Pathbreakers Vidya, Kalpana on a mission to 'Bridge' the generation gap in their sport

HANGZHOU: Bridge often does not feature in the list of sporting events that Indian youngsters want to pursue, but Vidya Patel and Kalpana Gurjar want to buck that trend, as the Asian Games experience has fuelled their ambitions.

At 22 and 24 respectively, Vidya and Kalpana, hailing from Raibidpura village in Madhya Pradesh, are the youngest members of the 18-member Indian Bridge team that is taking part in the Hangzhou Games.

Sample this for the age difference in the squad. The oldest member of the team is 77-year-old Bharati Dey while 12 are above 60.

However, Vidya and Kalpana are undeterred by all that, and want to bring awareness to the people that the sport has nothing to do with gambling.

''It is a sport, and everybody can play Bridge. It is not that only old people play or young people play the sport. You are using your mind and intelligence, so it's the same for old or young,'' Vidya told PTI.

''I want to make a mark in my sport and I am serious about it,'' she added.

Born to a farmer father at Khargone district of MP, Vidya’s baptism to Bridge was natural as more than 200 people, old and young, play the sport there.

Kalpana's father is a primary school teacher at Raibidpura and he is an avid Bridge player. In fact, Raibidpura is known as the 'Bridge Village' of the country with nearly 300 people playing the sport actively.

In a village of 5000-odd people, that makes up 4-5% of the total population.

There is a Bridge club at Raibidpura, perhaps, a rare such facility at a village.

The Kisan Bridge club, established in 2012, hosts at least 50 people every day.

''My father is a farmer and we have a small piece of land and that is our source of income. Our village has around 300 Bridge players and as a child I used to play it with my father's older brother, that is how I took up the sport.

''I started playing Bridge seriously when I was in class VIII at our society school. That was in 2013. Kalpana also plays with me,'' she said.

However, she faced some obstacles while taking up the sport.

''When I started, some people in our village would say why should a girl play Bridge. They thought it's related to cheating. But my parents and family supported me and gave encouragement,” said Vidya.

But the Bridge club in her village also gave her a perfect sanctuary to follow her interest.

''I used to play at the club, otherwise, we also play the sport online on mobile as there is a Bridge App. At least 40-50 people play Bridge at the club every day.

''For the Asian Games, we used to train for at least five hours a day. During COVID-19, our coach (Vinay Desai) gave us online coaching.'' She competed in national championships in 2015 and started playing in international events in 2017.

Vidya and Kalpana took part in the 2019 Youth World Championships in Croatia.

At the 2022 Youth World Championships in Salsomaggiore, Italy, they won a silver in Under-26 women's pairs.

Vidya has completed B.Sc in Mathematics from the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad.

Even though the profile of Bridge has been rising in the country after the two bronze medals in the 2018 Asian Games and other international events, players from humble backgrounds still need financial support to adopt it as a career option.

Many in the Indian team for the Hangzhou Asian Games have their own businesses and some are professionals after passing out from IITs.

''Yes, I need external financial support. I will need to do a job to be able to play Bridge. We get support from our federation and government for the Asian Games,'' Vidya said.

Both Vidya and Kalpana had taken up a contractual job as primary school teachers in Tamil Nadu before they were selected for the Asian Games.

''That was a contractual job for three-four months. We have left that job now,” she said.

At the Hangzhou Games, the Indian men's and mixed team are in contention for a semifinal spot which would ensure them at least a bronze medal each.

But the mixed team, in which Vidya and Kalpana are competing, is unlikely to make the grade as it is well below top-four in the round-robin league which ends on Monday.