December 16, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 11, 1423

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LAHORE, Dec 15: Punters from Lahore were crowned as the new national champions of the third Balijee National Bridge Championship which concluded at the Lahore Gymkhana on Sunday.

Punters consisting Fehmina Shauq, Mirza Shauq Hussain, Javed Khalid, Tahir Abbas, Ali Abbas and Hamid Zaman scored 140 Victory Points (VP) by winning all the seven matches.

Marathon secured second position with a score of 132 VP, by virtue of their victory against Giants which team also scored 132 and took third position. Marathon defeated Giants 19-11.

At the fourth was Electra who bagged 119 VP and Chandna claimed the fifth with 117.5 VP.

Although Punters were always in the mainstream of any national level or a regional tournament, this was the first time that they have won the national title.

Punters have also the distinction of representing the country in the World Bridge Olympiads in 2000.

Punters started their way with the first win against Five Stars and with the result of 23-7 they were pitched up against Marathon, a leading team from Karachi which had world class players like Rashid Jafer, Sultan Siddiqui, Rashidul Ghazi and Mohsin Chandna.

But Punter registered victory against Marathon with wide margin of 23-7 VP. Punters then competed local team Bokhari who had come over the ladder with a moral boosting win over Vanity Fair 25-5 and Friends 22-8.

Punters faced Giants, which had two World Masters, Muneer Ataullah and Masud Saleem, besides Akhtar Zaidi, Masud Mazhar and two upcoming young players Amin Hakim and Sarfraz Khan.

However, Punters maintained their winning spree and edged them out 21-9. The defending champions Candyland offered Punters a nail-biting fight.

At one stage when Punters pair conceded a 11 IMP major swing it seemed that it might meet its Waterloo, but Punters defeated a slam bid by Ziaullah Baig and Hamid Mohyddin through immaculate defence and won the match 23-22.

In the last round, Solox, another Karachi based team came to test the expertise of the winners but lost 21-9.

In the sixth round two best teams from Karachi Giants and Marathon faced each other. The match made it an open event for Marathon with 111, Giants 110, Candyland 105, Bokharis 104, Solox 100 and Mai Kolachi 100. But Marathon defeated Giants 19-11 to get the second position.

Final standings: Punters 140 VP; Marathon 132 VP; Giants 132 VP; Electra 119 VP; Chandna 117.5 VP.