World Scrabble Championship Division B: Sanaullah shows up late, crashes out of semi-final

Gets confused with timing of match to lose 3-1 to Nigerian Mpakaboari

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Daniyal Sanaullah crashed out of the World Scrabble Championship Division B event after he lost to Nigerian Jack Mpakaboari in best of five matches in Lille, France.

While Mpakaboari outplayed his Pakistani counterpart for most parts of the encounter, Sanaullah made his journey to the final even more difficult when a slight misunderstanding, where he showed up late for the semi-final after lunch, disadvantaged him from the onset.

Sanaullah did, however, manage to win the second match 487-324 to level the best of five encounter 1-1, but Mpakaboari won the remaining two matches 411-399 and 475-337 respectively to secure his place in the final.





“It was shocking for Sanaullah,” Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) Director Youth Programme Tariq Pervez told The Express Tribune. “He had left for lunch with his friends, and as there were announcements for the matches after the break, he misunderstood the timings. But he played well; he registered a big win in the second match of the tie and overall it was a good run.”

Pervez, who was also competing in the Division B event, added that 2013 World Youth Scrabble Championship winner Moiz Baig was praised for his performance in the Premier category as he was among the top 10 players.



Meanwhile, Ali Rashid was declared the best player among the 1100-rating participants, and Taha Mirza was the most improved player of the tournament among the 1000-rating players.

Pervez added that most foreign players are willing to come to Pakistan and the PSA will try to hold an international event soon. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.