Irfan Ali Khan’s century powers Karachi Friends to victory in 16th National Seniors Cricket Cup opener

Pakistan News & Features Services

Irfan Ali Khan’s blazing century (110 off 65 balls) powered Karachi Friends to a comfortable 25-run victory over Karachi Gold Bridge in the opening match of the 16th National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament 2014 at the National Stadium, Karachi, on March 30. 

The tournament, being organized by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), was inaugurated by Nadeem Omar, Managing Director, Omar Associates (Pvt) Limited, who pledged his unstinted support for the promotion of the game at all levels. 

Karachi Friends, who elected to bat after winning the toss, rattled up a huge score of 268 for two in the allotted 25 overs. Karachi Gold Bridge responded positively but lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 243 on the final ball of their innings. 

The 176-run opening partnership, between Irfan Ali Khan and Azeem Ahmed, in a matter of 16.3 overs laid the platform for a massive total. Irfan was the dominating partner as he clobbered five sixes and 14 fours in his 110 off 65 balls while Azeem chipped in with 64 off 40 balls with the help of two sixes and nine fours. 

The momentum was sustained by Farooq Ahmed and Anwar Baba, who added 78 runs for their unbroken third wicket stand in less than six overs. Anwar smashed three sixes and seven fours in his whirlwind unbeaten 52 off 24 balls while Farooq remained undefeated with 28 off 21 balls. 

Skipper Syed Mukhtar Ahmed and off-spinner Ahsan Shakoor were the only wicket-takers for Karachi Gold Bridge whose bowlers went for aplenty. 

The captain then led the charge as Mukhtar, who opened the Karachi Gold Bridge innings, smashed three sixes and eight fours in his swashbuckling 66 off 31 balls. The loss of quick wickets, however, derailed their progress and even the late onslaught from Mohammad Adil, who whacked two sixes and six fours in his 61 off 30 balls before being run out, was not enough to get them back in the game. 

The Karachi Friends spin trio of Sajid Ali (3-39), Raza Rizvi (2-39) and Raees Ahmed (2-40) did the damage with support from Azeem Ahmed (1-37) and Amjad Aman (1-47). The Man of the Match award, however, was clinched by Irfan Ali Khan for his splendid century. 

A record number of 108 teams from 58 cities are participating in the tournament, having been divided in 24 Groups. 35 city teams from Punjab, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight from Sindh, three from Islamabad and one from FATA have entered the tournament with the national final to be played between the winning teams of North and South zones at Lahore on May 4. 

The total prize money in the seven-week event, being sponsored by Arif Habib Corporation Limited and Omar Associates (Pvt) Limited, is Rs 805,000.

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16th National Seniors Cricket Cup 2014 to commence on March 30

Pakistan News & Features Services

The 16th National Seniors Cricket Cup 2014, being organized by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), will be getting underway with the inaugural match of the Southern Zone between Karachi Gold Bridge and Karachi Friends at the National Stadium, Karachi, on March 30.

The details of the seven-week event, being sponsored by Arif Habib Corporation Limited and Omar Associates (Pvt) Limited, were unveiled by Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, PVCA, and Aashiq Hussain Qureshi, CEO, PVCA, in a media briefing at the Karachi Gymkhana on March 27. 

Nadeem Omar, Managing Director, Omar Associates (Pvt) Limited, and Mohammad Ejaz CEO Arif Habib REIT, were also present on the occasion. 

The total prize money in the tournament will be Rs 805,000 with the winners of the national final to receive a purse of Rs 150,000 and the runners-up to collect Rs 75,000. 

It was disclosed that a total of 108 teams from 58 cities will be participating in the tournament and they have been divided in 24 Groups. As many as 35 city teams from Punjab, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight from Sindh, three from Islamabad and one from FATA have entered the competition whose national final will be played between the winning teams of North and South zones at Lahore on May 4. 

The group matches for the Southern Zone will be of 25 overs each innings whereas the zonal and national finals will be of 30 overs per innings. The group matches will be organized on single league basis. 

The matches of Northern Zone will be played at Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Multan, Okara, Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Muridke, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot while the matches of Southern Zone will be played at Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu, Shikarpur and Badin. 

Alamgir Ahmed has been designated as the Coordinator for the Southern Zone whose organizing committee will comprise of Amjad Islam Rishi, Mir HyderAli Talpur, Abdul Hussain Shah, Visal Ansari, Hasnain Bokhari and Ateeq Shaikh. 

The PVCA, it may be recalled, was established in 1998 at Karachi, having been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) since 2001 as the sole representative cricket organization for seniors/veterans cricket in the country. 

The PVCA has attained not only national but international recognition as well. It has played three series of one-dayers against Indian Veterans with some of the legendary cricketers having played in those games. Besides organizing seniors/veterans/super veterans cricket, the PVCA is also actively promoting school cricket. 

The flagship event of the PVCA at national level has been the National Seniors Cup, now in its 16th year, having been played annually amongst selected teams of various cities. The PVCA has been organizing the National Seniors Tournament every year since 1998. 

As far as the playing conditions for the tournament are concerned, players who are 40 years or above on the day of the match are eligible to participate and the age of players will be certified through CNIC. Only those players who have stopped playing first class cricket since last year are eligible to participate in the tournament.

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Record purse disbursed in Pakistan Day bridge

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Cash awards of no less US $20,000, a new record, were presented to the leading performers of the Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament in what turned out to be a colourful closing ceremony of a successful event where the participation level was on the higher side.

The team event was contested by as many as 35 outfits, which included some of the top players of the United Kingdom, China, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

They were confronted with 29 local teams from Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi Islamabad, Multan and Hyderabad who had joined hands to tackle the tricky combination of cards and solve these problems through intense mental activity required in the mind sport of bridge. 

Both the UK outfits came up with sterling performance to share the top two positions after two days of intense fight for supremacy. UK-2, comprising of Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Mike Bell and Alex Hydes, won the Nawab Yousuf Talpur Trophy besides the top prize US $7,000 by aggregating 162.31 Victory Points (VPs) while Barmy Army, and containing Sendra Penfold, Edward Jones, Thomas Paske and Brain Senior, ended runners-up with their tally of 134.56 VPs and they collected a purse of US $3,500.

Talpur, featuring Nawab Mohammad Yousuf Talpur, Parvez Mirza, Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Syed Hasan Jawwad, were the leaders among the local teams as they finished third overall with their score of 129.72 VPs, picking up a cash award of US $2,500 while Miran, having Khurshid Hadi, Kemal Shoaib, Abdul Rehman Allana, Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, Tahir Masood and Javed Ahmed, received US $2,000 for having finished fourth with 126.44 VPs. 

Dynamite, represented by Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Naseem Arzoo, Syed Hussain Jaffar, Mohammad Ashraf Kothari, Anwar Gheewala and Afzal Ahmed Sheikh, came fifth by having aggregated 115.77 VPs which earned them US $1,500 while the sixth placed KG-1, fielding E U Khawaja, Usman Ansari, Nasir Wahab, Sattar Cochinwala and Mansoor Habib, with an aggregate of 115.40 VPs, got US $500.

The participation in the pairs contest was even higher with as many as 92 pairs having competed for the Data Steel Trophy which was claimed by Ghufran Ashraf-Shahab Khan (61.50%), alongwith a cash prize of US $1,000. 

Runners-up Brian Senior-Sandra Penfold (59.98%) received US $700 while Anwar Sultan-Khalid Manzoor (59.97%), Afzal Sheikh-Iqbal Siddiqui (59.95%), Hassan Jawwad-Rashid-ul-Ghazi (57.21%) and Khurshid Hadi-Kemal Shoaib (57.12%) shared the next four positions and they were compensated with US $500, US $400, US $250 and US $150 respectively. 

Special prizes of US $100 each were presented through the courtesy of Data Steel to the pairs of Ali Hai-Zia Hai and Qudsia Dossa-Rubina Hai.

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Richly deserved Lifetime Achievement Award for Rashid-ul-Ghazi

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Rashid-ul-Ghazi, acclaimed as the most accomplished bridge player of the country, has been decorated with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), a recognition he richly deserved.  

The presentation was made to him during the Victory Banquet of the Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014 at the Hotel Pearl Continental, Karachi, on March 23. 

The modest and unassuming Rashid, having won more championships than anyone in the country, was hailed as a formidable opponent with the rare abilities to achieve outstanding results on a consistent basis. 

His services to the game were very rightly lauded by the top officials of the PBF and the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP), who jointly organized the three-day festival. 

Rashid, who was also a part of the national team which won the BFAME Zonal Championship at Chennai, India, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Nawab Yousuf Talapur, President, PBF, in the presence of Khurshid Hadi, Chairman, MSAP. 

Tariq Rasheed Khan, Director, MSAP, and a former President of the PBF, was highly appreciative of the accomplishments of Rashid, whom he described as a role model for the bridge players of the country.

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UK dominance in Pakistan Day bridge

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The brilliance of the stars from the United Kingdom, who played under the banner of UK-2 and Barmy Army, shared the top two positions in the team event of the Pakistan Day International Bridge Championships which concluded at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, on March 23. 

Besides the UK there were foreign participants from China, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well in the three-day festival organized jointly by the Mind Sport Association of Pakistan (MSAP) and the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF). 

UK-2, comprising of Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Mike Bell and Alex Hydes, continued to dominate their rivals and their eventual aggregate of 162.31 Victory Points (VPs), earned them the top slot with ease and grace. 

Barmy Army, the other participating team from the UK and containing Sendra Penfold, Edward Jones, Thomas Paske and Brain Senior, ended runners-up with their tally of 134.56 VPs. Talpur, featuring Nawab Mohammad Yousuf Talpur, Parvez Mirza, Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Syed Hasan Jawwad, were the leaders among the teams fielded by Pakistan. They finished third overall with their score of 129.72 VPs while Miran, having Khurshid Hadi, Kemal Shoaib, Abdul Rehman Allana, Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, Tahir Masood and Javed Ahmed, finished fourth with 126.44 VPs. 

The fifth position was claimed by Dynamite, represented by Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Naseem Arzoo, Syed Hussain Jaffar, Mohammad Ashraf Kothari, Anwar Gheewala and Afzal Ahmed Sheikh, who aggregated 115.77 VPs. KG-1, having E U Khawaja, Usman Ansari, Nasir Wahab, Sattar Cochinwala and Mansoor Habib, came a close sixth with 115.40 VPs while China-2, containing Limin Wang, Hua Liang, Huizhong Zhao, Zhiwei Ding, Rhenda Zhang and Tianlu Guo, had to settle with the seventh slot with their tally of 113.68 VPs. 

Avengers, fielding Qasim Rahim Khan, Ali Ahmed, Hamza Liaqat and Mohammad Salman Qasim, finished eighth with 110.54 VPs, Ahsan, comprising of Ahsan Zahir Rizvi, Nasir Raza Khan, Ghulam Mohammad, Anis-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Ghufran Ashraf and Shahab Latif Khan, were placed ninth wither tally of 109.97 VPs and Zara, having fielded Zara Randa, Mays, Aida, Samar Alrawashde, Mohammad Hikal and Sakhar, were placed 10th with 109.59 VPs. 

A total of 35 teams, seven of them from abroad, took part in the event which was spread over 10 rounds. The first five rounds were played on March 22 while the remaining five rounds were contested the following day. 

The first round winners were Barny Army, UK-2, Hai, Thread & Needles, Miran, Sindh Bilal, Zara, Romex, Karachi Aces, Dynamite, KG-1, Ahsan, China-2, Izzat Khalil, Talpur, Blue Chips and Aces with Trail Blazers having been given a bye. 

Aces, UK-2, Thread & Needles, Talpur, Miran, Romex, Barny Army, Zara, Izzat Khalil, Avengers, Puri Estate, Star Bidders, Masood IV, Softel, Dynamo, Sabres and Turkey registered wins in the second round with Foxy given a bye. 

UK-2, Barny Army, Talpur, China-2, Sindh Bilal, Puri Estate, Turkey, Avengers, Dynamo, Ahsan, Dynamite, Trail Blazers, Foxy, Holdem and Saya defeated their respective opponents in the third round in which B-Team had a bye. A couple of matches also ended in a draw in this particular round. 

Thread & Needles played out a draw against Aces while Star Bidders and Hai were also engaged in a drawn encounter. There were massive victories for Data Steel and Masood IV in the fourth round as they whipped B-Team and Softel respectively. 

UK-2, Talpur, Miran, Romex, Sindh Bilal, China-2, Zara, Avengers, Star Bidders, Hai, Trail Blazers, Saya, Karachi Aces, Lahore and Marathon also prevailed over their respective rivals while Inbox had a bye in the fourth round. 

The victorious teams in the fifth round were UK-2, Sindh Bilal, Miran, China-2, Zara, Avengers, Masood IV, Dynamite, Puri Estate, Ahsan, Kohat Cement, Karachi Aces, KG-1, Holdem, China, Inbox and Soften with Sabres getting a bye. 

There was more success in the sixth round for UK-2, Talpur, Avengers, Thread & Needles, Dynamite, Turkey, Aces, Ahsan, Trail Blazers, Softel, Foxy, Holdem, Saya, Data Steel, Lahore and Blues with Marathon having been given a bye which the match between Miran and Barmy Army ended in a stalemate. 

Puri Estate, UK-2, Holdem, Hai, Inbox, China-2, Sindh Bilal, Trail Blazers, Masood IV, Barmy Army, Softel, Miran, Blue Chips, Dynamo, Marathon, Turkey and Sabres registered wins in the seventh round with Karachi Aces given a bye. 

KG-1, Marathon, Lahore, Trail Blazers, Masood IV, Sindh Bilal, Aces, Dynamite, Barmy Army, Foxy, Puri Estate, Star Bidders, Ahson, Inbox, Thread & Needles and UK-2 overcame their respective opponents in the eighth round in which China had a bye while Dynamo and Saya were played out a drawn encounter. 

The winners in the ninth round were Data Steel, KG-1, Foxy, Hai, Miran,Talpur, Masood IV, Marathon, Aces, Avengers, Inbox, Barmy Army, UK-2, Dynamo, Turkey, Karachi Aces and Sabres while Kohat had a bye. 

China, Dynamite, UK-2, Softel, Zara, Barmy Army, Ahsan, Avengers, Miran, Dynamo, Marathon, Talpur, China-2, Kohat Cement, KG-1, Saya and Romex signed off with victories over their respective rivals in the tenth and final round in which Blue Chips had a bye.

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Khurshid Hadi, Kemal Shoaib revive Istanbul memories

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Khurshid Hadi and Kemal Shoaib, two of the leading exponents of bridge in the country, reproduced their sensational form of the 2004 World Olympiad in Istanbul during the pairs contest of the Pakistan Day International Bridge Championships held at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, on March 21.

Known and respected for their cool-headedness, calmness, intelligence and indepth knowledge about the sport, they dominated the first couple of sessions winning both of them convincingly. But they somehow faltered in the third and final session to slip to the sixth position. 

According to the final results declared by the organizers, Ghufran Ashraf-Shahab Khan were declared winners of the pairs with their average score of 61.50% while Brian Senior-Sandra Penfold ended runners-up with the score of 59.98%, edging out Anwar Sultan-Khalid Manzoor stood third with 59.97%. 

The pair of Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Hasan Jawwad claimed the fourth slot with 57.21% while Khurshid Hadi-Kemal Shoaib had to be content with the sixth place as their average score was worked as 57.12%. Ali Hai-Zia Hai (56.66%), Arssalan Mansoor-Mudassar Rahim (56.40%), Ziaullag Baig-Hamid Mohiuddin (56.36%) and Jason Hackett-Justin Hackett (56.14%) shared the next four positions while Anwar Kazilbash-Tanvir Mazahir (55.57%) and Masood Mazhar-Mirza Shauq Hussain (55.37%) finished 11th and 12th respectively. 

As far as the results of the individual sessions were concerned, Khurshid Hadi-Kemal Shoaib emerged triumphant in the first session. 

Playing from the North-South direction, they aggregated 60.28% points to outwit their closest challengers, Shahin Iqbal-Hasan Akhtar Zaidi (60.17%), Brian Senior-Sandra Penfold (60.00%), Afzal Sheikh-Iqbal Siddiqui (59.47%) and A.C Shamim-Safdar Mahmood (58.93%). A.K Bhurgri-Mohammad Zubair led the table from the other direction in the first session with their score of 61.69% with Anis-ur-Rehman-Zeenat Azwer (61.61%), Mubashir Puri-Junaid Said (57.52%), Vikram Dhar-Hussain Adamali (56.49%) and Ahsan J Qureshi-Ghias Malick (56.22%) claiming the next four positions. 

Khurshid Hadi-Kemal Shoaib extended their glorious form into the second session which they won by securing a score of 62.34% with Ranada-Aida (61.58%), A.C Shamim-Safdar Mahmood (60.86%), Tanlu Guo-Rhenda Zhang (59.77%) and Ishrat Hussain-Shamim (59.00%) sharing the other top four slots. 

Afzal Shaikh-Iqbal Siddiqui (63.78%) led the table from the East-West direction in the second session and they were followed by Shuxia Yang-Teng Ning (58.48%), Sarfaraz Ahmed-Nasim Arzoo (58.38%), Arssalan Mansoor-Mudassar Rahim (58.31%) and Minhaj Kidwai-Anwar Kidwai (56.89%). 

There were as many as 92 pairs contesting event, spread over three rounds of 32 boards each. It offered a prize money of US $3,000, with the winners to receive a handsome cash award of US $1,700 in the presentation ceremony to be held on the Pakistan Day (March 23). 

The participation of some of the top players from China, England, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also heralded the return of international bridge in Karachi after a gap of 17 years. The event is being organized jointly by the Mind Sport Association of Pakistan (MSAP) and the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF).

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Khurshid Hadi expects South Africa in Pakistan Day International Bridge tourney

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Khurshid Hadi, Founder President, Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP), who is also a Past President of the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), expects South Africa’s national team to participate in the Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014 to be held at Hotel Pearl Continental, Karachi, from March 21 to 23.

“Seven foreign teams from UK, China, Turkey, Jordan and UAE have already confirmed participation and will start arriving from March 19. The national bridge team of South Africa is most likely to be the eighth outfit from abroad to take part in the three-day extravaganza,” he remarked in an interview. 

The Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014, being organized jointly by the PBF and the MSAP, is set to become another success story with Khurshid Hadi being the backbone of the committees doing the business. 

“Final touches are being given to what is intended to be the biggest-ever international bridge tournament in Pakistan, carrying total prize money of US$20,000 with the team event offering US$17,000 and the pairs contest to carry rewards of US$3,000,” he remarked. 

“10 teams from Punjab and Hyderabad have also confirmed participation. The organizing committee expects record participation from the Karachi-based players and is expecting a total of 50 teams taking part in the tournament,” Khurshid Hadi added. 

“Ihsan Qadir, Pakistan’s senior most tournament director, who is on the World Bridge Federation’s elite panel has been entrusted with the task of overseeing and running the upcoming event,” he revealed.

“Nawab Mohammed Yusuf Talpur, President PBF, has confirmed that the Sindh Chief Minister, Qaim Ali Shah, will be the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony to be held on March 23,” the MSAP President announced. 

Khurshid Hadi, who was the Chief Organizer of the Pakistan Golden Jubilee Championship 1997, reckoned that the upcoming tournament could help immensely in boosting the soft image of the country, besides reviving the mind sport.

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