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

New Delhi, April 19: India garnered three gold medals and a silver in the Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East championships that concluded in Dubai on Friday. 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 SAI 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 the 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 competitions, coaches' expenses and equipment among others. Players at senior, junior and sub-junior levels are included. An average of Rs 2.55 crore per annum have been spent by the ministry on bridge in the last three years.

Reader Comments

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Priya K.

What an incredible achievement! 🇮🇳 So proud of our teams bringing home gold across categories. Bridge doesn't get enough attention but these players are true strategists. Best of luck for the World Championships!

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Rahul S.

While this is great news, I wish media would cover bridge more consistently. We only hear about it during big wins. These athletes train year-round and deserve regular coverage like other sports.

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Ananya P.

My grandfather taught me bridge! So happy to see seniors team winning gold too 👏 Age is just a number when it comes to mental sports. Hope this inspires more young people to learn the game.

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Sanjay M.

Interesting to see husband-wife pairs in the mixed team. Must be challenging to compete together under pressure but they made it work! The Khandelwals especially seem like a power duo.

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Meena R.

₹2.55 crore annually seems like good investment considering the results! Glad sports ministry recognizes bridge as a serious sport. Maybe next step is school-level programs to grow talent pool.

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Kunal D.

The coach mentioning possible team changes before Worlds makes me nervous. Hope they maintain the winning chemistry while making necessary improvements. Tough balance to strike!

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