Пакистан-Америкалық бридж шебері Мир Зия Махмуд

Pakistani American bridge player

Mir Zia Mahmood (born 7 January 1946) is a Pakistani American professional bridge player. He is a World Bridge Federation and American Contract Bridge League Grand Life Master. As of April 2011 he was the 10th ranked World Grand Master.

Zia was born in Karachi, British India, now Pakistan. Zia was educated in England from the age of six to twenty one. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant of the Institute of England and Wales and spent three years running a family business in Pakistan. He also spent eighteen months in Abu Dhabi developing business interests. Mahmood is married to Lady Emma, his wife since February 2001. They have two sons: Zain and Rafi.

Mahmood achieved international bridge fame, almost overnight, during one fortnight in 1981 when he led Pakistan to a second place finish in the Bermuda Bowl tournament. Nickell has replaced Hamman and Zia with Bobby Levin–Steve Weinstein. Zia has represented the United States in world competition, and thus he won his first major world championship, the 2009 Bermuda Bowl. Although he won the quadrennial Mixed Teams in 2004 with Sabine Auken and a French pair. He still considers himself Pakistani, however: "I am proud and happy to be representing America, but my Pakistani identity is in no way submerged. I feel like a Pakistani who is living in America and playing for America." To prove his point, Zia and his American teammates once played their opening match in Pakistani dress. Mahmood spends much of his time in Great Britain and the United States and is very much part of the London bridge scene. He wrote a weekly column for The Guardian newspaper until January 2012, when the paper stopped covering bridge. The ACBL Hall of Fame inducted Zia in 2007. In early 2019, Puczyński had by chance the opportunity to partner Zia in a tournament in Poland. Someone told Zia about Puczyński's gesture, and he warmly complimented him for it. On 15 May 2019, Puczyński received a package through the post as a present. It contained the Gold Medal which Zia had won at the 2009 Bermuda Bowl.