ISLAMABAD, Nov 8: The inaugural Alcatel Pakistan Open Bridge Championship which gets under way Friday, promises to be a top level team competition.

Tariq Aces, winners of the Defence Day Bridge Trophy, are favourites to take the championship. The team, captained by Tariq Aziz, will include internationals Javed Khalid and Shauq Hussain, Saeed Akhtar, Javed Chaudhry and Sarwar Khan. They will draw home table advantage.

Sherdils comprising Air Cdr (Retd) Safdar, Air Cdr (Retd) Shamin, Col (Retd) Tausif, Col (Retd) Yaqub and Asad Iqbal, is the leading team on the Lahore circuit. They will be back in Islamabad to undo their role of playing second fiddle to Tariq Aces. In an otherwise tight field, Skippers and Air Power have the attributes of unsettling the best. Skippers, led by former International Asif Ali, has Air Cdr (Retd) Kiyani, Hafiz Mirza and Mohiuddin Jamili.

Air Power have in the ranks Ihsan Qadir, Abdul Waheed, Izzat Khalil, Ziaullah and Noman.

Missing from the list of entries is the legendary Peak Freans team. Kibitzers will be deprived of watching a side that has held the national title for over a decade.