LAHORE: The 15th Balijee International Bridge Championship got off on Thursday at the Lahore Gymkhana with 96 of the finest of Pakistan’s bridge stars occupying the bridge tables.

The first day was reserved for the pairs’ event, which in bridge is like Twenty20 games in cricket and at the end of the first session and 24 boards, the ladies pair of Fatima Raza (Karachi) and Rubina Agha (Lahore) popped up in front.

At the time of filing this report the second session was in progress. The third session will be contested on Friday and the Pairs event will conclude by midday.

The Balijee Championship is a prestigious event held to honor the memory of Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal, affectionately known as Balijee to his friends and bridge mates and from the moment his daughter Mrs. Tahira Nasir declared the Balijee bridge open, the champions took off.

International players of significance like Khurshid Hadi, Kemal Shoaib, Hasan Askari, Parvez Mirza, Gulzar Ahmed, Tehsin Ghee Wala and also there was Sapan Desai from India and Imran Abedi from Kuwait featuring in the three-day contest.

Out of the 48 pairs contesting for honours and cash prizes those who are making ripples are Fatima and Rubina and they have an aggregate of 67.75 points.

Behind them are Ghalib Bandesha and Maj Asad Maqbool of Lahore at 63.74 points and Javed Khalid and Saeed of Islamabad at 63.31.

Other pairs in the race are Tahir Abbas and Oosman Bashir (61.47), Sheikh Abdul Muqeet and Wajahat Ali Suri (61.36), retired Air Cmdr Qamar S. Kiani and retired AVM Niaz Husssain (59.09), Abida Ali and Najam Abid (57.90), Mazhar Jaffery and Maqbool Ahmed (55.52) and Izzat Khalil and Safdar M.Khan (55.30).

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017