KARACHI: Their trophies proudly held in their hands, 16-year-olds Moizullah Baig and Javeria Mirza, the winner and runner-up of the World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC) returned along with other team members here on Monday amid cheers, claps and smiles.
The team, apart from the excellent performance of its two top players, did exceptionally well on the whole, playing against 136 youth players from all over the world to become the number one team in the world at the high-profile WYSC event held in Dubai.
Among the other players, 15-year-old Maryam Arif grabbed the eighth position, Mohammad Inshal 14th, Javeria Salman 15th, Hamza Sheikh 16th, Mirza Tayyab 18th and Yash Gandhi 19th.
Speaking to media at the Karachi Airport, Moiz said that he had practised a lot for the event. “I regularly take part in the PSA tournaments which has really helped my game,” he said.
Moiz could not take part in the 2012 edition of WYSC that was staged in Birmingham, UK, as he couldn’t get a visa in time then. So this was his first appearance in the world event. Asked if he got any financial support from the government, the young boy shrugged and said none at all.
“I got a sponsorship from the private sector to take part in the event last year but since I couldn’t go then, I’m glad that the same sponsorship became valid this time,” he explained.
Javeria told Dawn that the Thailand youth team has always been at the top in WYSC but this time they were completely outclassed by the Pakistan team. “Only one of their players finished third as the first and second positions were taken up by the Pakistanis,” she said.
“This year the Pakistan team was so good that they beat up all the other countries’ players to end up playing each other on the final day. And that was when Moiz and myself beat most of our own team members,” she explained. “I even beat Moiz and Inshal that way,” she added.
The team was received by senior members of the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) and the players’ families and fans.
Moiz’s mother Aliya Amir said that her son was a real discovery in the inter-school scrabble tournament organised by PSA back in 2010. “He was only in class six then,” she informed. “Moiz was encouraged to play scrabble in his school, Falcon House, by his games teacher Qazi Adnan,” she added.
Though Moiz is now a freshman at D.J. Science College, his school teacher, who got him interested in the game, was also there at the airport to receive him. Asked how he felt to see the child he had guided become a champion, his former teacher only laughed before commenting, “I think now he can guide me!”
Javeria’s sister Raiha Mirza said that her sister was busy with her mid-term exams just before the championship. “She is an A-Levels student at Karachi Grammar School and she was told that she couldn’t skip her exams to take part in the event. That was when Javeria got in touch with Karen Richards, the chairperson of the youth committee to try and move forward the championship date so that she could take part in it,” the sister informed.
“Finally, Javeria was taken to the airport on the last day of her exams directly from school and in her uniform,” she laughed. “She really wanted to win this championship as she is going to be 17 next year making her over-age for participation in WYSC,” she added.
Senior player and PSA Vice President Tariq Pervez, who also heads their youth programme, said that he is not surprised at his team’s fine performance at WYSC. “It was always on the cards. I always knew that they would win,” he said.
“Though young Inshal, who was exhausted from playing continuous scrabble, finished 14th in WYSC, we are also very proud of him as he also made his mark in WSC in Prague,” Tariq Pervez added.
