Singapore claims two contract bridge bronzes at Asian Games
Players from Singapore and China compete in the contract bridge mixed team event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Oct 4, 2023. (Photo: Sport Singapore/Alfie Lee)
SINGAPORE: Team Singapore's contract bridge players claimed two bronze medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Wednesday (Oct 4).
The country's women's and mixed teams lost to their counterparts from China in the semi-finals of their respective events. However, losing semi-finalists in each bridge event are awarded joint-bronze medals.
In the women's event, the team of Leong Jia Min, Li Lan, Lim Jing Xuan, Low Siok Hui, Jazlene Ong and Selene Tan was beaten 303 to 133.1.
They reached the semi-finals after finishing fourth in a field of eight teams in the round robin stage.
Hong Kong's women's team picked up the other bronze after losing 194 to 163.1 to Chinese Taipei.
In the mixed event, the team of Lam Ze Ying, Loo Choon Chou, Luo Cheng, Seet Choon Cheng, Gideon Tan and Tan Sock Ngin lost 231 to 225.77.
They had qualified for the semis by placing third out of 11 teams in the round robin stage.
The semi-final did have two points of contention: A ruling against Singapore and the cancellation of a six-point penalty against China.
At the end of the sixth and final session, Singapore appeared to have secured a 225.77 to 225 win and looked set to advance to the final.
However, six points that had been deducted from China's tally for slow play in the fifth session were later reinstated. The score was amended to show that China had won 231 to 225.77.
There was also a ruling against the Singapore team in the sixth session for hesitation in bidding.
Singapore lodged appeals against that ruling and the cancellation of China's six-point penalty. This led to a one-hour wait before the outcome of the semi-final was confirmed.
The appeals were unsuccessful and the score remained the same, with China declared the victor.
The other mixed bronze went to Thailand after they lost to Chinese Taipei 248.1 to 168.
The results mean that China and Chinese Taipei will face off in both the women's and mixed finals.
Contract bridge at the Asian Games
Contract bridge is one of the so-called mind sports at the Asian Games, alongside chess, go, xiangqi and e-sports.
The card game debuted at the Asiad level at the last Games in 2018, with China picking up three of the six golds on offer in Jakarta. Chinese Taipei, India and Singapore also took home gold.
Indonesian billionaire Michael Bambang Hartono had lobbied for contract bridge to be included in the 2018 Asian Games line-up. He was one of the oldest competitors in the field, aged 78 then, and won a bronze.
At the Hangzhou Games, at least nine players are over the age of 70. The oldest is 78-year-old Masood Mazhar of Pakistan, according to the Associated Press.
Bridge is a game that calls for mental toughness, with Singapore's Poon Hua, a member of the men's team that triumphed in the Indonesian capital describing it as being "like a long marathon".
"For the whole seven days, we had to mentally calculate all the probabilities, all the deductions, trying to decipher what our opponents were trying to do and try to outsmart and outwit them," he said in 2018.
Bridge is played by four players who sit at card tables which – at the Asian Games – have screens running diagonally across them. This prevents players from passing signals to teammates.
The game presents no language barriers, using universal terms from English like "no trump", "slam", "pass" and so on.
Observers in Hangzhou can watch the hands that are dealt – and how they are played – on large television screens filled with red and black symbols for spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs.
Singapore's men's team, who made history when they took gold in Jakarta five years ago, narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot as they finished fifth out of 11 teams in the round robin stage behind Hong Kong, India, China and Japan.
In the men's semi-finals, which also concluded on Wednesday, Hong Kong beat Japan 187.1 to 139 and India beat China 180.6 to 170.
The finals of all three events will take place on Thursday and Friday.
