India's senior teams, both "A" and "B", shone on the opening day of competition in the 5th Asia Cup Bridge Championship being held at Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon here on Monday.
India "B", represented by Hemant K. Jalan, Sukamal Das, Rajesh Dalal, Jitendra Solani, Anil Padhye and Raju Tolani, is leading the field with 36.65 Victory Points (VPs), while compatriots India Senior "A" are in third position with 36.38 VPs. Japan occupies second place with 36.65 VPs. The final standings in the Seniors event will be known after the completion of 13 more rounds.
After three rounds in all events, China leads the Men's category with 51.65 VPs, followed by India "A" with 46.18 VPs. India "B" is placed 13th with 25.95 VPs.
India's women's teams have not impressed so far. India "B" is in seventh position with 24.46 VPs, while India "A" is at the bottom of the 10-team field. Indonesia leads the standings with 44.52 VPs. Six more rounds remain to be played in this category.
In the Mixed event, defending champions Indonesia maintained their lead with 41.93 VPs, followed closely by Chinese Taipei (41.54 VPs) and China "A" (40.75 VPs). India "A" is currently fourth with 40.75 VPs.
The championship, which has attracted nearly 300 players from 16 Asia-Oceania countries, was inaugurated on Sunday evening by noted industrialist and patron of Indian bridge H.M. Bangur. Also present were President of the World Bridge Federation (WBF) Franek Riehm, Bridge Federation of India (BFI) President Prasad Keni, players, delegates and other officials of the WBF and BFI.
Players are competing using specially designed Bonus Playing Cards, with Parksons Cartamundi serving as the event's official sponsor.
The event concludes on June 27, when champions across the various team and pairs categories will be crowned.
