It’s not unusual to get distracted at the bridge table, but sometimes that distraction takes peculiar forms. Last month, I was lucky enough to be on a team with the Swedish women’s gold medallists Jessica Larsson, Kathrine Bertheau and Sanna Clementsson – three of my favourite people. They had flown to Bristol to join me and another friend, Paula Leslie, for the Spring Fours.
At 23, Sanna is by far the youngest of us, and is enviably talented: she was just 19 when she became the youngest ever women’s world champion. As if that wasn’t enough, she is also training to be a doctor. Which is why I was surprised to learn she has an odd quirk: an intense aversion to people’s feet (even her fiancé’s). During the weekend, she emerged from a match looking queasy. An opponent had kicked off his sandals and placed a bare foot up on his knee, not far from Sanna’s nose. Sanna was far too polite to say anything – but it made for a tortuous hour, and much complaining afterwards about the unsightliness of toes. Thankfully, though, it wasn’t enough to put Sanna off her game: nothing would stop her taking full advantage whenever an opponent – ahem – puts a foot wrong. Here she is in action:
East led the ♠K to Sanna’s ♠A. She cashed the ♥A and played another heart, which East ruffed. East can of course defeat the contract by switching to a club – but instead, East played the ♠Q. Easy for Sanna from here! She ruffed with the ◆4, played the ◆5 to the ◆K and ran the ♥10. West covered with the ♥Q, and she ruffed with the ◆A, played the ◆8 to the ◆Q, ruffed another heart with the ◆J – and finally played that beautifully preserved ◆2 to dummy’s ◆3 to discard two clubs on her last two hearts.
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