LAHORE, July 15: Pakistan will represent the Asia and Middle East Zone in the 10th World Youth bridge championship to be held in Sydney, Australia from Aug 7 to 17. The Jordanian team was supposed to represent the zone as winners of the qualifying round held in Lahore in April this year while Pakistan were runners-up with India third.

Jordan had expressed its inability to compete which enabled Pakistan to take its place.

An official spokesman for the Pakistan Bridge Federation Ihsan Qadir said that it was the first time that Pakistani youth would compete in a major bridge event.

He said that it would give them considerable international experience which would ultimately hone their skills further.

He said that a six-member team would represent the country. Mrs Fehmina Shauq Hussain as non-playing captain will also accompany the team.

Team: Fauzan Athar, Hassan Ijaz, Haider Ali Malik, Oosman Bashir, Zain M Khan and Shahzeb Nasir.