Bridge
Asia Cup Bridge Championship: China dominates, India Seniors 'B' reach final
China stamped their authority on the 5th Asia Cup Bridge Championship by reaching the finals of three events, while India's Seniors 'B' team lived up to expectations by defeating Japan in a thrilling semi-final on the penultimate day of the tournament at Taj Cidade de Goa on Friday.
China advanced to the finals of the Men's, Women's and Mixed events. The country has already secured both the gold and silver medals in the Mixed category, with an all-China final scheduled for Saturday.
The other finalists are Hong Kong China 'A' in the Men's event, Indonesia in the Women's event, and Australia in the Seniors category.
India has already assured itself of at least a silver medal in the Seniors event and still has an opportunity to win two bronze medals if its Men's and Women's teams overcome Bangladesh and Japan, respectively, in the third-place playoffs on Saturday.
In the Seniors' semi-final, India 'B' made a poor start, managing just 22 International Match Points (IMPs) against Japan's 66 in the opening session. The hosts bounced back strongly in the second session, scoring 41 IMPs to Japan's 24 to narrow the deficit.
Buoyed by the comeback, India produced an impressive performance in the decisive third session, collecting 56 IMPs while restricting Japan to 39. The spirited fightback helped India clinch the match by a slender margin of just two IMPs and book a place in the final.
India 'B' will now face Australia in the title clash after the latter outclassed Bangladesh 170-67 IMPs in the other semi-final, leading comfortably in all three sessions.
It may be noted that from the knockout stage onwards, matches are decided on International Match Points (IMPs), replacing the Victory Points (VPs) system used during the league phase.
In the other semi-finals featuring Indian teams, India 'A' in the Men's event lost to Hong Kong China 'A' 129-80.67 IMPs, while India 'A' in the Women's event went down to Indonesia 159-77.33 IMPs.
Although India's Men's and Women's teams missed out on the finals, they remain in contention for bronze medals and will take on Bangladesh and Japan, respectively, in Saturday's third-place playoff matches.
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