World Bridge Championship: Seniors make India proud

Of the four teams representing India, ours comprised me, R. Krishnan, playing captain and coach, A. K. Goel, Anil Padhye, Rajesh Dalal, Subrato Saha and Sukamal Das.

Published : May 03, 2022 18:05 IST

Members of the silver medal-winning Indian team (from left) Rajesh Dala, Anil Padhye, R. Krishnan, Ashok Goel, Sukamal Das and Subrato Saha.
Members of the silver medal-winning Indian team (from left) Rajesh Dala, Anil Padhye, R. Krishnan, Ashok Goel, Sukamal Das and Subrato Saha.
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Members of the silver medal-winning Indian team (from left) Rajesh Dala, Anil Padhye, R. Krishnan, Ashok Goel, Sukamal Das and Subrato Saha.

It was a sunny day in Salsomaggiore Terme, a picturesque town in northern Italy. There was excitement in the air as over 600 players from around the world had gathered at the Palazzo dei Congressi for the World Bridge Championship, the first major bridge event after two years of COVID. Of the four teams representing India, ours comprised me, R. Krishnan, playing captain and coach, A. K. Goel, Anil Padhye, Rajesh Dalal, Subrato Saha and Sukamal Das.

Bridge is immensely popular worldwide with over 100 million players, including many popular personalities like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, enjoy playing this cerebral card game. It is a trick-taking card game, played by four players in two competing partnerships. To win, players need to exchange information intelligently and strategically and make complex plays with incomplete information. It is the ultimate mind game, with a lot of wit and high drama, and is extremely competitive at the highest level.

We were off to a great start and had qualified for the quarterfinals after the first round-robin stage of 23 matches. The USA1 team, which included previous world champions and legendary players, Zia Mahmood and Jeff Meckstroth, and had finished at the top in the round-robin, strategically chose to play against us in the quarterfinals. We were the underdogs and they were hoping to score a definite win.

But we were ready for the fight. Our team was competitive right from the start. We fought until the very last board of an exciting and grueling 96-board match, where we snatched a close victory by a slender margin of 4 IMPs.

We then proceeded to the semis where we faced France, another formidable team that included multiple world champions. We caused our second upset as our team dominated the show and won with a comfortable margin to advance to the finals, a first for India.

The finals were against Poland. We were optimistic and started off well but faltered in the later stages with more unforced errors than in the earlier part of the event. We finished second and India won its first-ever silver medal in bridge at the world level. It was a proud moment for us and the entire bridge community in India, who supported us through the tournament. Even cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, whose father-in-law is a bridge player, chimed in with a congratulatory tweet, “Age isn’t a barrier to be the best in the world!”

Bridge is not a mainstream game in India yet. The country has many top level players and we hope to get better with more adoption, training and preparation. We need to introduce more youngsters to the sport.

I hope this silver-winning achievement will blaze a trail for more victories in the future.

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