Asian Games 2023: Indian men's bridge team beat China to enter final, assure silver

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Indian men's team outwitted China 2-1 to reach the summit clash of the bridge competition, assuring the country of at least a silver medal at the ongoing Asian Games 2023 on Wednesday.

Indian men, who had clinched a bronze medal in Jakarta Games 2018, will face Hong Kong in the gold medal match on Friday.

In the semifinal at Hangzhou, India garnered 155.60 points in total from a total of 80 boards, while the host nation settled for 135 points.

In the other semifinals, Hong Kong, 153 points, defeated Japan, 118 points.

However, India began the day with a below par effort, conceding the first session to China 16-36.

But the Indian players staged a fine comeback in the second session at noon defeating China 37-24.

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In the decisive third and final session in the evening, Indian team upped its game to go past China 35-25 to earn their spot in the summit clash.

Indian women's and mixed teams earlier could not reach the semifinals.

India had qualified for the semi-finals after securing second place with a score of 288.6 VPs on Monday.

The top four teams were Hong Kong China (308.31 VPs), India, China (287.91 VPs) and Japan (237.96 VPs), respectively. The other semi-final is scheduled to be contested between Hong Kong China and Japan.

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While the Indian mixed team finished in fifth position with a score of 233.28 VPs, the women's team finished in seventh position with a score of 125.48 VPs.

With 48 boards still to be played, the semi-final was a close affair. India was represented by Jaggy Shivdasani, Sandeep Thakral, Rajeshwar Tewari, Sumit Mukherjee, Ajay Khare and Raju Tolani.

(With agency inputs)