Balijee International Bridge To Get Underway At Lahore Gymkhana Club

Six international teams will be featuring in the 16h version of Balijee International Bridge Championship which rolls into action here tomorrow, Friday at Lahore Gymkhana club.

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Mar, 2018 ) :Six international teams will be featuring in the 16h version of Balijee International Bridge Championship which rolls into action here tomorrow, Friday at Lahore Gymkhana club.

Ijaz Ahmed of Yummy Milk Products said on Thursday that the event is being held in memory of his Late father Muhammad Iqbal profoundly known to his fraternity as Balijee. Two teams each Kuwait, India and Dubai will be displaying their talent and technique in the event which offers lucrative cash prizes, he said.

"We invited a number of countries to take part in the event but they did not show interest due to certain reservations," he maintained. Tournament Director Ihsan Qadir stated that 10 teams have confirmed participation from Karachi, eight from Lahore, four from Rawalpindi/Islamabad, one team each from Multan and Hyderabad and this makes the participation to the maximum capacity of the tournament.

"Nine players are from India and include the pair of Sapan Desai and Subash Gupta, who ended up as runners-up in 2017. Then there is the Team MAYA MEERA SNEHA, which is considered a team of strength and immense capabilities and likely to fare well in this Championship," he added.

"No doubt with the participation of reputed players the Competition is becoming tougher and cohesive and tenacious efforts are required to win top positions.Based on evaluation of team expertise and proficiencies the strong contenders of this event would be the teams: 'MAYA MEERA SNEHA', 'HADI IV', 'BILALS', 'DATA STEEL', 'ACES', 'GAINTS', 'ALVIS', 'HOLDEM' and 'TARIQ ACES'," he added.

What makes the championship a grand event is the presence of 'HADIS' team which includes bridge masters like Khurshid Hadi, Kamal Shoaib, AR Allana, Javed Miran, Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Imran Jaka, five of them have represented Pakistan at many occasions.

Then there is the 'BILALS' Team who were the runners-up of the Pakistan National Trials, just concluded last month in Lahore. All other teams from Karachi have strong partnerships and are all expected to do well.

'ACES', who are currently the national Champions would be missing their main player Zia Naqvi, who is out of country. Another adroit and hot team is 'HOLDEM', consisting of Uzair Kamal, Umar Aslam, Arslan and Major Hasnat, from Islamabad.

Gymkhana's own is 'ACES' and consists of Ahsan Qureshi, Ghias Malik, Nauman Butt and Usaid, Mubashar Puri and Junaid said. 'IZO IV' team has Izzat Khalil as the key player. "Silver Star' Consisting of Col Taqi Imam, Tanveer Ahmed, Imran, Mian Tariq and Sikander Butt and 'SAGA' has Ghalib Bandesha, Major Assad, Izzat Khalil and Col Assad once Pakistans National Champion.

The well-known 'BOKHARIS' consists of Muzzafar Bokhari Sajjid Bokhari Suleman Bokhari, Riaz Bokhari & Col Kamal Rana. All these teams comprise of experienced players and can turn out to be the ultimate winners.

There is a separate event for ladies but simultaneously they will also compete in the open event. The participating teams will play 10 rounds of 12 board matches on 24th March, 25 March and 26 March to decide the champion team.

Top five teams win cash prizes. The chief organizer is Ihsan Qadir, who is also associated with World Bridge Federation and his team includes Azwer-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Butt.