Pakistan’s Ali Salman won the World Youth Scrabble Cup, which was held online.
Pakistan’s Ali Salman won the Pharm-Evo World Youth Scrabble Cup 2022, the second successive Youth Scrabble victory for the country.
The 16-year-old youth grabbed the title finishing the tournament with a spread score of 850, just ahead of India’s Madhav Kamath who stood second with a spread of 800 from 9 games. Pakistan’s Hasham Hadi Khan grabbed the third position.
The tournament
A total of 86 participants from 15 countries across five continents participated in the event which was held online and hosted by Pakistan. The tournament was played in two groups; the group stage and the finalists round. The group stage had 36 matches played among the 86 participants.
The top 10 players from the group stage qualified for the finals. The ten finalists included three players from Pakistan, two players each from Sri Lanka and India, and one player each from Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
List of Finalists:
- Pakistan: Hasham Hadi Khan, Affan Salman, Ali Salman
- Sri Lanka: Adheesha Dissanayeke, Sandali Vithanage
- India: Madhav Kamath, Pramit Rao
- Australia: Ronnie Bennet
- Thailand: Chaiyottha Manachaisi
- Malaysia: Eirfan Razman
Winners
As many as 14 matches were held in the final round after which three winners were announced.
- 1st – Ali Salman (Pakistan)
- 2nd – Madhav Kamath (India)
- 3rd – Hasham Hadi Khan (Pakistan)
Pakistan winner
Going by total points, Pakistan claimed the first position. This is the fourth time that Pakistan have won this championship.
Ali Salman said winning an international title was “really a big deal”.
“To me, it is a really big deal to win an international title,” said the 16-year-old while talking to a News outlet. “The truth is when I first participated in the event, I never thought I will go on to win the championship. All I wanted to do was my very best.”