Inter-School Scrabble Championship: Karachi holds second biggest event in the world

The competition was also the first step towards shortlisting players for WYSC

KARACHI: The Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) featured a record number of 726 players in the 2015 Horlicks Inter-School Scrabble Championship at the Marriott Hotel, Karachi yesterday.

According to PSA Director Youth Programme Tariq Pervez, the event became the second largest in the world in terms of participation.

“It is the second largest scrabble tournament in the world now,” Tariq told The Express Tribune. “The turnout has been great. The championship featured 726 players and that is a big number. It is also our biggest event yet.”

He added that Thailand was on top with 7,000 players, but they could not compete with that as Thailand’s royal family organises it.

The one-day event took place in four rounds. City School’s Faiq Riaz won the tournament in the U18 category, whereas Syeda Mariam Jalil took second position and Mohsin Ali secured the third spot.

SM Science College’s Shayan Khatri won the title in the U20 age group. The top three players in this category won all four rounds and their positions were decided based on their respective spreads. Shayan finished with a spread of 911, Mehwish Ahmed came second with 503, while Aihab Imtiaz took the third spot with 476.

The event was divided into six categories beginning from players in the U10 age group.

Pervez further stated that the competition was also the first step towards shortlisting 80 talented players to make a pool for the 2015 World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC).

Pakistan won the 2013 WYSC with Moizullah Baig’s stellar performance, who said that the Inter-School Championship had come a long way.

“When I started playing, there were around 430 players. But now the numbers have increased. It shows that scrabble is growing and we are getting more talent.”

 

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