Government funding and patronage is essential for any sport to grow and produce medal-winning results in international competitions. The game of bridge is progressing in the right direction in our country and it can scale new heights if it is provided official patronage like other games.

Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF) Secretary Ihsan Qadir and former Director PBF/President Lahore Bridge Federation Ghalib Ali Bandesha expressed these views while talking to TNS.

PBF is affiliated with Pakistan Sports Board and World Bridge Federation. PBF fielded bridge teams in WTC (World Teams Championships held biannually), WBG (World Bridge Games held every 4 years), BFAME (Zone-4 Championships held biannually) and Asian Games (held every 4 years since 2018).

Veteran bridge administrator Ihsan Qadir, who is also Secretary of Bridge Federation of Asia & Middle East (BFAME) and Director World Bridge Federation (WBF), said though PBF is getting some funding due to extraordinary efforts of PBF President Mubasher Luqman “but we need official patronage and bigger funding on regular basis. The amount we get is usually spent on our routine administrative affairs. We require Rs20 to 25 million for sending our teams in an international bridge event”.

Answering a query about the present state of bridge in Pakistan, Ihsan Qadir said that some of the top players have moved abroad, some passed away and some got sick. “We can say that our bridge is not in an ideal condition. Right now, we have around 300 active bridge players in Pakistan but the majority of them is 50 plus. However, despite all these limitations, the Pakistan bridge is better than Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE.”

When asked about the next bridge event, Ihsan Qadir said that PBF is going to organise a 4-day Pakistan National Bridge Championship in the last week of April. “Actually, this championship was to be held in the last week of March but we have to postpone it for a month due to Ramzan ul Mubarak.”

Qadir said that teams from all over the country will participate in this event which will be competed in four categories - Ladies, Open team, Mixed team and Seniors category. “We will hold the Pakistan National Bridge Championship on international pattern and accordingly, every team will consist of 4 to 6 players”.

Responding to a query about the calendar year national and international bridge events, Qadir said that PBF organises National Bridge Championship and national trials in alternate years. “In national trials, we select a team to participate in the World Bridge Championship. In the first phase, the selected national team participates in the BFAME event and if selected there then it goes to the World Bridge Championship,” he explained.

Qadir further said that PBF is planning to stage three major bridge championships in a year on a regular basis to provide maximum playing opportunities to national players. “We plan to hold the first bridge championship in March-April in Lahore, second in September in Islamabad while the third event will be played in December-January in Karachi”.

Replying to a question about PBF’s planning and measures for the growth of bridge, Ghalib Ali Bandesha, the seasoned captain of the national bridge team, said that without the government’s involvement, the game of bridge could not be promoted to a satisfactory level.

Bandesha said PBF has requested the government to include the game of bridge in their sports plan. “We want the government to write to different schools and colleges in four or five big cities of Punjab on the pattern of Islamabad plan. If it happens, then we will be able to incline plenty of youth towards the game of bridge and expand our pool of players adequately,” he opined.

Highlighting medal-winning prowess of Pakistan bridge players, Bandesha said that our bridge players have exhibited wonderful performance at Asia level several times winning 33 medals in BFAME events since 1981. “Our aim is to take Pakistan’s bridge game to a level where our players can offer a handsome performance and win medals in the World Bridge Championship,” he added.

He said that Pakistan Seniors were 2nd in 2023 BFAME held at Lahore and our national bridge team also represented BFAME in the World Cup at Morocco.