EA Bridge, an initiative of Express Avenue, to promote Bridge at national and global level, organised and sponsored its maiden National Bridge Championships, a national ranking event from February 9 to 16 at E Hotel, and Express Avenue mall, Chennai, under the aegis of Bridge Federation of India, and in association with Tamil Nadu Bridge Association. It was the first time in the Indian Bridge history that a bridge tournament was organised inside a mall (Express Avenue). This was also an opportunity to create awareness and promote the sport of the mind, amongst the young.
Kavita Singhania, Managing Director of Express Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Express Avenue mall, is the visionary behind EA Bridge, and she is keen to support, encourage and create opportunities for women and young bridge players. It is her vision to see more women participate in open bridge games. Towards promoting the sport on a large scale, EA Bridge is planning to organise the International Bridge Championships in September, 2025.
Bridge is a mind sport: Bridge is the ultimate trick-taking card game, easily the greatest source of enjoyment that four people can have with a pack of cards. The World Bridge Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Just like every sport, Bridge offers enormous benefits to its players. It develops analytical skills, logical thinking, communication skills, team work, and above all it makes one competitive. Studies have proved that playing the game of bridge regularly delays, if not aborts, the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s. School children learning this game have improved performance in their scholastic efforts, basically because their logic and analytical abilities are honed to meet the challenges of life. The improvement in their communication skills have contributed to their better understanding of the subjects they are studying. Therefore, this is a sport enjoyed by tens of millions of people throughout the world.
The Bridge Federation of India has been pioneering the promotion of this sport throughout India with the unstinted support of the respective State Associations. The sport has been accorded due recognition by the Indian Olympic Association and the Ministry of sports by the Government of India. This has made the States also to accord due recognition. The TNBA has been successful in having a 1000 sq. ft. accommodation being allotted to it in the Nehru Indoor stadium to conduct coaching sessions, seminar, workshops etc. Efforts are on to introduce the game to children in private and government run schools.
Prasad Keni, President of BFI spoke about the importance of promoting Bridge amongst children and the youth. And gave the example of Vidhya Patel and Kalpana Gurjar, two young girls, who won the EA Bridge National Women Championship held on Feb 10 at E Hotel. They have also won the world championships in 2022. Their achievements were recognised by the Central Government, who awarded the girls with jobs in the Income Tax department. The government of India recognises Bridge as a sport and is providing job opportunities for youth who are achievers in this sport.
L to R: N R Kribakar Moorthy - World Bridge Federation Committee Member, A Sridhar – President, Tamil Nadu Bridge Association, Prasad Keni – President Bridge Federation of India, Narayan Iyer – EA Bridge Event Organiser & Bridge Coach, Sunil Verghese – VP, TNBA.
