Chennai was the centre of Indian bridge from September 7 to 13, 2026, as the 2nd EA Bridge International Bridge Championships brought together leading players and teams from India and overseas at the Central Atrium of Express Avenue Mall.
The championship was organized by EA Bridge (Express Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.), under the aegis of the Bridge Federation of India, in association with the Tamil Nadu Bridge Association. With an overall prize fund of ₹1.5 crore (approximately USD 150,000), the seven-day championship featured eight different competitions and built substantially on the success of its inaugural edition.
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Team Gromov Takes the Gold Teams Crown
The Gold Teams competition attracted 37 teams and featured a round-robin qualifying stage followed by a 16-team knockout phase.
EA Bridge, representing the host organization and featuring tournament chairperson Kavita Singhania along with American internationals Brad Moss and Joe Grue, and Robert Brady and Gopinath Manna, dominated the qualifying stage and finished comfortably at the top.
Their title challenge, however, came to an end in a dramatic quarterfinal against Team Gromov of Russia. The Russian side prevailed by only 3 IMPs, with EA Bridge making a remarkable late push that almost turned the match around.
Team Gromov then produced one of the most impressive comebacks of the championship. In their semifinal against Mavericks, they entered the final segment more than 37 IMPs behind. A huge final-session turnaround of more than 50 IMPs, including a 17-IMP swing on one board, transformed the match and carried Gromov into the final with a 117–103.33 victory.
In the championship match, Team Gromov established an early advantage and successfully resisted a determined comeback by Formidables. The Russian team eventually secured the title by 143–107.
In the playoff for third place, S D Associates defeated Mavericks 96.6–75.
Gold Teams – Final Standings
- Team Gromov (Russia) — Andrey Gromov, Dmitry Rogov, Maxim Semisoshenko, Yuri Khokhlov, Vadim Kholomeev, Anna Gulevich
- Formidables (India) — Kiran Nadar, Bachiraju Satyanarayana, Sumit Mukherjee, Rajeshwar Tewari, Kaustabh Nandi, Sagnik Roy
- S D Associates (India) — Keshav Sakharam Samant, Vijay R. Phatarphekar, Mukund Jagannathan, Vivek Bhand, R. Sridharan, T. V. Ramani
- Mavericks (India) — Subodh Maskara, Dominic Filopowicz, Oren Toledano, Ami Zamir, Keyzad Anklesaria, Aniruddha Bhattacharya
Team Kabra Completes a Remarkable Silver Teams Comeback
The Silver Teams event saw an equally exciting final, with 53 teams competing for the title.
Paas Four appeared to have the advantage after establishing a 27-IMP lead over Team Kabra. Kabra, however, steadily reduced the deficit and produced a strong finish to turn the match around.
The final score read 145–135 in favour of Team Kabra, giving them the Silver Teams championship.
Zenith secured third place after a convincing 131.5–53 victory over Chefs Table.
Silver Teams – Final Standings
- Team Kabra — Karmal Kabra, Indranil Chakraborty, Subrata Chakraborty, Ramprosad Das, V. Ravindran, Arabinda Kumar Mishra
- Paas Four — Pranay Majumder, Animesh Majumder, Saswata Bhattacharya, Arup Kumar Hudait
- Zenith — Bulu Saha, Sayantan Konar, Biswadip Roy, Sujit Sadhak, Sukanta Das, Pujah S. Jhunjhunwala
- Chefs Table — Meenu Dugal, Swapan Sardar, Goutam Pore, Amitava Ghosh, Saptarshi Chanda, Vivekananda Ghosh
EA Bridge Wins the Swiss Teams Championship
EA Bridge had little time to dwell on their narrow Gold Teams quarterfinal defeat. The host team returned to the tables in the championship’s Swiss Teams event and finished the competition at the top of a 54-team field.
EA Bridge accumulated 98.85 VP, ahead of Shree Cement, who finished on 89.69 VP, and Sahyadri, who recorded 85.70 VP.
The victory provided a fitting conclusion to the team’s impressive overall performance during the week.
Kushari and Bendre Complete a Pairs Double
The pairs competitions produced another standout performance.
Sayantan Kushari and Kaustubh Bendre captured two titles during the championship. The partnership won the Match Point Pairs with a score of 680.07, finishing more than 71 points ahead of the next pair.
They subsequently added the Swiss Match Point Pairs title, winning that event with 735.08.
Their two victories made them one of the most successful partnerships of the championship.
Asha Sharma Achieves a Double with Different Partners
Asha Sharma also enjoyed an exceptional championship, winning two separate pairs titles with two different partners.
She first partnered Devi Muthu Bhatnagar to win the Women’s Pairs, scoring 101.00 IMPs.
Asha then teamed up with Namit Sharma in the Mixed Pairs. The Delhi partnership topped a field of 71 pairs, including players from India and overseas, with a winning score of 93.77 IMPs.
EA Bridge International Championships 2026 – Results
Gold Teams
1. Team Gromov (Russia)
2. Formidables
3. S D Associates
4. Mavericks
Silver Teams
1. Team Kabra
2. Paas Four
3. Zenith
4. Chefs Table
Match Point Pairs
1. Sayantan Kushari & Kaustubh Bendre
2. Sandeep Thakral & Vikrant Mehta
3. Anil P. Padhye & Rajesh A. Dalal
IMP Pairs
1. C N Anand & Naresh Mehta
2. S Raghuraman & Raghunath Ramanathan
3. Kamna Sharma & Abhijit Pal
Swiss IMP Pairs
1. Sambuddha Deb & Sanat Kumar Saha
2. Rajath Shourie & Stephen Thorpe
3. Abhijit Pal & Kamna Sharma
Women’s Pairs
1. Devi Muthu Bhatnagar & Asha Sharma
2. Bindiya Naidoo & Vasanti Shah
3. Nikita Kamal & Sujata Puranik Rakhra
EA Bridge Swiss Teams
1. EA Bridge
2. Shree Cement
3. Sahyadri
Swiss Match Point Pairs
1. Sayantan Kushari & Kaustubh Bendre
2. Md. Zahid Hossain & Shah Zia-Ul Haque
3. Raghunath P. Tripathi & Pradip Mondal
Mixed Pairs
1. Namit Sharma & Asha Sharma
2. Arun Kumar Sinha & Nikita Kamal
3. Priya Ranjan Sinha & Bindiya Naidoo