Bridge At Asian Games 2023: Indian Men Go Down Against Hong Kong; Conclude Campaign With Silver

The Indian men's team stumbled on the final hurdle against Hong Kong, and settled for a silver medal in the bridge competition at the Asian Games on Friday. India, a gold and two bronze-medal winner at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, lost to Hong Kong 152-238.1 in the gold-medal match at Hangzhou. The Indian team consisting of Sandeep Thakral, Jaggy Shivdasni, Raju Tolani and Ajay Prabhkar Khare could not challenge the Hong Kong outfit at any point during the six sessions, spread over two days. Indian men were trailing 1-2 after the first two sessions, and they made a woeful start, losing the day's first session 32-42 to Hong Kong.

Trailing 1-3, India needed to win the second session on the day, but Hong Kong emerged a clear 38-17 winner to all but seal the gold with a 4-1 lead.

Hong Kong asserted their dominance in the sixth and final session with a 17-12 win.

Shivdasani said the team was quite satisfied with the silver medal-winning effort.

"You can't be too disappointed. We got a bronze last time (at Jakarta), and at the start if you'd told me we'd get a silver medal, I would have taken it.

"We were not the favourites. China were the favourites along with Hong Kong, and to beat China in a well-fought semifinal was great," he said.

The veteran player said Hong Kong outplayed them in the final.

"We were outplayed at the end by a team that played better than us in the final. They're tough. They're professionals. You have to up your game," he added.

On whether bridge should become an Olympic sport, he said, "It has been approved as an Olympic sport, but there isn't a slot for it, apparently. I hope it does become an Olympic sport. That would be great."

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