LAHORE: The 16th Balijee International Bridge Championship commences here at Lahore Gymkhana on Friday.
Six international teams have been invited to participate in the event carrying lucrative cash prizes.
The teams are being provided full boarding and lodging facilities and accomplished international players who are likely to come are from Kuwait, India and Dubai.
According to tournament director Ihsan Qadir, ten teams have confirmed their participation from Karachi, eight from Lahore, four from Rawalpindi/Islamabad and one each from Multan and Hyderabad.
Nine players are from India and includes the pair of Sapan Desai and Subash Gupta, the 2017 runners-up.
Then there is the Team Maya Meera Sneha which is considered a team of strength and immense capabilities.
Based on the evaluation of team expertise and proficiency the strong contenders of this event include Maya Meera Sneha, Hadi IV, Bilals, Data Steel, Aces, Giants, Alvis, Holdem and Tariq Aces.
Hadis team include masters like Khurshid Hadi, Kamal Shoaib, A.R. Allana , Javed Miran, Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Imran Jaka.
Bilals were the runners-up of the Pakistan national trials concluded last month in Lahore.
Aces, the current national champions, would be missing their main player Zia Naqvi who is out of the country.
Another adroit team are Holdem which consist of Uzair Kamal, Umar Aslam, Arslan and Major Hasnat.
Gymkhana’s own is Aces and consist of Ahsan Qureshi, Ghias Malik, Nauman Butt and Usaid, Mubashar Puri and Junaid Said.
“IZO IV” team have Izzat Khalil as their key player.
Silver Star comprise Col Taqi Imam, Tanveer Ahmed, Imran, Mian Tariq and Sikander Butt while Saga have Ghalib Bandesha, Maj Assad, Izzat Khalil and Col Assad who was once Pakistan’s national champion.
The well-known Bokharis have Muzaffar Bokhari, Sajid Bokhari, Suleman Bokhari, Riaz Bokhari and Col Kamal Rana in their ranks.
There is a separate event for ladies but simultaneously they will also compete in the open event.
As for the Balijee Bridge Championship there will be three session pairs contest in which the players will face 75 % of the opponents who are registered as competitors. This will be held in on day one and also extend to the first half of day two.
Top five pairs will receive handsome cash prizes and the top two will get trophies in addition. A running trophy will also be awarded to the winner.
Thereafter it will be the Team’s Championship.The participating teams will play 10 rounds of 12 board matches from March 24 to 26 to decide the champion team. Top five teams win cash prizes.
Computerised scoring system is being used in this championship, Each table will have a bridge mate (an electronic unit) which will transmit results to the server after each board and the comparison made at the server and result ready instantly. Screens will be used in the team event. So partners will not see each other at the table.
Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2018