The Indian men’s bridge team secured a silver medal at the Asian Games 2022 after losing to Hong Kong in the final. The recent performance is a step up from the previous edition of the Games in Jakarta where the team won a bronze medal.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team on their success.

“Congrats to the Indian Men’s Bridge Team for their exceptional performance and clinching the Silver Medal at the Asian Games. Raju Tolani, Ajay Prabhakar Khare, Sumit Mukherjee, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Jaggy Shivdasani and Sandeep Thakral have shown remarkable brilliance and dedication,” the Prime Minister wrote in his tweet.

Congrats to the Indian Men's Bridge Team for their exceptional performance and clinching the Silver Medal at the Asian Games.

Raju Tolani, Ajay Prabhakar Khare, Sumit Mukherjee, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Jaggy Shivdasani and Sandeep Thakral have shown remarkable brilliance and… pic.twitter.com/svlpUy3Acx

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 6, 2023

The team defeated China in the semi-finals to move into the Gold Medal match to face Hong Kong. Both China and Hong Kong showcase some of the best bridge teams in Asia. Sadly, the team was not able to beat the latter in the finals with the final round scoreline reading as 12-17.

The tournament saw a total of 11 teams competing in the men’s bridge event. The final match between India and Hong Kong saw a close encounter with only 25.23 points separating them.

“You can’t be too disappointed. We got a bronze last time (at Jakarta 2018), and at the start if you’d told me we’d get a silver medal, I would have taken it,” said Jaggy Shivdasani, one of the team members.

He further added that China and Hong Kong were the two favourites, and so defeating the former in the semi-finals was very satisfying.

“However, the team was outplayed by Hong Kong in the finals,” Shivdasani added.