KARACHI, Aug 19: Afzal-IV won the weekly Swiss Bridge title at Aslam Bridge Hall, National Stadium Sunday evening relegating favorites Candyland to second position by a solitary point to annex the title.

Afzal IV, comprising Afzal Shaikh, Azhar Hasan, A.K. Bhurgari and Shabab Saeed first trounced Four Bidders 17-13 and then lost by 18 International Match Points (IMPs) to Friends 10-20 VP then winning next two from Jamal 21-9 and Dr. Hasan 25-5.

Afzal took the crown by winning four matches and scoring 98 Victory Points (VP).

Candyland ‘s effort fell short by a solitary point to make it a double as they finished with 97 VP. The team comprising Ziaullah Baig, Hamid, Khalid, Hasan Askari, Muhammad Ismail and Zahid Mohiuddin gave a good account of their bidding, play and defense prowess when won four matches in a row.

They beat Dr. Hasan 19-11, Raees 20-10, Mazhar 19-11 and Friends 24-6, However their last round match made all the difference when they went fighting down by a solitary IMP against Abedies sharing 30 VPs equally with Candyland which finished second.

Abedies secured third spot with 96 VP. They had a good start against Jamal 22-8,then surprisingly were defeated by Commercial Union 14-16, won third and fourth round matches from Dr. Ilyas 19-11 and Raees 25-5, playing winning draw with Candyland.

Earlier Mubashir Puri-Nasim Arzoo won the title Mitchell Movement 32-team contest with 76 Match Points (MPs). Ziaullah-Shakeel 74 finished runners-up. Khalid Mohiuddin-Ghufran Ashraf 73.5 MPs were third.—APP