China\u2019s AGOOFANS took gold (89.96 VP) and China U31 the silver (89.47 VP). India secured the medal despite visa delays and last-minute changes to partnerships.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The team \u2014 Anshul Bhatt, Sagnik Roy, Sayantan Kushari, Shubham Acharya, Surajit Bar and Vidhya Patel \u2014 was captained and coached by Kaustubh Bendre.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chinese visas for some players didn\u2019t arrive in time, forcing changes to the playing combinations. Anshul, who had trained extensively with Shubham Acharya, ended up partnering Kolkata-based national player Sayantan Kushari instead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shubham partnered Vidhya Patel, who is from Raibidpura, a Madhya Pradesh village known for producing bridge players. These new pairings held the team together until Sagnik Roy and Surajit Bar arrived from Kolkata in time to reinforce the squad. Because of the unforeseen circumstances, Anshul and Vidhya played six of India\u2019s eight qualifying rounds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India finished seventh in qualifying on August 3 to 4, making the cut for the eight-team final. The final was a round robin on August 5, with each team playing a seven-board match against every other finalist.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On Anshul\u2019s selection to the older age group, coach Bendre said: \u201cAnshul has been selected because he has earned his place, not because of his age or reputation. At 17, he already shows the discipline, composure and partnership awareness expected at the U31 level.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India finished seventh in qualifying on August 3 to 4, making the cut for the eight-team final. The final was a round robin on August 5, with each team playing a seven-board match against every other finalist.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Outside bridge, he built PawPath, a wearable sensor system that analyses dog gait using machine learning, which won an ISEF Grand Award in Animal Sciences and is being developed into a pet-health platform called Sniff.<\/p>\r\n\r\n