KARACHI: Bridge Hall of Famer Kemal Shoaib and Syed Ameer Hasan, Executive Secretary of the Pakistan Bridge Federation, both passed away here Thursday morning.

Kemal Shoaib, a chemical engineer from MIT, was employed as a CEO of numerous banking and Industrial organizations in a number countries including USA, UK and Pakistan. For the past 12 years he was on the board of the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan that seeks to promote chess, bridge and scrabble at schools and colleges.

Shoaib, represented Pakistan at international bridge forums at the highest levels and initially partnered with Zia Mahmood. He would have taken satisfaction in that his last tournament was the 2019 UAE National Day pairs which he won with his partner Khurshid Hadi at a record shattering combined ages of over 160 years. He was an avid golfer and in his youth, a national table tennis champion.

Syed Ameer Hasan has been the backbone of bridge history, recording all national and international events and publishing the longest surviving bridge chronicle anywhere in Asia. Ameer contributed to all the local journals and was in the process of publishing the first authentic history of bridge in Pakistan. The loss of both stalwarts of Pakistan bridge is a big loss.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2020