1.576652-756064937
Nargis Noorani, centre, wife of the late Qasim Noorani, is flanked by tournament winners Humayun Sumar, Ahmad Midfa, Deepak Mehra, and Vasudevan. The Qasim Noorani memorial Bridge Tournament was a grand success. Image Credit: Francois Nel/Gulf News

Dubai: It was time for déja vu as well as some serious competition at the daylong Qasim Noorani memorial bridge tournament, held at the Horizontal School in Dubai on Saturday.

More than 80 players from all over the UAE came together to participate in a charity Duplicate pairs event in memory of Qasim Noorani, a leading cricket administrator of the UAE and bridge enthusiast who passed away late last year.

Competing over a gruelling 10-round session, the partnerships of Humayun Sumar-Ahmad Al Midfa and Vasudevan-Deepak Mehra emerged champions in their respective sections.

The runners-up positions went to the following pairings of Manju Law-Nitin Khanna, Tim-Elvan, Lutfy-Nesrine, Martin-Hongyan, Akiel-Tamar and Prajapati-Asad in their respective categories.

Nargis Noorani, wife of Qasim Noorani and the guest of honour, gave away the prizes.

Beneficiary

A sum of Dh9,100, raised from the event, will be handed over to Citizens Foundation — a Pakistan-based NGO which works towards development of schools in the rural areas of the country.

"Given the short notice, it was a highly successful event and it happened because his [Mr Noorani's] name was associated with it. Most of his friends and well-wishers, people who have known him for 30 years, were present to be part of the event," said Durriyah Vasi, one of the key organisers of the event.