Panaji: India’s senior teams lived up to the billing on the opening day of the 5th Asia Cup Bridge Championship at Dona Paula on Monday.In the men’s team’s championship, India A emerged as a top-tier title contender, locking down the third place on the leaderboard with 55.85 Victory Points (VPs). The host squad sits within striking distance of pacesetters China, who commands the field with 64.09 VPs, and Hong Kong, holding second with 56.21 VPs. Korea and Chinese Taipei complete the top five at the end of round three.The day’s primary highlight unfolded in the seniors teams championship, where India A unleashed a clinical, high-precision performance to anchor themselves firmly in third place, shadowing the tournament frontrunners after a gruelling opening segment. Simultaneously, a resilient India Mixed squad engineered a major leaderboard recovery, overriding early structural setbacks to fight their way back into the top-flight and reclaim the fifth-position baseline.The first full day of qualification rounds drew a definitive competitive line across the continental field, establishing the apex leaders for each championship division. The current tournament pacesetters topping the group tables are China in men’s teams, Japan in seniors division, Indonesia in women’s category, and China A in the mixed teams field.India women teams have not been able to impress so far. While India B are seventh, India A are at the bottom of the 10-team pool, with Indonesia on top, followed by China, Hong Kong and Japan. Six more rounds are to be played in this group.A total of 300 players from 16 Asia-Oceania countries are participating in this seven-day quadrennial event. Patron of the Indian bridge fraternity and noted industrialist HM Bangur declared the championship open in the presence of Bridge Federation of India (BFI) president Prasad Keni and delegates from the World Bridge Federation on Sunday.
