Unveiled :: Geet Sethi the Bridge Player

Cue sports legend Geet Sethi had some tips the country's elite bridge players who gathered in Mumbai for the Tolani Grand Prix bridge championship at the Hotel Residence, Powai on Saturday. Sethi said bridge was an addictive sport and where he would play six hours of billiards and one hour of bridge he began playing six hours of bridge and one hour of billiards. He said he eventually gave it up for the sake of billiards. Just as well for he regained the pro title after more than a decade. Sethi played a lot of bridge at the CCI where he was staying for some three years. His good friend Anal Shah is a top-class bridge player having played for the internationally famous Tolani Shipping team. Anal is also an international cue sports referee.

Sethi said focus was the best way to concentrate and he didn't do any yoga or anything to keep extraneous thoughts out of the mind. He advised players to gell and not quarrel which is common.

Poddar Developers (82 VPs) had a slender lead over Khandelwal (81) after four rounds of the team event on the opening day, being followed CV Rao (80) and Indra Dhanush (79). The event is being played on a Swiss League format and comprise of 10 rounds. The winning team picks up Rs.150,000 while the runners-up will receive Rs.100,000.

The entries for this year's event are slightly less as teams have backed out due to the recent Mumbai terror attacks. The total number of entries are 46 whereas normally they are a little over 50.

Some teams from Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad pulled out at the last moment. However, most of the country's top bridge players are participating in the event.
 

As a flip to the youngsters the Tolani National Youth Championship will be held concurrently with the main tournament. The top four teams: 1 Poddar Developers (82 VPs), 2 Khandelwal (81), 3 CV Rao (80). 4. Indra Dhanush (79).

Mumbai :: Saturday 13 December 2008