Pakistan Bridge Federation rewards victorious outfits

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF) has rewarded the seniors and the women team of the country for having triumphed in their respective events of the 18th Asia and Middle East Bridge Championships 2015 held in Amman, Jordan, earlier this year.

In fact it turned out be quite a memorable reunion of Pakistan’s bridge stalwarts and the sumptuous dinner served in the lush green lawn on a most pleasant evening brought smiles on every face attending the event. 

Cheques of Rupees three lacs each were presented to the captains of both the winning teams during a dinner reception hosted in their honour by Mohammad Nawab Yousuf Talpur, President, PBF, at his DHA residence in Karachi on August 17. 

Pakistan’s seniors outfit comprised of Azhar Hamid, Iftikhar Baqai, Mirza Shauq Hussain, Zakir Mahmood, Masood Mazhar and Kamran Ibrahim, while the national women team featured Rubina Agha, Zeenat Azwer, Qudsia Dossa, Roshan Bokhari, Rubina Hai and Fatima Reza. 

By virtue of winning the zonal trophies, both the teams have also qualified for the World Bridge Championships, due to be staged in Chennai, India later this year. They will be taking part in the 8th d’Orsi Seniors Trophy and the 20th Venice Cup to be held alongwith the 42nd Bermuda Bowl and the 10th Transnational Teams Championships from September 26 to October 15.

The cheques were collected by Kamran Ibrahim and Roshan Bokhari, who captained the seniors and women outfits respectively. 

Speaking on the occasion, the PBF President hailed the performance of the seniors and women teams in the zonal event, expressing the hope that their feat will be helpful in boosting bridge in Pakistan. 

Nawab Yousuf Talpur talked about the federation’s plans to initiate a programme aimed at promoting the sport from the grassroots level in order to it to the masses. 

“Our current and former players have done an exceedingly good job over the years. But we need to look to the future and we have to expand the base. We need a broader pool of players in order to produce high quality players on a regular basis,” he remarked. 

Gulzar Bilal, Secretary, PBF, added that they already have finalized a plan to mobilize the youngsters and they look forward to implementing it in the very near future. 

“We are at it and we would be launching the programme for youth shortly. We do have talented and passionate youngsters playing bridge in the country which augurs well for the future,” he reckoned. 

The ceremony was attended among others by Mazhar Jafri, Khurshid Hadi and Tariq Raheed Khan, all of whom having headed the PBF in the past. The other prominent bridge players present on the occasion included Abdul Rahman Allana, Shahin Iqbal, Ghalib Bandesha, Maj (retd) Masood Zaidi, Rashid-ul-Ghazi, Hasan Askari, Dr Minhaj Kidwai and Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi.