Carla Arnolds is a bridge teacher and journalist from Tilburg and is married to Jan Kolen, a former Dutch champion. They have four children, Martijn (15) Sandra (13) Astrid (12) and Ingrid (11). Carla learned to play bridge in 1981. With partner Bep Vriend she won the European Women Pairs in 1993 and the World Women's Pairs in 1994. Then she switched from bridge to raising kids. At the beginning of 2004 she renewed her partnership with Bep Vriend.

When Carla is not playing bridge, she is probably shopping. While the rest of the team wants to see some cultural highlights she is only looking around for the souvenir shops.

With silver in Perth 1989 and bronze in respectively Monte Carlo 2003 and Estoril 2005, Shanghai will be her fifth Venice Cup.

Bep Vriend has the best record of any Dutch woman player. Her international career stretches back more than 30 years, to the 1974 European Women's Teams Championships in Israel. She has been virtually ever present in the Dutch team since. She is a bridge teacher and lives in Amstelveen with her husband Anton Maas, coach of the Dutch Open Team which is also present in Shanghai. Bep Vriend is a honorary member of the Dutch Bridge Federation and in April 1998 received a Royal decoration in recognition of her great contribution to bridge. Bep is a true tiger at the bridgetable and always wants to win. She is famous for her great declarer play as her partner Carla Arnolds always bids really high so Bep gets a lot of practice playing difficult contracts.

With silver in Perth 1989, gold in Bermuda 2000, bronze in Monte Carlo 2003 and bronze in Estoril 2005, Shanghai will be her eighth Venice Cup.

Marion Michielsen is a law student and lives in Rotterdam. She started playing bridge in 1998, at the age of 13. Marion has a flawless gift for orientation! Whenever she thinks you need to turn left, turn right. She got the team lost twice during a boat trip when she somehow managed to get hold of the map.

In the Open European Championships in Tenerife 2005, she was the youngest player ever to win a medal at a European Championships when she won bronze in the mixed teams. The World Championships in Verona 2006 were her first appearance in the Dutch women's team.

In Jesolo (Italy) 2007 she won gold during the European Youth Team Championships. In Shanghai Marion is making her first appearance in the Venice Cup.

Meike Wortel just finished studying biology and lives in Diemen, a city close to Amsterdam. Meike used to be a chess player and started playing bridge when she started studying in 2000. She likes going out with her friends and the junior coach believes she has a boyfriend in every country she visits.

The World Championships in Verona 2006 were her first appearance in the Dutch women's team. In Jesolo (Italy) 2007 she won gold during the European Youth Team Championships. In Shanghai Meike is making her first appearance in the Venice Cup.

Jet Pasman lives in Broek in Waterland, a small village north of Amsterdam. She started playing bridge in 1974. Since 1979 she has been partnering Anneke Simons. Jet is a sports teacher and is married to the coach of the Dutch Senior team Chris Niemeijer, a former player in the Dutch Open team. Apart from bridge, golf is her great hobby. She also loves travelling and is already looking forward to the World Championships in Sydney 2010. The further the championships are away from home, the better. Jet can hardly play any practice matches in the summer because of her 2 month long vacation!

With gold in Bermuda 2000 and bronze respectively in Monte Carlo 2003 and in Estoril 2005, Shanghai will be her sixth Venice Cup.

Anneke Simons, a personnel manager, lives in Amsterdam together with Kees Tammens, a former player in the Dutch open team, now a bridge journalist and trainer of the Dutch juniors. Their son Bas used to be a member of the Dutch Junior Team.

There is a rumour that Jet and Anneke are the mothers of Meike and Marion. Some even claim to know who belongs to whom!

True or not: they are very pleased to play with such talented young girls in a team!

Anneke learned bridge at the age of 20 and since 1979 she has been playing with Jet Pasman. Together they collected a lot of medals in all colours. With gold in Bermuda 2000 and bronze respectively in Monte Carlo 2003 and in Estoril 2005, Shanghai will be her sixth Venice Cup.

Ed lives in Haarlem (west of Amsterdam). He has been the team manager and NPC of the Dutch women's team since early 1995. Ed is always really busy; he plays golf, plays bridge and spends a lot of time taking care of the women's team. When he is around you can be sure everything is organised perfectly. At 5:00 p.m. Ed likes to drink a glass of whiskey so he always has the last match off. He is very happy with the time difference between the Netherlands and Shanghai because he believes that it's 5:00 p.m. twice a day now!

With gold in Bermuda 2000 and bronze respectively in Monte Carlo 2003 and Estoril 2005, he will captain the Dutch women in Shanghai for his sixth Venice Cup.

Hans lives in Heemstede (west of Amsterdam) and is a self-employed businessman. He is married and has two young children. Last year he played (and lost) the final of the highest Dutch teams competition. During the McConnell in Verona 2006 he made his début as coach of the Dutch women's team. He is a great support for the team although he has been seen wearing a shirt with the text "I'll try to be nicer if you'll try to play better".

In Shanghai Hans is making his first appearance in the Venice Cup.