Mauricio Macri became senior champion of the South American Bridge Championship

He always has time for a moment of leisure. He had it when he was President of the Nation and at 7 years old “I closed everything, I put on Netflix and until the next day” He was freeing himself from his obligations, according to what he said in 2021 in dialogue with Juana Viale. And he has it now, now relieved of public burdens, beyond his mission as head of the FIFA Foundation. Those moments of recreation that Maurizio Macri never resigned, this weekend they rewarded Argentine sport: the former president, with the senior Argentine national team, won the title in South American Bridge Championship which was held in Cali.

The national team of that category, composed of Macri, Luis Palazzo, Carlos Lucena, Walter Fornasari, Héctor Camberos and Juan Ruedaemerged victorious in nine of the 12 rounds (each played with 12 hands) of the contest which was held under the triple round-robin in the Lake Hall of the Cali Country Club and in which teams from Brazil, Colombia and Chile also competed.

The Albiceleste team totaled 157.63 units and surpassed Colombia by 33.5, Brazil by 38.52 and Chile by 81.5. These results allowed the Argentines and Colombians to qualify for the World Cup. of the specialty (considered a sport since 1995) which will be held next year (in principle it should be held in Macao, even if the venue has not yet been confirmed).

The occupant of the Rivadavia Chair between 2015 and 2019 showed satisfaction with the result obtained, underlined the good understanding with his classmates and underlined that he is still on a training path, despite having already been playing this game for years ( did with Franco, his father). “I am very happy to play now with Lucena, who are a great player, or with Palazzo. I’m very adaptable because I consider myself a player who needs to improve a lot.”the former president said during his participation in the subcontinental tournament.

The title obtained in Cali will allow Macri, who occupies 207th place in the global ranking of his category, participate for the third time in a Bridge World Cup. He already did it in the one held in 2023 in Marrakech (Morocco), in which Argentina ranked ninth in the senior category. And he also competed in the competition held in Salsomaggiore Terme (Italy) in 2022, in which the national representative ranked 12th.

The founder of the PRO and his teammates were not the only Argentines to celebrate the end of the South American Championship, given that the national representation She also won titles in the free and women’s categorieswhile she came third in the mixed.

This game which the former president is passionate about and which is played in pairs with a deck of French cards has a long history in the country: in the 1930s the Argentine Bridge Club and the Social Bridge already existed, decade In 1940 the Argentine Bridge Club was established. ‘Argentine Association of Bridge, the body that governs this discipline in the country to this day.

Argentina was the first South American nation to participate in a world championship in 1958. However, in recent decades its competitive ability in this discipline has become increasingly limited. With Macri at the helm, the country is trying to re-enter the great concert of nations, at least in bridge.