Moiz unsuccessful in world title defence

Pakistan lose to Singapore to finish second in youth scrabble event.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Moizullah Baig failed to defend his title at the 2014 World Youth Scrabble Championship in Colombo when he slumped to the 22nd spot on Sunday.

He lost his title to England’s Jack Durand, who became the first English player to win the championship.

Jack triumphed in 20 out of 24 rounds with a spread of 1476 despite losing his last-round match to Arham Abidi.

Pakistan’s best result came from Mariam Arif, who secured third place in the tournament behind Singapore’s Yong Jian Rong. Although both Yong and Mariam had 17 wins from 24 matches, Yong moved ahead due to a higher spread of 1244 against Mariam’s 1054.

Pakistan’s Abdullah Abbasi finished ninth after winning 16 matches with a spread of 966.

The Hadi twins, Hammad and Hassan, finished 12th and 19th respectively after claiming victory in 15 matches each, while Arham was only the fifth Pakistani player in the top 20.

Debutant Abbas Shabbir, who started the final day in the 91st spot, made rapid strides to climb up to a 51st-position finish.

Pakistan retained the top spot till the very last match, but after succumbing to defeats in their last-round games, the country slumped to second place, finishing behind winners Singapore.

The championship featured 120 players from 20 countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2014.

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