Britain, U. S. Lead in Bridge Championship

OCHO RIOS, Jamaica â€”  Great Britain and the United States jumped into the lead Monday after 32 deals of their 160-deal semifinal matches in the Bermuda Bowl World contract bridge team championship.

In the Venice Cup World Women’s team championship, Italy and the United States I, captained by John Sutherlin, pulled ahead after 32 deals of their 128-deal semi-finals.

Two grand slams were in the cards, and the British gained heavily on one of them to go ahead of Sweden, 64-61.

On the first, Sweden stopped in a game while the British bid the grand to gain 17 points. One Swedish pair bid the second grand while another pair took a 2,000-point save--a six-point gain for Sweden since the grand scored 2,220.

United States made a fast 41-8 start over the first 16 deals against the Chinese Taipei, but the Far East champions came back strong to cut the margin to 61-45.

In the Venice Cup, United States I is the North American champion, and United States II is the winner of the round-robin, captained by Carol Sanders. The Sanders team pulled ahead, 36-25, after 16 deals, but the Sutherlin squad came back strong to move ahead, 76-51.

Italy took the measure of European champion France in both 16-deal segments to lead, 59-33.