KARACHI: Waseem Khatri of Pakistan came tantalisingly close to winning the US National Scrabble Championship when he lost the finals by a narrow margin to Austin Shin of the United States in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday.

In the end, it turned out to be a case of so near yet so far. Khatri lost the first game. In the second, he was leading by 90 points, but Shin played a last move bingo to clinch the game narrowly.

It was a heart-wrenching game as Khatri was leading from the start and managed to win the third round.

But he was immediately under pressure. It became a very tough ask when Khatri had to win the two remaining games to clinch the final.

The entire nation, Khatri’s mentors and proteges among them, prayed for his success as the fourth game started. But they were in for heartbreak as he lost that game too.

Speaking to Dawn, Tariq Pervez of the Pakistan Scrabble Association said he was still proud of Khatri. “It’s still a big achievement to reach the finals in such a hugely tough field.”

Waseem Khatri had won 19 games in 28 rounds to reach the finals of the event.

It was a historic moment for the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) to see its very own scion making it to the finals. The association has been grooming young talent and seeing them bloom on their own since they receive no funding from the government.

The PSA holds inter-school championships where they pick the cream of young scrabble players, who are then given maximum practice, along with guidance, to polish their vocabulary, spelling, creativity, quick thinking, decision-making and knowledge to see to it that they are never at a loss for words.

Whiz kid

Khatri is a fine example of this. He started playing scrabble at home with an older cousin when he was around eight or nine years old. When his cousin realised that he was really good at scrabble, he introduced Khatri to the PSA when they were only a small group of scrabble players.

The group was started by Goshpi Avari after she saw a scrabble competition at the US consulate in Karachi in 1988. This group used to meet at the Beach Luxury Hotel every Friday to play scrabble.

As it grew in size, the group became the Scrabble Society and today, it is the Pakistan Scrabble Association.

When Waseem Khatri joined the scrabble group, he had no one of his age or size to play with. So he played with older players, the youngest of whom was around 40 years of age.

Of course, he would often lose to the seniors, but it enabled him to improve his game so much that there came a time when everyone started losing to him. That’s when they all arranged for him to play internationally, too.

The PSA used to fund his travel and stay abroad.

He was 18 years old in 2008 when he first travelled to India, accompanied by a couple of senior players. Although he couldn’t win there, he did manage to finish above his two senior teammates.

The following year, he was in Malaysia to participate in the World Scrabble Championship (WSC). This time he finished in the top half and qualified for the next edition. Today, at age 32, he has featured in many scrabble events and made his country proud all over the world.

He is also a big part of PSA’s youth programme. The association has given him a coaching assignment to groom younger players as well.

In fact, he is known as the ‘coach of coaches’ now. And all his disciples sent him their best wishes as he represented Pakistan once again on the international stage. His entry into the finals in the five-day championship kept them all awake till after midnight in Pakistan until the results came.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2022