Bermuda Bowl Predictions...

Well, the Bermuda Bowl is coming up. In international bridge competition, the BB represents the pinnacle event on the team bridge calendar. For all the history and schtuff, you can click here.

Football fans, like I used to be before we lost the TV, have their office pools and fantasy leagues. There's not really anything analogous for bridge nerds, though picking the final 8 teams comes as close as anything can... This thread over on the BBO forums lists the picks of any interested parties. Before I threw mine up there, I thought I'd use them as post fodder.

I know precious little about bridge to begin with... But picking the Senior or Women's teams would be just guesswork.

So, here we go.... Team lineups are here, while the links below take you to the teams CCs.

Losing Quarterfinalists: Ireland, Egypt, China, Canada

Ireland is my dark horse... I've only kibbed Hanlon-McGann, but they seem to be a formidable pair. My dark horse pick coming out of the round robin.

Egypt, I think, has a chance to be a real surprise at this BB. If I were hedging bets, I'd put some money for them to the semifinals just for kicks. El Ahmady-Sadek are a top-shelf pair, and I think Amiry-Samir are strong as well. They've played some practices matches on BBO and seem to be firing on all cylinders.

China just is fascinating to me... They placed out of the top 10 in Estoril, but I just think it's trendy to pick the home team to make some noise.

Canada seems a lot like Egypt to me. The pairs are strong and seem to be in good form. I made this pick prior to the Canadians losing to the Cayne team on BBO, but I'm sticking with it. I think Klimowicz-Frukaz are going to be strong.

Losing Semifinalists: USA1, Norway

It's hard to pick against any team that has Rosenberg-Mahmood as their anchor pair. However, whoever these guys play in the semis, I think they're up against superior teams. Plus, their form at the Spingold wasn't all that great. So, we'll see.

I'm certainly not alone in thinking that Helgemo-Helness are a slammin' pair. But, I think that Tor's play is totally underrated (overshadowed by partner) and also believe that Saelensminde-Brogeland are going to come alive. I think Norway is going to create all kinds of problems for people.

Runner-up: USA2
I waffled back and forth over whether to put USA2 up on top, or in the consolation seat. I think either pick is reasonable. For my money, I think USA2 will make it to the finals relatively easy... But I can't help but thinking that age/intertia/something is starting to catch up with them. Meckwell and Hamway are the best of the best, for sure. But I think they are slipping just enough that this is the right place to seat them.

That just leaves the winners: Italy

All three Italian pairs are mega-strong... And in a long tournament, the ability to rotate players will be valuable. These guys play the pips off the cards and are fun as all heck to watch play. Creative, aggressive, solid. I think Italy will win by a fair margin.So, there you go... Thoughts? Comments? Post them in the meta below.