Top of the Scrabble pack

The Star Online (Malaysia): Top of the Scrabble pack

Penang lad wins national junior title.

THE CIMB-MSA Scrabble Junior Circuit 2011 came to an outstanding finish as we crowned a new national champion, Cheong Yi Wei, 16, from Penang. The team of talented young Scrabble players who made it through the nationwide state-level competitions, showed a higher standard and quality in their game power as well as word knowledge.

In the past year alone, we have seen up and coming players who outshone their seniors who started playing earlier than them.

Some of the outstanding talents are Choo Zi Wei from SMK Jit Sin, Penang; Prema Maniam from SMK Sg Pelek, Selangor; and Ignatius Wong from SMK Tinggi Melaka.

I first noticed Zi Wei in the Astar Scrabble Challenge International 2011 in February. It was his first tourney. In less than six months, he made clear his ambition to represent the country in the world youth championship by finishing in the top 5 in the Penang and Perak legs.

Prema Maniam, a shy timid girl, became the heroine of her school by being the best female finisher in the pack.

If there is an award for the most enthusiastic school, it has to be SMK Sg Pelek. Besides having tremendous support and guidance from their teachers, the players from SMK Sg Pelek were a dedicated lot. Despite the distance, they were there for almost every tournament, driven by their love for Scrabble.

Ignatius, who started playing competitive Scrabble a year ago, managed to qualify for the WYSC 2011. His hard work and determination earned him 5th place in this year’s CIMB-MSA Scrabble Junior Circuit.

Throughout the competition, reigning champion Yi Wei was riding at the top, unfazed. He only broke a sweat when he was beaten by Vinnith Ramamurti from SMK Seafield, Subang Jaya, twice in round 11 and 12.

In round 13, Vinnith almost managed another upset but a last minute bingo by Yi Wei clinched it.

And so the rest of the top 5 spots were filled by Vinnith, William Kang, Jagan Narayanan and Ignatius Wong.

Tournament fiesta

Up north, one of the most anticipated tournaments of the year welcomed more than 100 local and international Scrabble players to City Bayview Hotel, Penang, to compete in the annual affair.

New Zealand-born Nigel Richards, official world No.1 player, stamped his mark as champ of this year’s ICT Penang Open Scrabble Championship.

There were many new faces, such as Singapore’s top 10 players, Liew Kian Boon and Toh Wei Bin (WYSC 2007 champion); Heather Long, Peter Bauer, Rocky Sharma and Rod Talbot from Australia; Christian Oktavius and Hendy Yohanes from Indonesia; and Leonora Labog from the Philippines.

Another first-timer in the ICT Penang Open was Liz Fagerlund from New Zealand. Despite some rerouting due to the Chilean ash that had drifted to New Zealand, Fagerlund made her way to Singapore and hopped on a bus to Penang. The cheerful Fagerlund came in high spirits to finish a commendable 17th place.

Throughout the entire competition, several players managed to reach the top spot. Martin Teo (Malaysia) held the top seat after the first two games before being overtaken by Shim Yen Nee (Singapore) who was immediately cut by Richards by the end of Game 4.

Singaporean Liew Kian Boon, 21, managed to carve a win out of the game with Richards in the 5th round to lead the pack, but was beaten in the next game by Shim who then took over as leader.

A fat spread put Shim at a comfortable lead over the other players until Round 10 when Richards moved into fifth gear and led the pack all the way until the end.

Richards retained his coveted title with the US$2,000 (RM6,000) prize money. Sam Kantimathi (United States), Yeo Kien Hung (Malaysia), Shim and Liew completed the top 5 winners list.

Richards showed his form when he won another major title the week after, in Bangkok. He climbed from mid-pack to finish 2nd after 27 gruelling rounds, edging runaway leader Komol Panyasophonlert (Thailand) in the best of 3 finals of the 26th Brands Crossword Game King’s Cup 2011.

Komol and Cheah Siu Hean, the president of the Singapore Scrabble Association, were leading the participants throughout the championship with Komol having a 3-point advantage over Cheah when the Gibson Rules were played. The Gibson Rules apply when a player has sufficient points ahead of the runners-up to win a competition or in this case, qualify for the finals.

However, from the electronic scoreboard, Richards was seen climbing the ladder one step at a time before he overtook Cheah to finish as a finalist. Cheah’s gargantuan efforts put him in 3rd place ahead of Alastair Richards (Australia) and Thacha Koowirat (Thailand). Malaysia’s best finisher was Yeo Kien Hung, who came in 18th place.

In the final game, Richards made it looked easy when he played a nine-timer with the floating D on the board and with 2 blanks at hand to play PLODDING for 131 points to stay ahead before extending his lead by playing RETHINKS to seal the title along with the US$10,000 (RM30,000) prize money. Richards won 528-352 against Komol.

Richards became an immediate megastar, inspiring many with his cool manner, word power and techniques. He has taken Scrabble to a new level, challenging other players to stretch themselves and aim for the stars.

Up next

> The Subang Jaya Scrabble Challenge will be held from July 9 to 10 at the Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya. There will be three categories: Open, Under-18 and Beginners, with attractive prizes to be won.

For details, contact K. Sundraraj (012-366 1555/ ksraj@gmail.com) or P. Chitra (016-621 4065 / pchitra65@gmail.com).

> The MSA National Scrabble Championship 2011 will be held at City Bayview Hotel, Penang, from July 23 to 24. This is the final call for all Scrabble players who want to qualify for the World Scrabble Championship. The national champion will be given a ticket to this year’s competition which will be held in Warsaw, Poland.

To register, please contact Dr Adele Tan (adele.ong@gmail.com) or Martin Teo (loslyfs@gmail.com). For more information, visit penster.com.my.