Seniors Series. After three rounds, Scotland is leading over England, Hungary, Belgium, Norway and Poland. The seventh team is Austria. The tourney will be played in twelve rounds by sixteen boards in Swiss format. The best ten will qualify for Group A, which will play for the victory, the others for Group B. It is worthwhile to remember that the European Championships are Zonal Tourneys: they qualify six teams to 2015’s D’Orsi Bowl, Venice Cup and Bermuda Bowl.
This is the Scottish Team: Alan Goodman, Irving Gordon, Danny Kane, John Murdoch, Brian Short, Iain Sime, and Anthony Wilkinson as non playing captain.
Italy is eigthteenth out of twenty-six teams, in Seniors Series. The Italians: Andrea Buratti, Franco Cedolin, Giuseppe Failla, Carlo Mariani, Filippo Palma, Guido Resta, and Gianni Medugno as non playing captain.
Women Series. The format will be a complete round robin of 23 rounds (the teams are 23). After two rounds, another team from British Isles is leading: it is Ireland, over Turkey, Italy, France, Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark. The Irish Team: Hilary Dowling-Long, Diane Greenwood, Joan Kenny, Jill Kulchycky, Gilda Pender, Teresa Rigney, and Paul Porteous as non playing captain.
Italy has played just one match, as the first round was a bye, but anyway they got a sound victory over Norway. The Italian Women: Margherita Chavarria, Caterina Ferlazzo, Gabriella Manara, Simonetta Paoluzi, Francesca Piscitelli, Ilaria Saccavini, and Gianpaolo Rinaldi as not playing captain.
Open Series. Here there are two eighteen teams groups; after the two complete round robins, the best nine of each group will play against those of the other group. After two rounds are leading, respectively in A and B Group, France and Poland.
France (Michel and Thomas Bessis, Marc Bompis, Alain Levy, Jean Cristophe Quantin, Fredric Volcker, and Cedric Lorenzini as not playing Captain) is leading over Norway, Russia, Monaco (title holder), Germany, Sweden, Austria, Slovakia, Scotland.
Poland: Cezary Balicky, Krzysztof Jassem, Jacek Kalita, Marcin Marzukiewicz, Adam Zmudzinski; Piotr Walczak as not playing captain and Marek Wojcick as coach. Behind Poland are trailing Bulgaria, Hungary, Belgium, England, Israel, Latvia, Romania, and Netherlands.
Italy is trailing 18th in Group A; they are Antonio Sementa, Valerio Giubilo, Francesco Angelini, Alfredo Versace, Leonardo Cima, Lorenzo Lauria, and Ercole Bove as non playing captain. They are not, of course, the same players who won the Bermuda Bowl just eight months ago; the Italian Team to Opatija has came from trials.
***
Paolo Enrico Garrisi