India today suffered a shock defeat at the hands of unfancied United Arab Emirates in the 11th round robin match of the open category in the 17th Bridge Federation of India and Middle East (BFAME) Championship here today.
India lost by 8-22 Victory Points (VP).
Despite the loss, their first in the meet so far, India continued to lead the field with 222 VPs.
India had overwhelmed Pakistan by 24-6 VPs in the ninth round before drubbing Kuwait by 25-2 VPs.
Commenting on India's defeat Balakrishnan Prabhakar, one of the Indian players, said, "We faultered in bidding and also defended poorly. Hopefully we would be able to improve our performance in the next four rounds."
Bangladesh stayed put at second place with 209 VPs. They are followed by Bahrain (182), Sri Lanka (156), UAE (154) and Kuwait (129).
Defending champions Pakistan remained at the bottom with 118 VPs. They managed to earn their first victory today when they beat Kuwait by 21-9 VPs.
After three more round robin matches, top four finishers in the Open category will play the semi finals which would be held on knock-out basis.
Pakistan women team continued to remain on top position with 144.5 VPs. They are followed by India (137.5), Palestine (115) and Sri Lanka (82).
Like in the Open category, the Senior event also saw Indian veterans losing a match against Lowly-placed Sri Lanka by 10-20 VPs.
However, they also retained the top spot as they beat Pakistan by 17-13 VPs to total 139 VPs at the end of the eighth round.
