By Duncan Mackay at the Beijing International Convention Centre

Team Monaco beat Poland in the final of the men's bridge tournament at the SportAccord World Mind Games ©SportAccordDecember 14 - Monaco enjoyed a rare opportunity to shine in the international spotlight when its bridge team won the men's team event at the SportAccord World Mind Games here today.


Represented by Fulvio Fantoni, Claudio Nunes, Geir Helgemo, Tor Helness, Franck Multon and Pierre Zimmermann they beat Poland in the final.

The victory, though, was tinged with controversy because team is a band of "all stars" led by Zimmerman, a Swiss real estate tycoon, who last year were all granted Monegasque citizenship so they could represent the Principality in major events such as this.

Fantoni, a six-time world champion and World Grand Master of the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and Nunes, the second-ranked World Grand Master, are both Italian-born.

Helgemo and Helness, meanwhile, are Norwegian and Multon is originally French. 

Monaco and China receive their gold medals following victories in the men and women's team event at the SportAccord World Mind Games ©SportAccordMonaco and China receive their gold medals following victories in the men and women's team event at the SportAccord World Mind Games ©SportAccord

China had to settle for bronze but in the women's its team of Wang Wenfei, Feng Xuefeng, Zhang Yu, Wang Liping, Yan Ru and Liu Yan beat England, claiming victory on the last board. 

Appropriately, Fantoni and Wenfe had both represented bridge at ambassadors, helping contribute to the education and cultural programme that is such an important part of these Games.

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