KARACHI, July 7: Mohammad Inayatullah did Pakistan proud on Sunday by winning the Penang International Scrabble Championship in Malaysia.

According to information received here, Inayat who was in great form throughout the championship reserved his best for the final day thrashing his opponents into submission. In the final match on Sunday, he beat the Oxford graduate Wong Zhi Yuan of Singapore to take the championship.

He was presented with the trophy and a cash purse of 3,000 Malaysian Ringgits. This was Inayat’s first win at any major international event.

Pakistani players dominated the championship on the final day. No less than five of the top 10 positions went to Pakistan.

Sixteen-year-old newcomer Moiz Baig announced his arrival at the scrabble scene with a bang by claiming the fourth position.

Seventeen-year-old Javeria Mirza was seventh, team leader Tariq Pervez was ninth and 18-year-old Shahzaib Khatri was 10th. The dominance of Pakistani players was such that even the 12-year-old Abdullah Abbasi finished in the top half (24th).

In the Elite category, Waseem Khatri proved his class by taking the sixth position. Waseem was the youngest and the most inexperienced player in the elite group but showed great maturity in tackling far more experienced opponents. Nigel Richards of New Zealand was the winner.

The president of Malaysian Scrabble Federation praised the Pakistani players who have impressed everyone with their performance.

The team management was overjoyed with the team’s show and hoped that Inayat’s victory would give further boost to scrabble in Pakistan, which has been growing rapidly over the years even without any support from the government. The stunning performance of the youngsters means that Pakistan will be the favorite to win the World Youth Scrabble Championship which takes place in Dubai in December.

The team will now leave for Bangkok, Thailand, to take part in the 28th King’s cup, the biggest scrabble tournament of the world.