Top ten but Thais miss out on Scrabble World Championship final

 

the final top 20 leader board after qualifying

 

Both Thais finished in the top ten at the Scrabble world championships in Nairobi, Kenya - but they missed out on the final.

 

The competition showed that English native speakers no longer rule the roost when it comes to the world's most popular English word game.

 

Chiang Mai doctor Jakkrit Klaphajone came one agonizing game short of making the final and finished 5th.

 

Bangkok compatriot Thacha Koowirat rallied late to claim seventh spot.

 

Jakkrit needed to win the 32nd and final qualifying game against Akshay Bhandarkar representing Bahrain but was thrashed instead.

 

World's best player Nigel Richards of New Zealand also missed out losing the final game to Nigeria's Peter Moses.

 

Moses and Bhandarkar will play the best of seven game final today, Sunday.

 

The top twenty leader board - shown in our picture - indicates that Scrabble is no more the domain of the traditional English powerhouses.

 

Only one English representative was in the top twenty -Femi Awowade - and he was born in Nigeria.

 

There was one Canadian, two New Zealanders and two Australians but no one from the USA made the top twenty despite a strong contingent.

 

Top Scrabble playing nations in the world now include Thailand, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Singapore.

 

The event in the Kenyan capital is the World English language Scrabble Players Association Championship (WESPAC) considered one of the two world championships in the sport of crossword gaming. 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-11-12

It must be difficult for the Americans, what with all those leftover "u" s.

 

just teasing guys.

Riveting stuff.