SAARC   Friendship   Pairs
	Congratulations to the winners
ALL   THE   RESULTS

A Triumph for the Pakistani Pair
Tahir Masood & Khurshid Hadi

by A. K. BHURGARI

(Excerpt from Bulletin 1)

Any Bridge Tournament is always an exciting event both for the players and the kibitzers. More so, if it is an international one like the current 3rd SAARC Bridge Championship. The pairs event has ended. The team event is on and the event for the Nonqualifiers would commence from Friday, being a three-day affair.

The Opening Pair Event has again confirmed what is universal belief in Bridge --- that it is the established enduring partnerships that produce winners. Of course, the individual brilliance, the craftsmanship of a skillful bridge strategist and the cool, calm, balanced temperament play a vital role in the victory run. But it is the combination of the pair that ignites the spark of victory. The Pairs event is not altogether a display of merit. The luck factor does creep in which makes the pair event sometimes an unfair event. Nevertheless a sustained performance covering three sessions is indicative of the superb prowess of the Bridge Pair who won the event - Tahir Masud and Khurshid Hadi.

Tahir has all the brilliance of creating opportunities to win. His style has always been flamboyant, definitely above the average bridge player, and therefore, he has to his credit Innumerable bridge victories. Khurshid Hadi is also creative, very steady with a fine sense of judgment and a prolific ability to comprehend the delicacies of a closely bid and played contract. The pair displayed that they could quickly size up the Par Contract and very rarely did they slip in achieving that par result which is so vital in a pair contest. They made very few errors and it is on cutting down on one's mistakes that gives the edge with immaculate defence and flawless dummy play coupled with a sound bidding sequence, they surely deserved the coveted prize. Hats off to them.

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