The Newly Selected Indian Open Team

After a gruellng selection trial featuring the top ten ranked pairs in the country, the following three pairs emerged on top.

1. Ajay Khare and Raju Tolani
2. Binod Shaw and Sanjit Dey
3. Sandeep Thakral and Jaggy Shivdasani

Our hearty congratulations to the pairs on their performance and selection. It is particularly lovely to see the much younger pair of Binod Shaw and Sanjit Dey and part of the team.

In 4th place, and literally a whisker behind, were Rajeshwar Tewari and Sumit Mukherjee. They will be the reserve pair. One's heart went out to Sunit Chokshi and Swarnendu Banerjee who had a disastrous last day and dropped to 5th place after leading the field overnight.

The details of the standings, along with round by round results and deal records can be seen here.

I am sharing a few observations and suggestions (okay, chota mooh, badi baat) below for whatever they are worth.

Observations

1. The constituents of the previous team occupied were there in the top four spots. It seems fairly apparent that the high carry over accorded to them in previous editions did not realize in their gaining an unfair advantage to qualify.
2. The pair to benefit from the lower carry over were Binod Shaw and Sanjit Dey who did not have many ranking points due to performance in Swiss Teams. While on this pair, it is really heartening to see this pair coming of age to represent the country. They have been showing consistent results as a pair over the past several years and their consistent partnership has only benefited them.
3. The pairs who suffered due to the lower carry over were Kaustubh Bendre and Sayantan Kushari (the reserve pair for last year) and Kaustabh Nandi and Sagnik Roy, who would have benefited more from the previous methodology due the fabulous team performances that they have had. This is no reflection on their skills or performance. Rather, it is merely as observation.

Suggestions

Going forward, I have the following suggestions for the Indian team. Once again, while it sounds pretentious, my only contention is that these suggestions are generic and have little to do with specific bridge skills where I am a relative nobody.

1. Physical fitness

   All events are extremely draining physically. Hence improvement in physical fitness (or maintenance thereof) is a made a mandatory part of their preparations for the championships

2. Coaching

   This point was made to me by somebody among the top contenders for qualification. Hence I believe it carries weight.The coach should study the strengths and weaknesses of each pair in various aspects of the game (e.g. slam bidding, competing in high level pre-empt situations) and suggest methods of bolstering their tactics / techniques in such situations. Indeed, if the pairs are aware of areas where they would like such focus, they may suggest the same to their coach.

3. Consistency

   The above may not be the right word for what I am about to describe below. In the 1977 Cavendish Calcutta, the eventual winners Peter Wechsel and Alan Sontag had a moment when they discussed a new convention they may adopt in the middle of the tournament. Peter Wechsel said first thing on the next day "If we have to adopt new conventions in the middle of the Cavenish, then we shouldn't be playing".

   One of our pairs experimented with changing a convention during the middle of the Bermuda Bowl and the results were disastrous. Not because they didn't understand the system, but because the fall outs of changing the system were far and wide and simply couldn't be envisaged.
   Therefore, once the convention cards are submitted for upload, no changes should be made to their systems.

4. English Language

   This point is specifically for Binod and Sanjit. English is the official language for all bridge tournaments. It should not happen that their lack of proficiency in English leads to them making a mistaken explanation or not understanding a written explanation properly.
   I am not quite clear of the best methodology for doing this, but it will need paying attention to on a high priority basis.

A Small Controversy

Last night a small forward was inserted into a group which read

"I recommended that do not choose top 3 by default. All are reserves. Final 3 will depend on their performances, and the hard work they put in. So that any of the pairs do not think that their selection is automatic"

From the content of the statement, it is clear that the person making it is somebody who is likely to be listened to. It is reasonably easy to deduce the author of this comment. The person making the comment has every right to do so.

However, the main reason why I am not going in that direction is that this comment was made in a private conversation between two individuals.

That the other individual chose to betray the confidence and shared it around is not a very nice thing to do and it eventually ended up in a WhatsApp group.

Fortunately, Prasad Keni, President, BFI put matters immediately to rest in the group itself saying

"It's very simple, reserve pair is only for medical or personal emergency.
After grueling selection, what else can one expect?... please stop any unnecessary discussion 🙏"

After this categorical statement there is no need to speculate further on the topic.

In Conclusion

I will conclude by once again congratulating the successful pairs and wishing them all the best in their preparations and performances in international events this year. May they go from strength to strength

Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.