Winners of the Tolani International Grand Prix India Blues, who finished first in the qualifying rounds yesterday, were placed third at 82, one point behind Dr Tolani's 83.

Pankaj Kapadia, who finished second in the qualifying rounds, were trailing at eighth place with 52 VPs, rendering their chances of making the semis almost negligible. The top four teams will go through to the semi-final knock-out, which will be held tomorrow after the concluding quarter-final round.

ITC surged ahead in the second round, winning 20-10 over Jimmy Mehta, and followed it with 22-8 and 24-3 wins respectively over Pankaj Kapadia and Trimbak Rubber.

DrTolani and India Blues reached the top following different paths: Dr Tolani (Dr NP Tolani, Dr S Roy, Archie Sequeira, Ian Concessio, IC Alphonso) did exceeding well in the first three rounds, beating India Blues 19-11, Pankaj Kapadia 25-5 and Teloijian Tea Co 19-11 to lead the pack. But identical losses of 10-20 to Jimmy Mehta and Khandelwal pushed them to second place.

In contrast, India Blues (Ashok Ruia, J M Shah, K Venkatraman, Jitu Solani, Kamal Mukherjee, Ashok Goel) started with 11-19 and 12-18 losses to Tolani and Trimbak Rubber, but recovered well, thanks to some aggressive bidding by J M Shah and Jitu Solani in the closed room. This hand is evidence: Jitu Solani's inspired push call of 3 hearts was unmatched in any of the other tables -- most teams settled for a tame 2 hearts, earning India Blues (vulnerable) 13 IMPs.

Then again, in the fifth round against Jimmy Mehta, Solani and JM Shah bid six clubs where other teams settled for five. India Blues won that round 20-10.

QF Positions (afterfive rounds)

1. ITC 92; 2. Dr Tolani 83; 3. India Blues 82; 4. Jimmy Mehta 80; 5. Trimbak Rubber 73; 6. Teloijian Tea Co 71; 7. Khandelwal 62; 8. Pankaj Kapadia 52