Asian Games 2023 bridge: Indian men’s team wins silver medal
The Indian team scored 152 from 96 boards in the final against Hong Kong, China, who won the gold with 229.1 points at Hangzhou 2023.
India won the silver medal in the men’s team event at the Asian Games 2023 bridge tournament in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Friday.
The Indian men’s bridge team at the Asian Games 2023 comprised Jaggy Shivdasani, Sandeep Thakral, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Sumit Mukherjee, Raju Tolani and Ajay Prabhakar Khare.
Competing at the Hangzhou Qi-Yuan Chess Hall, the men’s bridge team settled for silver after scoring 152 in the final against Hong Kong China across six sessions. Rajeshwar Tiwari, Sumit Mukherjee, Raju Tolani and Ajay Prabhakar Khare were in the start list for the final session on Friday.
The Indian bridge team outwitted Hong Kong China 30-28 in the third session on Thursday but the rest of the five sessions belonged to the eventual gold medallists. Hong Kong China scored a total of 229.1 points from their 96 boards for the gold medal.
"You can't be too disappointed," Jaggy Shivdasani said. "We got a bronze last time (at Jakarta 2018), and at the start if you'd told me we'd get a silver medal, I would have taken it and said ‘let's not play'.
"We were not the favourites. China were the favourites and Hong Kong China, were the second favourites, and I would say we had a good chance to make the last four," the Indian bridge player added. "To beat China in a close, well-fought semi-final was great.
"But we were outplayed at the end by a team that played better than us in the final," Shivdasani said.
Jaggy Shivdasani, Sumit Mukherjee and Rajeswar Tiwari were also part of the squad that bagged the men’s team bronze when bridge made its debut at the Asian Games in 2018.
Bridge is a team card game contested between two teams of two players, where partners sit opposite one another. A session of bridge consists of several deals (also called hands or boards). A hand is dealt, the bidding (or auction) proceeds to a conclusion and then the hand is played. Finally, the hand's result is scored.
The Indian men’s team finished second in the league stage with 278.93 after 266 boards. Hong Kong, China scored a total of 304.16 and claimed the pole position.
A total of 11 nations took part in the men’s bridge at the Asian Games. China (272.06) and Chinese Taipei (229.17) completed the semi-final line-up.
The Indian men’s bridge team played China in the semi-finals and topped the chart after 96 boards with 180.6 points. China ended with 75 points.
India’s mixed team and women’s team failed to make the semi-finals and crashed out after the league stages of the bridge competition.
India’s bridge team picked up three medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. India won the gold medal in the men's pair, while the men’s and the mixed teams picked up bronze medals in their respective categories.