The Asia Cup will now be held from 4-10 June. The venue has been changed from Bangladesh to the Marriott Resort Hotel and Spa in Goa, India. As there are no government travel warnings in place for travel to Goa, the ABF intends to support Australian representative teams to compete in the Asia Games.

While arrangements are yet to be finalised, the President of Bridge Federation of India has confirmed the main event will include Men’s, Women’s, Seniors’, Mixed and Super-Mixed teams. Pairs events will follow the teams events. (The super-mixed consists of a men’s pair and a women’s pair, with pairs always playing the pair of the opposite sex from the opposing team.)

The ABF will provide some financial support, including entry fees, for the Men’s, Women’s and Seniors’ teams. Eligible pairs from the Open, Women’s and Seniors’ playoffs will be contacted directly.

The ABF will also endorse a team for the mixed and super-mixed events, although these teams will be 100% self-funded. Support will be limited to providing Australian team uniforms.

Players wishing to nominate for either of these events need to lodge an expression of interest with the ABF Secretariat, secretariat3@bigpond.com before close of business on 28 February 2018. This should include the names of all proposed team members.

If more than one team nominates for either the mixed or super-mixed categories then PQPs won since October 2016 will be used as the tiebreaker. Nominating Pairs will be ranked according to PQP levels of players, with priority given to established, successful male/female partnerships. The current rule that doubles PQPs won as a partnership will apply in calculating a team’s PQPs.