KARACHI: Pakistan’s nine-year-old Hasham Hadi will take the spotlight as the youngest competitor for the country at the World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC) that will begin in Colombo on August 29.
Hasham is part of the 10-member squad along with his older twin brothers Hammad and Hassan and WYSC defending champion Moizullah Baig. The team also includes Mariam Arif, Abdullah Abbasi Bisma Fatima, Hamza Sheikh, Absar Mustajab and Arsalan Ahmed.
The Hadi brothers have emerged as a force to reckon with at the Pakistan Scrabble Association’s (PSA) local circuit, as they earned their place in the WYSC squad by finishing among the top 10 players at the Youth Ranking Championship.
PSA Youth Development Director Tariq Pervez said that the trio has improved drastically in last year, and Hasham is nothing less than a surprise for everyone.
“Hasham in fact defeated a veteran player with a margin of 200 points recently,” Pervez told The Express Tribune.
“He will be our youngest player, but the progress he’s made is amazing.”
Meanwhile, Roop Nadeem Hadi said that her children have made her proud.
“They are crazy about scrabble,” said Roop. “Hasham began playing early on so that he could catch up with his brothers, and now he has made it to the squad.”
Meanwhile, Pervez believes that Pakistan’s Moizullah will stay as the favourite to win the title and while the team is a little inexperienced as compared to last year’s, the players are extremely keen to learn more.
“I believe we can win it again. Moiz will get the toughest competition from his own teammates, like Hadi brothers or Mariam, who won the Eid Tournament on Sunday against the veterans,” concluded Pervez.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 6th, 2014.
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