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From the World Bridge Federation:

The 8th World Youth Bridge Team Championship will be held in Mangaratiba, a picturesque town near Angra dos Reis which lies in the heart of one of Brazil's most attractive destinations, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, from 6 to 15 August 2001.

All Zones of the World Bridge Federation are invited to participate in this prestigious tournament. Zone 1 (Europe) may enter up to four teams; Zones 2 (North America) and 6 (Pacific Asia) three teams; Zones 3 (South America), 4 (Asia & Middle East) and 7 (South Pacific) two teams; and Zones 5 (Central America) and 8 (Africa) one team. Conditionally, a fifth team will be accepted from Zone 1 (Europe). Participating players may be up to 26 years old.

The Championship consists of a qualifying stage, semifinals,a final and a playoff for third place. The winners of the final will be the new World Junior Champions: they will receive the Ortiz-Pati“o Trophy and silver replicas for each player and the non-playing captain. Those failing to qualify will be able to participate in a Swiss Pairs contest to be arranged exclusively for young people. Ü

This is the eighth event of the series that was inaugurated in 1987 in Amsterdam,The Netherlands. As a biennial competition, it was held in 1989 in Nottingham, Great Britain; in 1991 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; in 1993 in ºrhus, Denmark; in 1995 in Bali, Indonesia; in 1997 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; and in 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.The host country won the Championship on the first three occasions, but this tradition was broken in 1993 by Germany. In 1995, Great Britain became the first country to win the title twice. Denmark won the title in 1997.

The reigning World Youth Champions are ITALY:

Furio di BELLO, Matteo MALLARDI, Riccardo INTONTI, Gianpaolo RINALDI (npc), Stelio di BELLO, Bernardo BIONDO, Mario D' AVOSSA

2001 8th World Youth Bridge Team Championship

Mangaratiba, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
August 6-15, 2001

Links to online Daily Bulletin articles - Mark Horton editor.

Canada VS Norway Here

Canada VS Thailand Here

Canada VS The Netherlands Here

NEWS from the tournament site

DAY 7 - Canada finished in a disappointing 7th place after a last match near-blitz by China. However, we had some very good days, and some very exciting play - good work to all our juniors - you have every right to be proud or your performance. And now, time to write those stories for your CBF Web page and magazine!

DAY 6 - We came close to a Maxim against the Netherlands in todays first match, but then suffered a complete blitz by USA 1. We finished with a disappointing loss to Egypt. Two more matches, Norway and China, we currently stand in 5th place

DAY 5 - Not so easy a day for Canada today with 2 close losses and then a notsoclose loss to Israel - It's USA 1 in top spot, then Israel, then Canada and Thailand tied, then the Netherlands and Denmark. Two more days, five more matches.

DAY 4 - They did it! Only one match today but a big one against the surprise team of the Championships, Thailand. Canada needed any kind of win to hold their momentum and so they complied 59-50.

Two somewhat easy matches coming up and then the going gets very tough: Israel, the Netherlands and USA I. If we emerge from those three matches with our head above water, we are good enough to medal ... at least. Well done Canada!

DAY 3 - Hooray Canada. A big win against CAC, just what we needed. Canada now sits in 1st place, tied with China. Canada/China, then Thailand, Norway, Netherlands, Israel, USA 1, and Denmark.

Daily Bulletin Editor Mark Horton predicts it will be USA1, Israel, Netherlands and Denmark in the finals - will Canada prove him wrong? Doesn't matter - today is a GOOD DAY!

Day 4 features only one match but what a biggie! Thailand. This meeting should set the tide: will it turn or will it keep rushing forward? Only one match, then I suppose they are all going to go out and swim or lie on a sandy beach or something.

Earlier - Canada is doing what they have to do against the lesser teams in the early rounds - beat them. They remain undefeated after a good win against Chinese Taipei and a respectful win against Argentina. We now sit in 2nd spot. One more match today, against CAC, should also be a win.

DAY 2 -Canada finishes the day in a winning position - a blitz against New Zealand, then the winning side of a tie vs France and a small win over USAII. We finish the day in 5th spot- Israel, China, Thailand and USA I ahead and the Netherlands close behind.

Canada's 3rd match was a resounding maxim against New Zealand - an encouraging start to the day! In fact, Canada may very well be advantaged by meeting most of the lesser teams in the early matches. Our matches 12, 13, 14 will be the true test as Israel, the Netherlands and USA I are favourites in this event.

Here is a neat link: a quick jump to Canada's complete results table on the wbf site.

DAY 1 - AirCanada has been letting the Canadian Juniors down big time we are told. The team, except for Ian Boyd who was a groomsman at a wedding in BC on the weekend, were to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday morning at 9:00am. AirCanada flight from Toronto to Miami was very late and their Rio flight had already left. After much discussion with the airlines they did get on a flight to San Paulo and managed to get to the hotel Saturday afternoon. Ian who was flying from Vancouver also got let down by AirCanada. His flight too got into Miami very late and his Rio flight had departed. The airlines insisted that he had to wait in Miami for 24 hours and take the flight to Rio on Monday night - thus Ian will not arrive until Tuesday morning so will miss the first couple of matches.

The Canadian team has played three practise matches as warm up prior to the event starting. Opening Ceremonies were to be at 3pm today (11am PST).

Meet Canada's Junior Team
by Erin Anderson

Well it's getting to be that time of year again. In August the Canadian Junior team will be off to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to play in the 2001 World Junior Team Championship. The Canadian Junior team was chosen by means of a team trial. The team of Erin Anderson, Ian Boyd, Josh Heller and Vincent Demuy won the trials. Since then Gavin Wolpert and David Grainger have been augmented to the team and Les Amoils has been named captain. Let me introduce you to the team members:

Erin - I am 18 years old and live in Regina, SK. I just graduated from High School at the end of June. This fall I will be attending the University of Regina taking Secondary Education with a math major. I am Canada's youngest female Life Master, a member of the Junior Corps and the 2001 Queen of Bridge. I was a member of the Canada 2 Junior Team that competed at the 1999 World Junior Team Championship.

Ian - Ian is the oldest member of the team at 23 years old. He lives in Calgary, AB but during the winter months works outside of Calgary at the Nakiska Ski Resort. He was employee of the year. Ian is a fun loving guy and a pleasure to have as a partner. Ian was also on the Canada 2 Junior Team that competed at the 1999 World Junior Team Championship.

Josh - Josh will be turning 21 years old while we are aboard our flight to Brazil. He is from Toronto but lives in Kingston while attending University. Josh is a very intelligent young man and is taking Commerce. He is a member of the Junior Corps, was the 1999 King of Bridge and was asked to play in the 2000 Generali tournament in Athens, Greece. He has represented Canada several other times - at the Hero Youth Festival in 1998 and 2000 and was also a member of the 1999 Canada 2 Junior Team and competed at the 1999 World Junior Team Championship.

Vincent - From oldest member to youngest member. Vincent is the youngest member of the team at 18 years of age. He is a high school student and lives in Montreal, PQ. I very much enjoy having Vincent on the team. He is very interesting and we get to talk in French. Vincent has represented Canada before in the 2000 International Youth Bridge Festival.

David - David is 21 years old and lives in Toronto. He attends the University of Toronto as a full time student. David is very organized and is our playing captain. He has a lot of international experience. David was a member of the Canadian Junior team that won the 1999 Hero International Youth Festival and was a member of the Canada 1 Junior Team that competed in the 1999 World Junior Team Championship.

Gavin - Gavin is almost 19 years old and lives in Toronto. He is a student at the University of Toronto and works part-time at Doubles Bridge Club. Gavin was the winner of two bridge scholarships - the Homer Shoop pre-teen scholarship and the 2000 King of Bridge. He has also represented Canada two Hero International Youth Festivals (1998 & 2000). Gavin was also a member of the Canada 2 Junior team that competed at the 1999 World Junior Team Championships.

Les - Les Amoils, our NPC, lives in Toronto but has International experience competing for South Africa. He was the co-captain of the 1999 Canada 1 Junior team that won the 1999 Hero International Youth Festival and competed in the 1999 World Junior Team Championships.

During the past year the team has been practising and training. The highlight of our training was being able to have a training weekend with the world renowned coach Eric Kokish. It was a jam-packed weekend which kicked off on Friday, May 25. The team bid some hands and then altogether we discussed them. We also played and talked over two sets of boards and had a very intense defensive set. The whole team would like to give a big thankyou to Eric Kokish for all his hard work and support over the years. His input is a huge help to the teams and is greatly appreciated by all.

Thank you also to Doubles Bridge Club for allowing us to use their facility free of charge. The team still has a lot going on. The team will be training at the Toronto Nationals and fine tunning our systems. Then it will be August and off to Brazil. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our supporters - District 18, Unit 166, Unit 151, Unit 390, Unit 573, Unit 392, and our sponsor BMO Nesbitt Burns.

We would also like to thank the CBF and all Canadian Bridge Clubs and players that have supported the Canadian Junior Development Fund. Personally, I would also like to thank the Regina DBC for all their support over the years.

The team is really looking forward to this summer and we hope to make you all proud in Brazil.