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The
10th annual Sharjah Bridge Festival was held at the Sofitel Hotel, Dubai
from Jan. 11-16. The tournament attracted strong fields with top professionals
from Norway, England and China, joining with players from Germany, Bulgaria,
Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon and many other countries, in addition to a
large local contingent. For the first two events, Zia Mahmood, renowned
professional also joined the field.
The
Open Pairs was played over the first three days and international pairs
Tunev/Drumev (Bulgaria), Helgemo/Hackett (Norway/England) and Zhong/Aa
(China/Norway) filled 2nd and 3rd (tie) respectively. The title was
won by local pair Finton Lewis and Moin Khan, whose scores over rounds
one and two were the basis for this excellent result, given the quality
of the field.
The
Mixed Pairs was a one day, 2 session event and the title went to local
pair Lotfy Abdulsamie and Nesreen Hamdy. Their second session score
shattered the field. Popova/Gunev and Diba/Zaher took second and third.
Special mention also goes to Nermeen Qasim one of the main organisers
of the Festival who partnered Zia Mahmood to fifth place.
The
team event was hotly contested over the last 2 days of the festival
with teams Hackett, Mahmood J, Chamma and Wattar reaching the final
four. Their was a close finish with team Hackett (Jason Hackett, G.
Helgemo, Fu Zhong and Terje Aa) winning out from team Chamma.
At
the awards dinner the players were joined by Mr. & Mrs. Saleem Al
Sayegh of National Paints and Mr. Awni Alami of United Arab Bank, the
2 main sponsors. The Player of the Tournament award was won by Walid
Al Ahmady. Particular applause was received for Jason who had dressed
for the awards in full Arab wear.
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