Bridge Players Place Third After 2-Hour Stay in Elevator

After being trapped for two hours in an elevator at the Adams Mark Hotel, St. Louis, last Sunday night, Whittier bridge expert Randi Montin competed in the finals of the Women’s Pairs at the North American Bridge Tournament and took third place, partnered by Pamela Wittes of Los Alamitos.

Rescue workers removed the roof of the stalled elevator, and medics ministered to the occupants, 16 bridge experts, as they reached safety by climbing up greased cables. No serious problems were reported, even by one man who had recently been treated for heart irregularity. To avoid thinking of their plight, the passengers had discussed the fine points of hands they had played in three earlier sessions of the tournament.

Winners of the Women’s Pairs were Tobi Deutsch of Chicago, and Kay Schuller of New York, with 1,801.9 match points, well ahead of Carlyn Steiner and Janet Daling, both of Seattle, with 1,721.6. Montin and Wittes scored 1694.4 points. Other Southland experts in the final ranking were Kerri Shuman of Monrovia, and Rama Linz of Beverly Hills, fifth with 1,686.7 points.

In the Men’s Pairs, George Steiner and Darryl Pedersen, both of Seattle, took first place with 1,714.4; Chris Compton of Atlanta, and Zia Mahmood of Pakistan were second with 1,709.1. The only Southland expert in the final ranking was Gene Freed of Los Angeles, fifth with 1,614.7, partnered by Mike Passell of Richardson, Tex.

In the Open Pairs, held Monday and Tuesday, winners were Kit Woolsey of Kensington, Calif., and Ed Manfield of Arlington, Va., with 1,346.1 points; second were William Poe and Steve Carton, both of Columbia, Md., with 1,314.9; and third were Peter Boyd of Falls Church, Va., and Steve Robinson of Arlington, Va., with 1,292.3. The first and third pairs are members of the team that won the World Team Championship last September.

The only Southland experts in the final Open Pairs ranking were Jill Meyers of Santa Monica, and Ed Davis of Santa Ana, seventh with 1,247.3. Meyers and Davis would have finished in third place but for penalties for slow play totaling 47.5 match points. The American Contract Bridge League is trying to speed up tournament play to a rate of not more than 7 minutes and 30 seconds per hand. (In home play, most hands are finished in four or five minutes.)

The tournament continues with the principal event, the team contest for the Harold S. Vanderbilt Cup, scheduled to end late Sunday night.