KARACHI, Aug 9: Pakistan stormed into the semifinal of BFAME Bridge Championship in Amman (Jordan) and in the process avenged their defeat in the league round, according to message received here from Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF) on Saturday.

Indian, Jordan and Syria also joined Pakistan in the semifinals of the championship which conclude on Sunday.

Pakistan and India drifted away from the field after the conclusion of the second round robin.

In the process, Pakistan avenged its first round defeat by India. When the two giants of the zone met in the 14th round, Pakistani players kept up their nerves and eventually won.

After a close and nail-biting finish, Pakistan defeated India by 5 IMP India put up their best combination to keep their superiority but Pakistan’s shufflers made their task impossible.

Before Pakistan lost to Indian a 14-16 defeat, Palestine stunned the unbeaten Indians in the 13th round match defeating them 20-10 thus spoiling their unbeaten performance.

Pakistan collected 21-9 against Jordan in the 11th round match then defeated Palestine 20-10 in the twelfth round.

In the semifinals India will face Jordan and Pakistan take on Syria.

Four rounds of 16 boards each will decide the most crucial points since it would be knock out stage thereafter, both the finalist will play five round of 16 boards each.

In all the around robin matches Pakistan has fielded three regular pairs of Jan-e-Alam, Rehman Allana, Sultan Siddiqui, Rashed Jafer and Sarfraz Khan pairing with Tehsin Gheewala.

In the ladies contest both India and Pakistan are facing each other.

Both the teams have already qualified to play in the Venus Cup, Bermuda Bowl next November in Monte Carlo.—APP