NEW DELHI, Aug 12: Formidables, who are a force to reckon with in the national bridge circuit, have inducted Chennai's top pair of B Prabhakar and R Krishnan in their quest to retain the Modipon Gold Cup beginning at the Taj Palace Hotel here on Wednesday.``Very good,'' said team skipper Rajeshwar Tewari when asked what were the chances of the Formidables to retain the Gold Cup, adding ``with the top team away in Karachi we should win.'' Tewari was also a member of the Delhi team which won the Guru Dutt Trophy at the Summer National Bridge Championships at Nainital in April.Kiran Nadar, one of the best women players in the country who will be playing in the Venice Cup at Hammamet, Tunisia in October and also a prominent member of the Formidables, however, added a note of cautious optimism saying, ``We should do well. They (Prabhakar and Krishnan) are a good pair, but they are playing with us for the first time and we will see how it goes.''ITC, comprising Ajay Khare, Vinay Desai, Raj Kumar, Kripakaran, Anand Mehta and Anil Pandhye, who lost in the final of the selection trials to Teloijan Tea Company are also strong contenders for the Rs 150,000 first prize. Mehta is the non-playing captain of the current Indian team while Pandhye was inducted into the team which is presently playing in Karachi and is expected back on Wednesday.The rest of the men's team - Arvind Poddar, Subhash Gupta, Jaggy Shivdasani, Santanu Ghose and Rajesh Dalal will not be able to play as a team and may join other teams on their return from Karachi. The team will be representing India in the Bermuda Bowl in Tunisia.Some 36 teams are expected to take part in the five-day tournament which offers a total prize money of Rs 375,000. The teams will play 10 rounds of Swiss League after which the knockout stage will begin with the top eight teams playing a 36-board quarter-final. The semi-final will be over 48-boards while the 64-board final will be held on Saturday.Simultaneously, a pairs tournament offering a total prize money of Rs 50,000 will be held with the winners getting Rs 20,000. For the first time in the Modipon Cup the Calcutta Cavendish auction pairs will be held on the concluding day (Sunday).
