World Youth Scrabble Championship: Abdullah finishes runner-up in Perth

Qualifies for World Championship after impressive performance

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Abdullah Abbasi lost to Nicholas Hong of Singapore at the 2015 World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC) in Perth, Australia on Monday but managed to qualify for the World Championship, which will begin on Wednesday in the same city.

Abdullah missed out on the opportunity to become the second Pakistani to win the WYSC as he won 17 of 24 rounds and Nicholas took the title with 18 wins.

The 15-year-old had a chance to claim the title when he defeated Nicholas 427-387 with a spread of 1,002 in the first match of the day. He led the championship in round 20 and needed to win at least two more rounds to beat Nicholas in the overall ranking.

World Youth Scrabble Championship: Abbasi finishes day two in second place

The Quetta-based player had to settle with second position in the U16 category as well, with Nicholas taking the prize in that age category too.

“Now Abdullah will be the third player to compete for Pakistan at the world championship,” Pakistan Scrabble Association Director Tariq Pervez told The Express Tribune. “He’ll join Moizullah Baig and Waseem Khatri there. Overall, Pakistan finished second after Sri Lanka.”

Meanwhile, eight-year-old Saim Usmani secured second place in the U10 category and Hasham Hadi also finished as runner-up in the U12 event.

Maryam Jalil won the prize for the highest score in a single move with the word ‘container’.

Ali Rashid finished 17th, while Hadi twins Hassan and Hammad wrapped up the tournament at the 18th and 19th position respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2015.

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