COLOMBO: The second tournament, a day-long affair, in the Sri Lanka Scrabble festival, the World Senior Scrabble Championship, came to an end here on Thursday.

Howard Warner of New Zealand reigned supreme in the tournament featuring pla­yers aged 55 and over. Warner won 16 of his 20 matches and had a spread 1,596.

Steve Polatnick of the US was second with 14 wins and a spread of 364, followed by third-placed Tony Sim of Singapore with 13 wins and a spread of 691.

The side tournament for players not qualified for seniors was won by Singapore’s Guatham Jayaraman who registered 17 wins and a spread of 895.

Pre-tournament favourite Waseem Khatri of Pakistan had to be contended with the second position with 16.5 wins and a spread of 1785. A tie with compatriot Tariq Pervez earlier in the day cost Waseem the top position.

Gabriel Martin of Malaysia was third with 14 wins and a spread of 635.

Young Arham Abidi played magnificently to finish fourth.

Tariq won the prize for the highest match score of 606. Tariq also won the prize for the highest single move score of 167 for his word ‘overcast’.

The final tournament of the Sri Lanka Scrabble Festival, the ninth World Youth Scrabble Championship, will commence on Friday.

Moiz Baig of Pakistan will be defending his title.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2014