LAHORE, Dec 12: Pervaiz Mirza-Gulzar Bilal with 819.50 points won Balijee International Pairs championship at Lahore Gymkhana on Friday.
Pairing with Gulzar, who had been lucky to have early lessons from the former, made off a slow start, but increased the frequency of gains to win the title leaving others far behind.
Pervaiz and Gulzar got almost three top scores against Khalida-Riffi making an impossible part contract, then a game in hearts. On Board 2 Pair 7, preferred a minor suit game. Board 4 was another top for Pervaiz-Gulzar, that was against the leading pair of Asad-Safdar 400 when the other pair bid a game in hearts and went four down vulnerable.
Against Pair 3, the winners got another near-top score making a part contract, while the defending pair missed their game.
Against Pair 9, Ghalib-Asad a major suit contract, at one level, gave them a big top. Board 24 was another top score when they defeated a lay down game of Sultan-Rashid Jaffer. Their only bottom score was a slam which Shakeel Chandna-Jamal Nizami bid and made.
Asad-Safdar showed consistency in their form to finish second with a score of 791.09 Match Points.
In fact their very first board against Pervaiz-Gulzar was a disaster when they conceded 400 penalty in a wrong contract. Then again they suffered penalty against Pair-10 Navaid Anjum-Mubashir Puri, conceding 500 down 3 doubled and went down one in a part-game contract.
Against Mazhar-Hafiz Ather they conceded two over-tricks by their unassuming defence. They conceded two over-tricks which gave them a near-bottom score. A little more careful defence could have elevated them to the top.
Nawaid Anjum partnering a new face from Karachi, Mubashir Puri, remained in the mainstream throughout, they made last-minute effort to claim third berth.
Waheed Khan-Jehangir, another young pair from Lahore Gymkhana, occupied fourth position with the score of 787.56 Match Points.
Munir Ataullah-Sarfraz Khan claimed last prize winning position. The pair scored 785.53 Match Points. After the conclusion of the Pairs Championship, the main event Balijee Team Championship got under way contested by 22 teams from Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Taxila, Hyderabad, Abbottabad and Emirates.
According to results available for the first round of the Swiss Movements, reigning champions Punters outscored Karachi’s Allana, 20-10. Giants and Islamabad defeated their opponents by maximum margins, adding 25 V.P. to their scores.
Lipton had a clean sweep against Pearls 25-0 V.P. LUMS edged out Ghalib Victors 22-8 and Siran and Challengers defeated Yummy and Marathon 18-12 each.
Four Bidders had the better of Stars 18-12. Emirates and Skippers downed Chandna and Electraad 16-14 V.P.
Final standing of the top ten pairs:
Pervaiz Mirza-Gulzar Bilal 819.50, Asad-Safdar 791.09, Mubashir Puri-Nawaid Anjum 790.09, Waheed Khan-Jahangir 787.56, Munir Ataullah-Sarfraz Khan 785.83, Fehmina Shauq-Tahir Abbas 769.14, Olavo D’Souza- Finton Lewis 756.50, M. A. Ansari-Shauq Hussain 753.62, Hamid Zaman-Ali Abbas 747.97 Match Points