LAHORE, March 20: The pair of Mohsin Mushtaq Chandna-Tehsin Gheewala from Karachi with 383 Match Points (MP) were the top leaders on the first day of the 12th Balijee international bridge championship at the Lahore Gymkhana on Thursday.

The leading pair remained serene and unworried throughout the 22 boards that they played, avoiding gross mistakes and playing cautiously enough to keep up their winning stance.

Mohsin and Tehseen are closely followed by Shahab Sarki - Anisur Rehman, also from Karachi, who are lying second with 365 Match Points.

Other strong pairs in line are: Tahir Abbas Mirza-Ali Abbas Mirza 345, Javed Khaled-Saeed Akhtar 342, Javed Ahmed- Tahir Masud 341 Match Points, Madho Kochar-M. P. Goel (India) 326, Hasan Jawad-Rashidul Ghazi 325(Karachi), Nishat Chishtie-Javed Neaz 319 (Islamabad), Riffi-Khalida 316 and Ghulam Muhammed-Jamal Nizami 315 Match Points.

At the end of the first round some of the leading pairs were placed a little low down the ladder but looked optimistic about improving their position in the remaining two sessions.

Ladies pairs are looking equally adept in this contest and the top ladies pair after the first session is of Riffi and Khalida, who are on top with 316 Match Points. Position of other prominent ladies pairs is:

Najam Abid-Nelofar Aslam 308, (13th), Teeta Agha-Abeda Ali 296 (20th), Shehla-Khaleda Noon 276 (38th), Tahira-Fehmida 268 (45th), Shahnaz-Elizabeth 249 (57th) Farida Ahmed-Goga Saeed 233 (66th) Azra Raja-Akhtar Haq 200 (74th).