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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Foreign teams set to participate in Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014, to be held at Hotel Pearl Continental, Karachi, from March 21 to 23, will be having greater foreign participation than was being anticipated. 

The organizers have already received confirmation from players from as many as 11 countries including Turkey, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Norway, Jordan, China, India, England and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first international bridge tournament to be staged in Pakistan in 17 years. 

Khurshid Hadi, President, Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP), who was the chief organizer of the Pakistan Golden Jubilee Championship 1997, is in the forefront again, mobilizing his resources to do it once more. This time he has been blessed with a better organizational team which seems to be having the capacity to deliver. 

The Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014 is a joint venture of the MSAP and the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), which is currently headed by Nawab Yousuf Talpur, with Gulzar Bilal being the Secretary.

Pizza Hut, Tapal Tea, Inbox Technologies and J S Bank are the sponsors of the three-day event with Geo Super being the exclusive media partner. 

The total prize money of the tournament will be US$20,000 with the team event offering US$17,000 and the pairs contest to carry rewards of US$3,000. 

The organizing committee held a session with the sponsors at the venue of the tournament, on February 20. A media briefing in this regard had already been organized more than a week ago. 

Khurshid Hadi, in his welcome address, recognized the sponsors for joining hands with them in promoting the event, aimed at boosting the soft image of the country. 

“Let’s not forget that the conditions are far from ideal and we do need momentous efforts to bring about a change collectively. The Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014 could help immensely in changing the perception and earning goodwill for the country, besides reviving the mind sport,” he remarked. 

“Let me put on record the efforts of Pakistan’s legendary bridge player, Zia Mahmood, in playing his role in roping in the overseas players, although he himself won’t be in a position to come over due to his preoccupations there,” Khurshid Hadi added. 

Tahir Masood, Chairman, Organizing Committee, didn’t mince words in stating that he was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming response they have been received from the foreign players. 

Gulzar Bilal, Secretary, Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), hinted at the possibilities of transforming the Pakistan Day tournament into a permanent annual event. 

Ahsan Zahir Rizvi, President, Karachi Bridge Association (KBA), was of the opinion that the upcoming international event will help greatly in motivating the youngsters to take to bridge. 

Aqeel Hasan, Managing Director, MCR (Pvt) Ltd, stated that Pizza Hut was proud to be associated with the international bridge tournament as Pakistan needed such kind of high-profile events at regular intervals. 

Ghias Khan, CEO, Inbox Technologies, while soliciting support for the junior prpgrammes of bridge, urged the MSAP and the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF) to lay emphasis on the youth circuit.

Syed Pervez Iqbal, Director MSAP, firmly believed that events like Pakistan Day International Bridge Tournament 2014 play a defining role in building a better image for the country.

Tariq Rasheed Khan, Director, MSAP, and a former President of the PBF, informed about the initiatives taken in the recent past to promote mind sports from the grassroots level. He particularly talked about the landmark inclusion of bridge as a proper subject in one of the leading schools of the city.

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