K Suryanarayna is a veteran an bridge player and a moving spirit in bridge activity at Fateh Maidan Cub of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. He is also an active member in promoting bridge among ladies in India and shares some responsibilities in the affairs of ladies bridge teams with one of the Vice Presidents of Bridge Federation of India Mr. Mahindra Kumar Choudhary.
In the middle of rubber bridge session one evening with other senior members of the Club, Suryanarayana, was all praise for the performance of Pakistani bridge players in international bridge competitions. Above all he said Zia Mahmood was a bridge magician, endowed with the skill with no match in the Asian countries so far. Masood Saleem, his partner, was of great understanding of the game and a craftsman of high caliber. "Now Pakistan is at a disadvantage for not having the services of such a formidable partnership in the bridge team", he added.
His partner of same age group at the table, Naresh Kumar, was annoyed when one of the opponents interrupted asking to proceed with game and sternly retorted," any person who does not know Zia Mahmood, has no right to play bridge."
However after some time the game of rubber bridge was over and Suryanarayana settled down to talk more on Indian bridge scene. He was of the view that there were not very encouraging signs for bridge in India to come up with better standards in international competitions despite untiring efforts made by Bridge Federation of India. In the entire country only the bridge centres of Mumbai and Kolkata were taking keen interest in the game and there too the male members of the teams suffer from complacency. He continued that on performing well in the qualifying rounds the players. It contented and when they confront well trained foreign teams they fumbled for short of preparedness. The ladies team at least worked hard to make an impression in international contests and performed well to their credit. The ladies also had to devote more time and energy to improve their performance in the face of tough competition from the ladies in western countries.
"Another important factor that we all seen to ignore that reward for the effort and devotion in other games like cricket, hockey and football etc., is too high and the young blood is attracted toward them. Taking up the game of bridge seriously and make it a career is non-remunerative, not to talk of lucrative rewards." "It is high time that the Federation paid its attention to invite sponsorships of the state and the private sector for offering financial incentives to at least some reasonable extent for pursuers and players of intellectual sport", he said.
Suryanarayan said that most of the developing countries of the world were facing this problem, and there was no reason to lose hope in promoting the international game of bridge to desired standards.