Gianarrigo Rona, president of the European Bridge League and first vice president of the World Bridge Federation, has been elected president of the WBF. He will succeed José Damiani, WBF president for a decade and a half, at the end of 2010.

“I am honoured,” Rona said. “It is not an easy task to follow the four giants before me,” he added, referring to Damiani, WBF President Emeritus Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, Ernesto d’Orsi and Bobby Wolff, both former presidents.

Rona is a retired attorney who lives in Milan, Italy. He has a long record of service in bridge administration, starting with his election to the board of the Italian Bridge Federation in 1978. He was president of the IBF from 1986 until earlier this year. He has been EBL president since 1999.

Leaders pulling away

It’s time for some teams to begin worrying about making it to the knockout phases of their respective events the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and D’Orsi Seniors Bowl.

In the Bermuda Bowl, for example, the gap between the team in eighth place, the final qualifying spot, and No. 9 is nearly a full match. There is still a lot of bridge left each team has 12 more matches so better play and some luck could see some teams through.