India’s senior teams both “B” and “A” shone on the opening day of competition in the Bonus 5th Asia Bridge Cup Championship being held at Dona Paula, Goa on Monday.
While India “B” represented by Hemant K jalan, Sukamal Das, Rajesh Dalal, Jitendra Solani , Anil Padhye and Raju Tolani is leading the field with 36.65 Victory Points (VPs) , compatriots India Senior “B”are now at the third position collecting 36.38 VPs. Japan is now in the second spot with 36.65 Vps. The final position in the Seniors event would be known after the completion of 13 more rounds.
After the completion of three rounds of all the events of the meet so far, China is now at the top in Men`s event with 51.65 Vps and is followed by India “A” who earned 46.18 VPs . India “B” team is now placed at 13th position with 25.95 VPs.
India`s women teams have not been able to impress much so far . While India “B” is at the 7th position collecting 24.46 VPs, India “A” is at the bottom of the total 10 teams competing in this event where Indonesia is now placed at the top bagging44.52 VPs so far. Six more rounds to be played in this group.
In the mixed event title holders Indonesia maintained their top billing and is now leading with 41.93 VPs and is followed by strong contender Chinese Taipei(41.54 VPs) and China “A” ( 40.75 VPs). India “A” is at the fourth position now collecting 40.75 VPs. The championship involves nearly three hundred players from 16 Asia-Oceanic countries.
Stalwart of Bridge sport in India, Kiran Nadar is playing in the Mixed Team event. The Padma Shri awardee philanthropist and Art collector expressed happiness at young talents evolving in the country’s Bridge landscape.
World Bridge Federation President Franck Riehm showered praises on Bridge Federation of India for hosting the Bonus 5th Asia Bridge Cup in a magnificent setting in Goa where the bridge tradition spans almost 70 years, raving about the overall organisation akin to world championship. He hailed the BFI for its growth target of having 1 million Bridge players in the country in future and also emphasised on taking the mind sport to children for it being an excellent tool to teach mathematics.
