Daily Times

LAHORE: The 15th Balijee International Bridge Championship, in progress at the Lahore Gymkhana Club, moved into the final phase on Saturday with the final sessions to be contested on Sunday (today). Earlier on the third day, yesterday, a total of 20 teams occupied the bridge tables. And at the end of five rounds and 60 boards, the Shoaib Team, comprising players of substance like Abdul Rehman Allana, Javed Ahmed Miran, Imran Jaka, Rashid ul Ghazi, Khurshid Hadi and Kamal Shoaib, emerged as the leaders after they managed to display outstanding bridge playing skills and aggregated 71.18 points. In second position were the Bombers Team, comprising of national players like Ahsan Javed Qureshi, Ghias A Malik, Mirza Shauq Hussain, Hasnat Mehmood and Nauman Khalid Butt. Bombers accumulated 70.64 points and were in a position to topple the top team. These two teams have the ability to withstand pressure and one of them are likely to take a place on the rostrum in the final go on Sunday.

As for the other competing teams, those still in the run are the teams playing under the banner of Kamran, Romex, Bilals, Deuces, Islamabad Green, Saga, Tipu 5, Alvi’s and Punters. Through combined intelligence and calculated moves, they can spring a surprise as this championship gets heated up on the final day. One does expect that the members of these teams, who are lagging behind at the end of five rounds, will manage to overwhelm the competitive environment of this championship through some extremely awesome moves that can open up their winning horizon.

The competition on the final day is expected to be frightening. At the conclusion of the championship, Mian Nisar Ahmed, an ardent bridge player and former chairman Lahore Gymkhana, will award prizes to the winners.

Team positions:

1: SHOAIB (Abdul Rehman Allana, Javed Ahmed Miran, Imran Jaka, Rashidul Ghazi, Khurshid Hadi, Kemal Shoaib) Match Points 71.18.

2: BOMBERS (Ahsan Javed Qureshi, Ghias A Malik, Mirza Shauq Hussain, Hasnat Mahmood, Nauman Khalid Butt) Match Points 70.64.

3: KAMRAN: (Kamran Ibrahim, Masood Mazhar, Azhar Hameed, Hamed Mohiuddin) Match Points 61.47.

4. ROMEX (Rashid Nabi Malik, Nausherwan Sultan, Shahid Rafiq, M Shafi Janjua, Sajid Nabi Malik, Ahsan Yousuf Khan) Match Points 60.13.

5: BILAL (Gulzar Ahmed Bilal, Farrukh Liaquat, Imran Abedi, Parvez Mirza) Match Points 57.16.

6: DEUCES (Wajahat Ali Suri, Sheikh Abdul Muqeet, Nasir Raza Khan, Syed Asghar Abbas Zaidi, Syed Yawer Abbas) Match Points 57.13.

7: ISLAMABAD GREEN (Muhammad Nasir Khan, Hasan Akhtar Zaidi, Shakeel Ahmed Chandna, Syed Abdul Hameed) Match Points 57.12.

8: SAGA (Ghalib Bandesha, Assad Maqbool, Izat Khalil, Safdar M Khan, Niaz Husain, Qamar S Kiani) Match Points 54.89.

9: TIPU 5 (Mudessar Rahim, Muhammad Ali Yasir, Sapan Desayi, Qasim Rahim Khan, Hamza Liaqat) Match Points 54.85.

10: ALVI’S (Farooq Alvi, Khaled Mohiuddin, Hasan Askari, Muhammad Mubashir Puri, Junaid Said, Jahangir Ahmed) Match Points 52.65.

11: PUNTERS (Tahir Abbas Mirza, Ali Abbas Mirza – Hamid Zaman, Oosman Bashir) Match Points 51.82.