World Bridge Championship: Opening ceremony held in Chennai

President of the World Bridge Federation, Gianarrigo Rona(C) with Shiv Nadar (R)

CHENNAI: Describing the sport of bridge as one of strategy, Mr Shiv Nadar, Chairman and Chief Strategic Officer of HCL, the title-sponsor of the 42nd World Bridge Team Championship getting underway on Sunday, said he found a good parallel with the highest level strategy planning seen in industries.

“What you would do in minutes in a game of bridge and wait for the next game, we in a company do in a quarter and then plan for the next quarter of the year,” he said speaking as the chief guest at the glitzy opening ceremony held at the ITC Grand Chola hotel, the venue of the Championship.

The President of the World Bridge Federation Mr Gianarrigo Rona, who declared the Championship open, said he was impressed with the way BFI had gone about organizing the championship and was sure this would be a big success. Not only that, this could be one of the best organized, he said. He hoped not only would the championship be exciting but everyone would carry back great memories.

Mr N.R. Kirubakaramoorthy, President, BFI talked of the monument effort needed to put the championship on stage. “It took us much convincing the WBF officials to allot the championship to us and we are realizing how big the responsibility it is. Yet we are determined to make this memorable and help bridge get a big boost.

Earlier, a musical extravaganza provided the noted musician Stephen Devassy and his team enthralled the audience, most of them players of various countries. A visual introduction on the giant tv screens of the players , along with the country flag followed in place of the conventional march past.

The play begins tomorrow with three rounds in the three main sections – Bermuda Bowl, Venice cup the d’Orsi trophy. In all 66 teams, 22 in each section from 35 countries are taking part.