Indian U-31 bridge team reaches semifinals at 18th World Youth Team Championships

In a remarkable display of passion, India's U-31 youth team gave a tough time to Bulgarian opponents to secure a berth in the semifinals of the 18th World Youth Team Championships.

Battling in the quarterfinals, they ended up with a scoreline of 128-126 and a narrow margin win propelled them to the next stage, while eliminating the opponents from the tournament.

The team is being captained by Shib Nath and will squad off versus France in the much-awaited semifinal. Shib, who is the 2018 Asian Games gold medalist, is striving to carry on these performances in the semifinal to reach the prestigious final.

As far as the second semifinal of the 18th World Youth Team Championships is considered, China and Belgium are set to tackle each other, vying for a spot in the final.

Sayantan Kushari- Sagnik Roy, Pritam das – Souvik Kar, and Swarnashish Chatterjee - Wrik Chakraborty are among the other Indian pairs ready to depict professionalism and athletics in their upcoming match.

Notably, four Indian teams were representing the nation in the 18th World Youth Team Championships comprising U-16, U-21, U-26, and U-31 categories. After the league phase concluded on August 4, 2023, the top eight teams from each category moved to the knockout stage. As far as the U-31 team is concerned, it finished second in a pool of 20 teams and was just behind the leaders China.

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India bounced back strongly to win the quarterfinals of 18th World Youth Team Championships

For a moment, it did not look that India will make it to the semifinals. They did not make a good start in the quarterfinals, however, they bounced back in the four-session match of 14 boards each. In the opening session, Shib and co were 14-34 but recovered strongly in the following session with 52-20 for a 12 IMP prevailing lead.

The next session started with a strong display from the Bulgarian players, letting them topple the drawback on the second board and swiftly gathering a lead of 23 IMPs.

A dominating comeback from the Indian team by the end of the session caused a score of 35-41, attaining them a slim 6 IMP benefit as they entered the important fourth and final session.

As the final session got the half-mark, the Bulgarians not only abolished the drought but also built a dominating lead of 20 IMPs. Nevertheless, the Indian team fought back bravely, eventually ending the session at 27-31 and securing a well-fought 2 IMP victory in the quarterfinal of the 18th World Youth Team Championships.