On My Goodness! The Results of the Round Robin

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The finish was unbelievable in Group A.  Italy wen into the final day as a shoe-in to qualify number one.

Nine teams were fighting it out for the other three spot all with very close scores.

Things changed slightly after the fifteen round.  France had beaten Italy, Canada had a small loss to Finland and  seventh place Romania had curshed South Africa.

These were the standings with two matches to go.

1. Italy 301
2. Estonia 264
3. Brazil 262
4. France 260.5
5. Denmark 256
6. Canada 254.5
7. Romania 254.5
8. Ireland 249

In Round 16 it was Brazil’s turn to trounce the fading team from South Africa.  Canada had a much needed win against Denmark 20-10.  While Ireland defeated France with a big 21-9.  Romania had a narrow loss to Slovakia a team that was near the bottom of the group.  This left the standings as

1. Italy 317
2. Estonia 286
3. Brazil 286
4. Canada 274.5
5. Ireland 270
6. France 269.5
7. Romania 268.5

While three of the four playoff spots had pretty much been decided it was a race for the last spot.  Most of the contending teams were playing tailenders.  Canada was playing Trinidad and Tobago,  Ireland was playing Pakistan and France, Chinese Macau.   Romania had a bye so only 18VP.  and some group to catch up.  It did appear pretty hopeless for them.

But Canada lost badly to Trinidad and Tobago,  Ireland lost to Pakistan and France narrowly beat China MacCau.  Whatever was going on in the last round.  This left France and Romania tied for the fourth spot and France lost on a tie breaker.

Group B was a bit less exciting but India blitzed Portugal to take the last qualifying spot from Hungary.  Israel, Netherlands and China were the top three.

In Group C the top three Norway, Poland and Bulgaria held their positions but in the battle for the last spot Belgium had a near blitz against Chile to beat out Spain which unexpectedly lost to SIngapore in the last round.

There was no dramatics in Group D where the fourth top finishers held their spots ending Germany, England, USA and Turkey.

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Group E

The top four finishers were no surprise have done well all the way through: England, USA, Poland and Italy.  Brazil had a good day yesterday scoring 62 VP to take over the fifth spot from Japan who lost their last match to the USA.

Group F

Very little changed on the final day as it turned out with Finland Russia, France and China holding their qualifying spot.  Denmark beat Scotland in the 16th round and took the fifth spot.  However Spain did easily take the sixteenth wild card spot to make it to the quarterfinals.  As things unfolded Canada had a poor finish but it wouldn’t have matter because even three blitzes would not have allowed them to qualify.

Group G

Germany and the Netherlands were easy qualifiers/ Sweden and Turkey held onto their spots.  But somehow SIngapore jumped up the field to move from 8th to 5th in the tight race for the fifth spot.  The teams above them Morocco, Hungary and South Afirca all had big losses while Singaport blitzed Mexico.