KARACHI: Pakistan team’s dominance at the Junior World Scrabble Championship reached a new level in Torquay, England, with the top six positions being occupied by them at the end of day two of the event on Sunday.

Former world youth champion Moiz Ullah Baig was in superb form all day and was firmly placed at the top. Moiz has a 14-2 win record and a spread of 1,489 tiles. His only defeat came at the hands of Daniyal Sanaullah.

Moiz is now two wins clear of the next player and seems to be in a strong position to win the title.

Hammad Hadi, who inflicted the only defeat to Moiz on day one, is currently second with 12 wins and a spread of 1,129 tiles.

Interestingly, both the players made an almost similar start on the final day of the Princess Cup in Thailand last year with Hammad narrowly edging out Moiz to take the title.

The 16-year-old Sohaib Sanaullah ended day-two in the third spot with 11 wins and a spread of 1,222 tiles.

Rising star, Imaad Ali, who is only 12, is currently in fourth place with 11 wins and a spread of 678 tiles.

Hassan Hadi made the championship look like a domestic tournament in Pakistan by occupying the fifth position with 11 wins and a spread of 574 tiles.

Taha Mirza completed the total dominance of Pakistan by occupying the sixth position with 10 wins and a spread of 657 tiles.

Poh Ying Ming of the US is currently the top non-Pakistani at seventh position with 10 wins.

The defending champion, Matthew O’Connor of the US made a horrendous start to the day by losing his first four games, which put him out of the top half. He made a brief recovery with two huge wins but another defeat later in the day effectively killed his chances.

Matthew is currently ninth with a 9-7 record and is five wins behind the leader Moiz. Only a miracle on the final day can help him retain his title.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2018

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