Pakistan win bridge event after 20 years

Beat India by 23 points in the final rounds.

KARACHI:

Pakistan defeated India in the final to win the Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East Championship in Chennai after a gap of 20 years.

Pakistan won the second round 50-21 and despite losing the final round 46-19 to the hosts, the 23-point lead courtesy wins in the first two rounds was enough to hand them the title.

With the title in the bag, Pakistan will now participate in the Bermuda Bowl World Championship in Netherlands as Zone-4 champions with India as the runners-up of the week-long event that also included Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

While Tehsin Gheewala celebrated the win as the youngest member of the squad, for Tahir Masood the victory was extra special as he was also part of the squad that won the event in 1991.

“Winning the championship against India on their soil is just priceless,” Masood told The Express Tribune. “Each time we’ve returned home with the runners-up trophy. But this is better than qualifying for the World Championship. I feel lucky that finally we reclaimed the title and I have been a part of it all.”

According to Masood, the team had a difficult time in the tournament when two of the regular members had dropped out of the event due to their personal issues. As a result, newcomers Syed Hassan Jawad and Hasan Askari were used in the round matches where Pakistan lost to India three times.

However, Masood, Rashidul Ghazi, Jawed Ahmed and Gheewala played in the finals as the most experienced players that allowed Pakistan to go one better than their last tries.

“The good thing about the team was that we picked up pace slowly and we managed to peak at the right time,” said team manager Tariq Rashid.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2011.