KARACHI, Oct 20: A Pakistan team comprising three pairs will be joining 72 other teams from all over the world for the bi-annual bridge teams world championship scheduled to be played in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to a press release, the team was selected after national trials and comprises three pairs - Rehman Allana/Jane-e-Alam Fazli, Kemal Shoaib/Khurshid Hadi and Rashid Jaffer/Sarfraz Khan.

The tournament format has split the 73 countries into four groups from which the top four will advance to the final knock-round of 16.

Pakistan is not seeded to reach the final round specially since star player Zia Mahmood plays for United States.

The team has the services of renowned bridge expert Munir Ataullah as non-playing captain and coach.

Jane-e-Alam was a member of the team that were runners-up in the Bermuda Bowl in 1981 and in the Olympiad in 1986.

Rehman has represented Pakistan on several occasions, most recently at the Bermuda Bowl in 2003.

Khurshid is a past president of the Pakistan Bridge Federation. Kemal partnered Zia when the latter last played for Pakistan.

Rashid has regularly represented Pakistan and was part of the national team at last year's Bermuda Bowl.

Sarfraz was selected by the World Bridge Federation to participate in a youth programme for talented players from around the world and has since decided to play bridge as a professional.