Mixed results on day one for Pakistan

Inayatullah, Khatri registered uneven scores in World Scrabble event.

KARACHI: Pakistan players experienced mixed fortunes on the opening day of the 12th World Scrabble Championship underway in Prague, Czech Republic.

Muhammad Inayatullah, who won a title for Pakistan in Malaysia earlier this year, created the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating world number eight Thailand’s Komol Panyasoponlert. However, he lost all his subsequent matches whereas Panyasoponlert rebounded to finish the day in fifth place.

On the other hand, national champion Waseem Khatri had to endure a rough start with a series of defeats but registered four successive wins to end up among the top 50 of the 110 contestants.

“Khatri will bounce back given his ability to impress his competitors,” Pakistan Scrabble Association Vice-President Javaid Iqbal told The Express Tribune. “His aim was to finish among the top 10, and he still has time to do that.”

For youngster Muhammad Inshal, the day began with his nerves getting the better of him as he lost his first three matches. However, he made an impressive recovery and won his next three matches and was on the 69th position at the close.

The day finished with former world champion Canada’s Adam Logan winning six out of seven games while England’s Bret Smitheram and Scotland’s Piotr Andronowski are at the second and third position respectively.

Meanwhile in the ongoing open category event taking place simultaneously with the World Championship, Pakistan’s Tariq Pervez registered an impressive performance and is currently lying on the seventh position among 45 players.

The four-day championship is featuring 110 players from 41 countries. Iqbal said it was the first time that the players are participating in Prague, which is a big achievement for the promotion of scrabble.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2013.

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