Ioana comes back from behind

Another evening at the green baize, and it had a bit of everything.

Champion of the evening: Ioana, with 128 points. The rest, see you in the replay. It didn't start well — only 4th after the opening eights — but it clearly didn't end there.

Runner-up sounds good — gold sounded better. Elena, with 119 points. Elena got past Radu at the very last hand. 2 hands in a row: the table said and did, Elena said and... hoped. It didn't hold.

Adrian Gh rounds out the podium with 114 points. Bronze still counts as a medal. The last hand decided it: Adrian went past Mara right on the line. From the tail of the table to a warm spot: Adrian plays right down to the last card.

Mara finishes right in the middle — neither hot nor cold — 4th, with 114 points. Mara got past Radu at the very last hand. Level on points with Adrian Gh, and behind only on the tie-break.

Neither at the front nor at the back: Radu in 5th, with 112 points. The comfort zone. In the last of the closing eights: Radu called 1, took 4, and Claudiu was left out in the cold. Radu was ahead of Elena right up to the last hand.

Last place: Claudiu, with 101 points. 3 hands in a row: the table said and did, Claudiu said and... hoped. It didn't hold. After the second of the closing eights, Claudiu was 2nd and dreaming of the podium — but the last hands had other plans.

Congratulations to all — see you at the next table!