LAHORE, April 14: Defending champions Formidable from India fought hard to retain the team event title in the 11th Balijee International bridge championship at the Lahore Gymkhana on Saturday.

Formidable, comprising Subhash Gupta, B. Sataynarayan, K.R. Venkatraman and Sunit Choksi, aggregated 191 victory points (VPs) to win the competition despite first-day leader Data Steel’s excellent game, who fell just five points to claim runners-up position.

Data Steel had the services of Tariq Rasheed Khan, Hasan Jawad, Tehsin Gheewala, Rashidul Ghazi and Pervez Mira.

Along the journey of ten gruelling sessions, Formidable enjoyed good communication skills and excellent tackling.

It was only in the ninth session when Giants with Masud Mazhar, Shahin Iqbal, Sappan Desai, Ali Abbas and Hamid Zaman in their fold stunned Formidable with 17-13 win.

Giants ended up third with 181 points. Meanwhile, Bridgetes won the ladies’ team title.