Pakistan women create history in Asian bridge event

Team downs India in championship final to win first title in 30 years.

KARACHI: It was a proud moment for Pakistan when the national women’s team won the Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East Zonal Championship 2013 title for the first time since the inception of the tournament 30 years ago.

Pakistan beat hosts and defending champions India 94-53 International Match Points (IMP) in the final of the championship in Ahmedabad.

The women’s event also featured teams from Palestine and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan women’s team was touted as the under-dogs; however, it exceeded its own expectations in stark contrast to the men’s squad, who were defending the seniors’ title in the championship.

The women won seven of their 12 round-robin matches, lost four and drew one.

They had earlier qualified for the Bermuda Bowl World Championship with a score of 213.5 Victory Points (VP) to finish first along with India as the runners-up with 205.5 VPs.



According to Fatima Raza, who is playing the championship with her mother Rubina Hai and her maternal grandmother Qudsia Dossa, the title represents the determination of the country’s female bridge players in this tournament.

“We’ve created history, this was the first time the women’s team won this title,” Fatima told The Express Tribune. “It feels amazing to see that our hard work paid off beautifully. We spent five months just preparing for this championship. I’m thrilled because this was my first international tournament and we won the title. My grandmother has participated in this event 10 times previously and she finally won the trophy here, so it’s extra special for me. It’s momentous because Pakistan has been appearing in this championship since its beginning 30 years ago, and now we’ve finally done it. We hope we would do the same at the Bermuda Bowl.”

Fatima, who was paired with her mother in the championship, said the teams’ greatest strength was its composure under a high-pressure match against India during the final that won it the Vinodini Goenka Trophy.

“It was a grueling process to prepare for this championship and it all came down to the final match. We just kept our calm and played. For now the plan is to get back home and prepare for the world championships. It’s something that I would like to carry on, even though I’ve only just started playing international bridge events.”

Meanwhile, the men’s teams in both seniors and open team events failed to qualify for the finals on Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2013.