Nawab Yousuf Talpur greets BFAME champions

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Nawab Mohammad Yousuf Talpur, President, Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), and Member National Assembly (MNA), hosted a dinner-reception he hosted in the honour of the BFAME champions at his residence in Karachi recently.

It turned out to be a wonderful get-together in which Nawab Yousuf Talpur, having taken over as the chief of the PBF just a few months ago, also had informal chat with the sports scribes covering the mind sport of bridge for a long time.

It was his first proper interaction with the bridge journalists after becoming the PBF President, although he had been speaking to them individually in the past as well.

He disclosed that Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will soon be meeting the victorious national bridge team, who came up with stunning performance to annex the 16th Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East (BFAME) Championship in Chennai, India, last month.

Rashid-ul-Ghazi, Tahseen Gheewala, Tahir Masood, Javed Ahmed Miran, Syed Hassan Jawwad and Hasan Askari with Tariq Rasheed Khan being non-playing captain and manager, it may be recalled, had prevailed over arch-rivals India to recapture the crown after 12 years.

“The Prime Minister has also approved a summary in which substantial funds have been allocated to the PBF for taking care of the costs to be incurred for sending our national team to the 2011 Bermuda Bowl World Championship to be staged at Veldhoven, the Netherlands, in October,” Nawab Yousuf Talpur revealed.

“The Prime Minister has congratulated each and every member of the team for having produced sensational performance to win the zonal title. Being preoccupied in the budget sessions presently, he has expressed the desire to meet the squad that brought home the glory in the very near future,” the PBF President added.

Nawab Yousuf Talpur, having succeeded Tariq Rasheed Khan, who retired after a second term at office, expressed his confidence over securing more governmental funds for the cash-starved federation.

He also hinted at the possibilities of holding an international tournament in Karachi later this year, provided the foreign teams agreed to come over for a few days to Pakistan.

“Let the mind sport of bridge benefit by my presence in the PBF. We have to put together our resources to generate funds and have a lot of activity. We have some plans which will soon be implemented,” he announced.

Tariq Rasheed Khan, who brought with him the trophy his team won in Chennai, shared the experiences there and described the tournament as a well organized one, crediting the hosts for the hospitality.

He attributed the success in Chennai to teamwork and looked forward to carrying the momentum to Veldhoven. He also acknowledged the support of the legendary Zia Mahmood that helped in motivating the team during the BFAME Championship.

With the sole exception of Javed Ahmed Miran, who’s presently out of country, all the other members of the victorious outfit attended the reception alongwith the PBF officials, Azwer-ul-Haq and Masood Mazhar and bridge stalwarts, Parvez Mirza and Shaheen Iqbal.

Victorious Pakistan bridge squad gets mixed response upon arrival

By Syed Khalid Mahmood



It has become a kind of tradition in Pakistan where the sporting accomplishments, rather few in the recent times, have not been used for the promotion and further development of sports.



Everyone likes to be associated with the winners. Considerable hype is created whenever a sporting title is clinched. That’s the time when media runs after the athletes and their officials, who otherwise have to chase them to get their attention.



A couple of veteran bridge administrators of the country were taken by surprise when they caught the glimpse of so many television cameras and reporters at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, on June 2, who had assembled there to cover the arrival of the triumphant Pakistan squad having won the 16th Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East (BFAME) Championship in Chennai, India, the other day.



While there was a heavy turnout of the media contingent to greet the national heroes and record their expressions, none of the officials of the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF) or the Karachi Bridge Association (KBA) were seen there to accord welcome to a team that brought home the title after 12 years.





Only a few associates of the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP) were there to garland the victorious bridge outfit comprising of Rashid-ul-Ghazi, Tehsin Gheewala, Tahir Masood, Javed Ahmed, Syed Hassan Jawwad and Hasan Askari with Tariq Rasheed Khan. They also celebrated the occasion by distributing sweets at the airport.



It’s probably an indication of things to come. The PBF is quite unlikely to make any effort to cash in on the opportunity provided to them to popularize the sport.



Speaking to the media corps, Tariq Rasheed Khan, attributed the resounding success in Chennai to teamwork and consistency.



“Our team displayed tremendous self-belief and was not overawed by the occasion. We didn’t show any sign of nerves entering the final even though India had the better of us in the league matches on a couple of occasions,” Tariq Rasheed, whose team touched down at Karachi after nearly 12 hours of journey that included change of aircraft and five-hour stay at Mumbai, remarked.



“We were not much concerned even with the carryover of 12 points which the Indians had in the final. All we had to do was to keep playing well and avoid mistakes which we did and it made all the difference between winning and losing. The Indians of course were disappointed but that’s the beauty of the game,” he reminded.



He was particularly delighted at having brought to an end Indian’s winning streak in the BFAME Championship.



“Yes we have had close encounters with them in the finals over the years but somehow we were not winning the title. It’s very satisfying to have brought back the title after 12 long years. Hopefully we will be able to retain it for sometime,” he added.



When questioned about the most significant contributions to the success of his team, he singled out the pair of Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Tahseen Gheewala for having played superbly throughout the event.



Rashid-ul-Ghazi, during his brief chat with the media, disclosed that the team had received ‘timely’ tips from the legendary Zia Mahmood during the course of the championship.



“Zia was kind enough to advise us and pass on a few tricks during our discussions. It boosted our morale and we came up with the performance to win the title. Now we have to that momentum into the Bermuda Bowl World Championship in the Netherlands later this year,” Rashid-ul-Ghazi, acclaimed as Pakistan’s most accomplished bridge player for the past many years, hoped.



Tahseen Gheewala, nicknamed the baby of side, targeted Pakistan’s presence among the top eight nations in this year’s Bermuda Bowl.