Indians qualify for worlds after golden run in Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East meet

India clinched three gold medals and a silver in Dubai tournament, a zonal qualifier for world bridge championships in Denmark

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi:India garnered three gold medals and a silver in the Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East championships that concluded in Dubai.

Indian men, women and seniors’ teams struck gold while the mixed team won silver in the tournament held between April 10-18 under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation.
All four Indian teams qualified for the 47th world bridge championships to be held in Herning, Denmark from August 20-31. The 2025 world bridge championships will include the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, D’Orsi Trophy, and Wuhan Cup. India will be among the 66 teams from 35 nations to take part. Nations make it to the world meet from seven different zones.

The following were the members of the men’s team that won gold: Sumit Mukherjee and Rajeshwar Tewari; Sagnik Roy and Kaustabh Nandi; Kaustubh Milind Bendre and Sayantan Kushari. Coach and non-playing captain: Debasish Ray.
Women’s team (gold): Puja Batra and Asha Sharma; Bindiya Kohli and Priya Balasubramanian; Bharati Dey and Alka M Kshirsagar. Coach and non-playing captain: Arvind Vaidya.
Seniors’ team (gold): Ramaratnam Krishnan and B Prabhakar; Bachiraju Satyanarayana and Jaggy B Shivdasani; Subhash Gupta and Ravi Goenka. Coach and non-playing captain: Girish Bijoor.
Mixed team (silver): Rajeev Khandelwal and Himani Khandelwal; Rana Roy and Sheetal Bansal; Priya Ranjan Sinha and Bindiya Naidoo. Coach and non-playing captain: Vinay Desai.
Debasish Ray, a former international player and India’s chef-de-mission, said it was a “clean sweep” among the 25 teams from nine foreign countries in Dubai. “The competition will be much stronger at the world championships in Denmark and we have to work hard in the next three-four months,” Ray told Media.
Ray indicated Indian teams for the world championships “may see some changes depending on coaches’ reports.”
Bridge is well supported by the Sports Authority of India and Ray said, “We are obliged to Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for the support without which we couldn’t have reached this level.”
The sports ministry has been supporting the Bridge Federation of India since 2017. The ministry’s Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) covers expenses for training camps, overseas competition, coaches’ expenses and equipment among others. Players at senior, junior and sub-junior levels are included. An average of Rs 2.55 crores per annum have been spent by the ministry on bridge in the last three years.