In the sport’s Asian Games debut in 2018, bridge had given India one gold and two bronze medals. As the next edition of the continental show approaches, news from the Indian point of view is threefold. Instead of six like last time, there will be three bridge events in Hangzhou in China. For the first time, Indian teams will be accompanied by coaches hired with a broader purpose. And last, but by no means last, the 2018 gold-winning duo from India will be missing after failing to qualify this time.
Shibnath De Sarkar and Pranab Bardhan of West Bengal, who won the men’s pair event in Indonesia five years ago, reached the final round of qualifiers held in Greater Noida earlier this year but could not finish inside the top four and make the cut. From the bronze-winning men’s and mixed teams of 2018, several players will be in China. De Sarkar did not waste time when the Bridge Federation of India (BFI) invited applications for six coaches. About a month back, he was chosen for the junior team (25-31). He won’t be part of the Asian Games contingent.
Going to China as coaches will be Joyjit Sen Sarma (Open team), Vinay Desai (mixed team) and Anal Shah (ladies team). The bridge events excluded this year are men’s pair, women’s pair and mixed pair. The two other coaches selected to groom the junior teams are Prakash Pranjape (21-25) and Parimal Vahalia (21 and below). Like De Sarkar, the last two will not be at the Asian Games.
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Indian teams have had coaches in the past, but mostly during major competitions. Someone would have a few training sessions with the team and travel to the venue. Their association would end after that. There was no continuity. The BFI wants to address this by putting in place a system which would enable the India players to interact with their coaches on a more consistent basis.
“Before the big competitions including the world championships, we used to have training camps where the players, their support team and officials would assemble for a few days,” said Ranjan Bhattacharya, the joint-secretary of BFI. “Four-five such camps every year cost a lot of money. We approached the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and suggested hiring coaches on longer terms.”
Terms and conditions like remuneration and duration of contracts are still to be finalised, but the BFI official is optimistic about the direction things are headed in. “It has been decided that a monthly sum will be paid to the coaches,” said Bhattacharya. “The SAI will decide how to go about it. I think we have taken a few positive steps which will help Indian bridge prosper.”
As part of preparations for the Asian Games, to be held from September 23 to October 8, additional exposure trips look unlikely at the moment. The teams took part in Asia Pacific Zone event in Hong Kong last month. The next major outing for them would be the World Championship in Marrakesh in Morocco from August 22 to September 2.
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