff and company) to withdraw
and allowing Soloway to seek more treatment. He is expected to play
in today’s final against the Richard Schwartz team, also blow-out
winners Friday.
Nickell, Richard Freeman, Bob Hamman,
Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell are seeking their first
Vanderbilt championship. They have multiple wins in the other two
major team events on the ACBL calendar – the Spingold Knockout Teams
and the Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams – plus two Bermuda Bowl titles.
In Wolff, the Nickell
squad faced a former team-mate. Wolff was Hamman’s partner in most
of the Nickell team’s North American championships and in one of
the Bermuda Bowl wins. Wolff was playing with Dan Morse, John Sutherlin,
Russ Ekeblad, Adam Wildavsky and Ivar Stakgold.
The Wolff team was never in the
match. Nickell jumped out to a 50-22 lead in the first quarter,
and followed that with a 58-3 second stanza. With Soloway in the
lineup for the third quarter, Nickell poured it on, winning that
session, 51-4. Wolff withdrew, trailing 159-29.
The Cayne-Schwartz match
was not much more interesting. Schwartz, playing with Drew Casen,
Zia, Michael Rosenberg, Robert Levin and Steve Weinstein, jumped
out to a 44-12 lead after one quarter, adding another 48 IMPs in
the second set to lead, 92-23, at the half.
Cayne (Chuck Burger, Mark Lair,
Ron Smith, Mike Passell, Michael Seamon) fell further behind in
the second half, losing the third quarter, 56-17. A fourth-quarter
rally was too little, too late, and Cayne was ousted, 184-89.
The last time the Nickell team made
it to the final of the Vanderbilt was in 1996, when they faced the
team of Zia, Rosenberg, Seymon Deutsch, Martel and Lew Stansby.
Zia’s team prevailed, 146-109.
From 107 teams down
to 4 - Semi finals today
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James Cayne,
New York NY; Mike Passell, Plano TX; Michael Seamon, Mi-ami
Beach FL; Mark Lair, Canyon TX; Ron Smith, San Francisco CA;
Chuck Burger, West Bloomfield MI
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vs
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Richard Schwartz,
East Elmhurst NY; Drew Casen, Boca Raton FL; Zia Mahmood,
New York NY; Michael Rosenberg, Wykagyl NY; Robert Levin,
Orlando FL; Steve Weinstein, Glen Ridge NJ
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Nick Nickell,
New York NY; Richard Freeman, Atlanta GA; Jeff Meckstroth,
Tampa FL; Eric Rodwell, Naperville IL; Bob Hamman, Dallas
TX; Paul Soloway, Mill Creek WA
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vs
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Bobby Wolff,
Fort Worth TX; Dan Morse, Houston TX; Russell Ekeblad, Provi-dence
RI; John Sutherlin, Dallas TX; Adam Wildavsky, Jackson Heights
NY; Ivar Stakgold, Wilmington DE
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Come back puts Nickell
in Vanderbilt semi-finals
Down 33 IMPs with 16 boards to play, the
Nick Nickell squad – bolstered by a teammate’s return from the hospital
– rallied for a 133-131 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Vanderbilt
Knockout Teams. In today’s semifinal round, the Nickell
squad (Richard Freeman, Bob Hamman, Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth
and Eric Rodwell) will face the Bobby Wolff team, 124-94
winners over Gerald Sosler’s foursome. Wolff is playing with Dan Morse,
Russ Ekeblad, John Sutherlin, Ivar Stakgold and Adam Wildavsky. The
other semifinal match pits James Cayne and company against
the Richard Schwartz team.
Cayne took care of
the Steve Robinson team, 192-111, while Schwartz won a tight match,
121-111, against the Mike Moss quartet. The Nickell team,
in quest of their first Vanderbilt championship, was without Soloway
in the first half. Soloway was at the hospital having an infection
tended to. He returned for the second half and helped the team rally
for the win, but then reportedly had to return to the hospital.
Whether he can play today was not known at press time. After opening
the match with a 30- 28 first quarter, Nickell fell behind the John
Mohan squad (Sam Lev, Jaggy Shivdasani, Ravindra Murthy, Piotr Gawrys
and Jacek Pszczola), 69-42, at the halfway point. Mohan increased
the margin to 104-71 with a quarter to go, but the reigning Bermuda
Bowl champs stung their opponents, 62-27, in the final set to pull
out the victory.
There is a certain
irony in the Wolff-Nickell matchup today. Until two
years ago, Wolff was Hamman’s regular partner on the Nickell squad.
The two had played together more than 25 years – including six years
on the Nickell squad -- before the breakup. This will be the first
time Hamman and Wolff have faced each other in a major team event
since they split up.
The Cayne
team had a surprisingly easy time with last year’s losing finalists,
the Robinson squad, who had turned in a dominating performance the
previous day in routing their opponents. Cayne – playing with Chuck
Burger, Ron Smith, Mark Lair, Mike Passell and Michael Seamon –
jumped out to a 50-12 lead after one quarter and poured it on from
there. Schwartz trailed at the half but posted a 50-16
third quarter to seal the victory
Top seeded Jacobs ousted
There is a new No.1 seed heading
into the round of eight today in the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams. The
team captained by Mike Moss assumed the top spot with a 150-105 defeat
of the defending champions, led by George Jacobs. Moss is playing
with three members of Sweden’s most recent Bermuda Bowl team - Bjorn
Fallenius, who lives in New York, and Magnus Lindkvist and Peter Fredin.
They took the measure of Jacobs, Ralph Katz, Howard Weinstein, Steve
Garner and Italians stars Alfredo Versace and Lorenzo Lauria. Moss
led from start to finish in posting the upset and will face the Richard
Schwartz squad in today’s quarterfinal match. Schwartz and company
eliminated the team captained by Rose Johnson-Meltzer, 142-98. Some
of the matches were nail-biters. The Nick Nickell squad, seeking to
add the Vanderbilt to their trophy list for the first time, survived
a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Jack Coleman team to win, 107-100.
The No.4 seed, led by James Cayne, also had a close match,
defeating the tired Steve Levinson team, 119-108. Levinson, Barnet
Shenkin and Nor-wegians Boye Brogeland and Erik Saelensminde were
the winners over the John Onstott team in double overtime. The second
overtime set of eight boards was completed Wednesday before the round
of 16 began Wednesday.
The new No.3, led by Bobby Wolff, ousted up-set winners Joe
Quinn and company, who had thrashed the Rita Shugart squad a day earlier
to take the high seed. Wolff, Dan Morse, Russ Ekeblad, John Sutherlin,
Ivar Stakgold and Adam Wildavsky were too much for Quinn, Ira Hessell,
Sidney Brownstein, WilliamWickham, Alan Le Bendig and Jon Brissman,
prevailing 151-100.
The No.6 seed, captained by Grant Baze, fell to the Gerald
Sosler foursome, 167-137. Sosler is playing with Kay Schulle and Italian
stars Andrea Buratti and Massimo Lanzarotti. The most dominating performance
of the day was turned in by the Steve Robinson squad. Robinson, Peter
Boyd, Kit Woolsey, Fred Stewart, Mike Kamil and Michael Becker opposed
the Richard Pavlicek squad. Robinson and company won the first set,
59-8, and led 89-19 at the half. Pavlicek, Bill Pollack, Mark Feldman
and Ron Gerard were shut out in the third quarter and withdrew, trailing
140-19.
Shugart foursome bounced from
Vanderbilt
The high-flying team captained by Rita
Shugart made an early exit from the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams, losing
by 48 to the Joe Quinn squad in the round of 32.
The new No.3 seed is the team of Quinn, Ira Hessel, Sid Brownstein,
William Wickham, Alan Le Bendig and Jon Brissman. Shugart, Andy Robson,
Geir Helgemo and Tony Forrester were among the favorites in the Vanderbilt
after winning their second straight Reisinger Board-a- Match Teams
last fall in Boston.
The foursome fell behind, 26-23, after one quar-ter and never recovered,
losing every set on their way to a 145-97 defeat. Form prevailed in
the other matches, as the top-seeded George Jacobs team won by 76.
The No.2 seed, the reigning Bermuda Bowl champs captained by
Nick Nickell, also cruised, 174-86, and No.4 (James Cayne)
won handily, 150-97. The No.6 seed, captained by Grant Baze,
trailed at the half, 56-54, against the William Doroshow squad. The
Baze team crushed their opponents in the second half, outscoring the
underdogs 155-30, for a 209-86 rout. The No. 7 seed, led by John Mohan,
survived a close match -- and an appeals committee -- to prevail,
156-154. One match was to be completed today.
The No.13 seed (John Onstott) ended regulation tied at 98 with
No.20 (Steve Levinson). The match was still deadlocked (116-116)
after an eight-board overtime set, and the teams were scheduled to
play another eight boards starting at noon today.
Some struggle but no big surprises
Although a couple of the top seeds struggled in day two of the Vanderbilt
Knockout Teams, victory went to the favorites for the most part
leading into today’s round of 32. No. 2, captained by Nick
Nickell, led by only 4 IMPs going into the final set before emerging
with a 30-IMP victory the squad led by John Zaluski of Nepean ON.
The Rita Shugart foursome, seeded No. 3, also found themselves
in a tight battle before ousting the team captained by Gregory Potts
of Portsmouth OH. The highest seed to fall in the round of 64 was
the four-man team led by Jim Krekorian of New York, seeded 19th.
They were knocked off by Edward Wojewoda, Antelope CA; Leszek Rabiega,
Salt Lake City UT; Srikanth Kodayam, Union City CA; Farid Assemi,
Fresno CA; Harvey Brody, San Francisco, and Doug Dang, San Mateo
CA. No. 21, led by James Welch of Ketchum ID, was defeated
by Michael Diesel, Medford MA; Larry Mori, Clearwater FL; Stephanie
Hamilton-Diesel, Saugus MA; Juanita Chambers, Schenectady NY; John
Saxe, Hudson MA, and Stephen Gladyszak, Chelsea MA.
Most top seeds advance
All but two of the top seeds in the Vanderbilt
Knockout Teams survived the first day to play in the round of 64.
The highest seed to fall was No. 18, captained by Roger Bates.
His squad was knocked off by Michael Kovacich, Patricia Tucker, Kevin
Collins, Robert White, Samuel Marks and Dwight Meredith. In the Spingold
Knockout Teams at the Summer NABC in San Antonio last year, Kovacich,
Tucker, Collins and White combined with two other players to pull
off several upsets before being eliminated in the round of eight.
The other high seed to fall was No. 28 (John Rengstorff). They
lost to a four-member team led by Diana Tenery. Her teammates are
Andy Stark (New York), Fred Zhang and Qing Yang. They were seeded
No. 101.
Cappelletti and Hicks win Open Pairs
After posting a 72% game in the first qualifying session, followed
by a 55.5% effort, Mike Cappelletti and Larry Hicks were surprised
to find themselves in second place going into the second day of Open
Pairs I.
Taking no chances in the final, they
put together a series of “smokin’ results,” as Cappelletti put it,
to run away with the event. They followed a 68% game in the first
final session with 61% in the second final. Their margin of victory
over the runners-up – Doug Simson and Walter Johnson – was 213.7
matchpoints, nearly three boards.
Their game was so dominating they
would have won even without their huge carryover from the first
day.
List
of Seeds for the Vanderbilt Trophy
Stolen Snippets
For the full pdf or text versions
of the Cincinnati Bulletins, go to http://www.acbl.org/nabc/cincinnati/DayBull.htm
where you can download all the details.
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