Aslam Memorial Bridge Tournament merits greater participation

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

While it’s heartening that the Karachi Bridge Association (KBA) has succeeded in holding the Aslam Memorial Bridge Tournament every year but what’s disappointing is the fact that the attendance has been on the decline.

Mohammad Aslam Shaikh, who was recognized as a torch bearer of the sport of duplicate bridge having rendered great services to the game, had passed away in 1995. 

The KBA instituted a tournament in his memory the following year and it has remained a permanent annual feature on their calendar since then. 

The thin attendance in the last edition of the tournament was a setback to the organizers who were justified in expecting larger turnout. 

The participation of only nine teams in the competition had not reflected the respect the late Aslam Shaikh commanded in the bridge circles. 

The KBA officials are hoping for greater participation than last year in the 18th edition of the tournament scheduled to be staged at the Aslam Bridge Hall, housed in the National Stadium, Karachi, on July 6 and 7.

Mohammed Azwerul Haque, President, KBA, has urged the local bridge players to compete in larger number in order to pay homage to the late organizer. 

The tournament will be conducted on Swiss Movement basis, spread over seven rounds, subject to the number of competing teams. 

It may be recalled that Century Insurance, comprising of Shaikh Abdul Muqeet, Tanvir Mazahir, Saleem Ahmed and Ghulam Muhammed, had emerged triumphant in the previous edition of the tournament while Data Steel, having Rashid Jaffer, Tariq Rasheed Khan, Tahir Masud, Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Imran Jaka, who captured the title in 2011, had to settle with the runners-up trophy.