World Youth Scrabble Championships
The first World Youth Scrabble Championships were held in Wollongong, Australia 2006. Competitors from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and United States have competed in the annual tournament so far. WYSC is open to anyone under the age of 18 on January 1 of the year of each tournament. The tournament used to be held at the start of December, but was brought forward to August for 2014.[1] So far the WYSC tournament has been held in Malaysia four times, Australia once and the Philippines once.[2] The 2014 event was held in Sri Lanka while the 2015 event is scheduled to be held in Perth, Australia.[3]
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2006
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | David Eldar | Australia |
| 2nd | Austin Shin | England |
| 3rd | Will Nediger | Canada |
| 4th | Joshua Sng | Singapore |
| 5th | Benjamin Chow | Singapore |
| 6th | Toh Weibin | Singapore |
| 7th | Thacha Koowirat | Thailand |
| 8th | Tanasak Supaphibunk | Thailand |
| 9th | Sherwin Rodrigues | India |
| 10th | Lee Guan Hui | Singapore |
WYSC 2006 took place at Wollongong University, Wollongong, Australia
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2007
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Toh Weibin | Singapore |
| 2nd | Sean Chung Chin Shiu | Malaysia |
| 3rd | Ong Suanne | Malaysia |
| 4th | Liew Kian Boon | Singapore |
| 5th | Pasit Natearpha | Thailand |
| 6th | Benjamin Chow | Singapore |
| 7th | Ian Tay Zhi Xian | Malaysia |
| 8th | Charas Worrapotpisut | Thailand |
| 9th | Lee Guan Hui | Singapore |
| 10th | Imron Sawamipak | Thailand |
The 2007 WYSC took place on December 4–6, 2007 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2008
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Charnrit Khongthanarat | Thailand |
| 2nd | Darren Khoo Beng Way | Malaysia |
| 3rd | Scott Chung | Malaysia |
| 4th | Ramaraj Sundraraj | Malaysia |
| 5th | Suanne Ong | Malaysia |
| 6th | Mohsin Ahmed | India |
| 7th | Wanchana Jirapitikul | Thailand |
| 8th | Samitha Amarasinghe | Sri Lanka |
| 9th | Alastair Richards | Australia |
| 10th | Akaradech Suppapitta | Thailand |
WYSC 2008 took place in Georgetown Penang, Malaysia
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2009
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Suanne Ong | Malaysia |
| 2nd | Alastair Richards | Australia |
| 3rd | Michael McKenna | Australia |
| 4th | Preedee Khongthanara | Thailand |
| 5th | Charnrit Khongthana | Thailand |
| 6th | Oluwaseun Oyeleke | Nigeria |
| 7th | Wong Zhi Yuan | Singapore |
| 8th | Wanchana Jirapitikul | Thailand |
| 9th | Goutham Jayaraman | Singapore |
| 10th | Charas Worapotpisut | Thailand |
The 2009 WYSC was held in the Zon Regency Hotel, Johor Bahru as part of the Iskandar Malaysia World Festival of Scrabble. Unlike previous years of WYSC which featured 22 games over 3 days and a best out of 5 play-off; the 2009 WYSC was a 24-game tournament held over 3 days without any final play-off. The World Youth Scrabble Championships of 2009 was held from Tuesday, December 8 to Thursday, December 10. 2009 WYSC had a record number of entrants of over 80. Members of the Malaysian monarchy were present for the prize giving ceremony. The Princess of Malaysia personally congratulated each of the prize winners. In the pre-tournament trivia competition (which includes 3 team-of-3 games of scrabble), the winning team was "Table 8", consisting of Joe Knapper of England, Phillip Hamilton of Australia and Theodoro Martus of Philippines.
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2010
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ker Jen Ho | Malaysia |
| 2nd | Preedee Khongthanara | Thailand |
| 3rd | William Kang | Malaysia |
| 4th | Oluwafemi Akinlosotu | Nigeria |
| 5th | Kitty-Jean Laginha | Australia |
| 6th | Tawan Paepolsiri | Thailand |
| 7th | Vinnith Ramamurti | Malaysia |
| 8th | Mohd Bin Abdul Suma | Philippines |
| 9th | Jessica Pratesi | England |
| 10th | Looi Yih Feng | Malaysia |
Cheong Yi Hua of Malaysia, a non-qualifier, finished in 19th position and received the encouragement award for her well-above-expectation result. Irwin Goh of Malaysia received the Paulette Yeoh Award for his strong behind-the-scenes helping of the tournament. This was the first WYSC to have more than 1 female finish in the top ten [Kitty-Jean Laginha (Australia) and Jessica Pratesi (England)] and the first WYSC to have a Filipino finish in the top ten (Mohd Bin Abdul Suma). The pre-tournament trivia competition ran again in 2010 and the winning team was "SAM GUN" which consisted of Kim Rubina (Philippines), Arvinran Rajendran (Malaysia) and Shahroz Zamir (Pakistan). Second place went to the returning team name of "Table 8" which consisted of Phillip Hamilton (Australia), Traci Malitao (Philippines), Pranav Kaarthik (Qatar) and Lim Mao Fong (Malaysia). 4 ladies made it to play at Table 1 during the tournament. They were: Sirinapa Srinornil (Thailand), Natasha Podesser (Australia), Kitty-Jean Laginha (Australia) and Jessica Pratesi (England). This the first time more than one female had played on table 1 with the exclusion of Game 1. Finally, Natasha Podesser of Australia was the only player in existence to have played in all 4 previous WYSC tournaments, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and also the 2010 WYSC. However, being 17 years old during the 2010 WYSC, she will be too old to compete in any further WYSC's. Oluwafemi Akinlosotu of Nigeria held the lead of the tournament for the (incredibly) first thirteen games.
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2011
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Anand Bharadwaj | Australia |
| 2nd | Victor Gwee | Singapore |
| 3rd | Michael McKenna | Australia |
| 4th | Yeshan Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka |
| 5th | Premkumar Nimalan | Sri Lanka |
| 6th | Oliver Garner | United Kingdom |
| 7th | Sinatarn Pattanasuwanna | Thailand |
| 8th | Mohd Bin Abdul Suma | Philippines |
| 9th | Jessica Pratesi | United Kingdom |
| 10th | Somphong Phosai | Thailand |
WYSC 2011 took place in the same location as 2007 and 2009: The Zon Regency Hotel, Malaysia. This year produced the youngest ever WYSC champion, Anand Bharadwaj being a mere 11 years old and in the process making Australia the second country to have had a representative win WYSC more than once (2006/2011) the other country being Malaysia (2009/2010). Michael McKenna (Australia) placed 3rd, making it his second 3rd placing in his years at WYSC (2009/2011). Jessica Pratesi placed in 9th position for the second year running, Mohd Suma retained his 8th position from 2010. Anand also stayed in first position for longer than any other player, leading the tournament for an astonishing eleven rounds. 2011 was the first year that there were no competitors who had played in every single WYSC. The pre-WYSC trivia tournament that ran in 2009 and 2010 did not run in 2011.
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2012
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Michael McKenna | Australia |
| 2nd | Cheong Yi Wei | Malaysia |
| 3rd | William Kang | Malaysia |
| 4th | Navya Zaveri | UAE |
| 5th | Yeshan Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka |
| 6th | Yasiru Fernando | Sri Lanka |
| 7th | Tim Byrant | United States |
| 8th | Sompong Phosai | Thailand |
| 9th | Jessica Pratesi | United Kingdom |
| 10th | Sinatarn Pattanasuwanna | Thailand |
High Word went to Javeria Mirza (Pakistan), SHUNTERS (158) High Game went to Sinatarn Pattanasuwanna for 640.
WYSC 2012 took place at the UK Britannia Hotel in Birmingham, England from Friday December 7 to Sunday December 9. There are expected to be 99 entries in 2012 making it the most populous WYSC event yet but only 60 managed to get there. Michael McKenna sealed his victory at the tournament with a game to spare- he won game 23 to lead of 1.5 wins going into the final round. This win now means that Australia is home to more WYSC than any other nation. Australia has three, Malaysia has two and Singapore and Thailand have one apiece. Michael McKenna has also attended six out of the seven WYSC events (2007-2012), truly making him a veteran and a highly respected member of the youth Scrabble community. Past WYSC events have held trivia tournaments, however, 2012 held a warmup tournament. First place went to Arham Abidi, then following him were Alastair Richards and Michael McKenna. Game 24 of the 2012 WYSC had a high scoring tie. Sinatarn Pattansuwanna (Thailand) and Tawan Paepolsiri (Thailand) tied with 532.
Top 10 Finishers of WYSC 2013
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Moizullah Baig | Pakistan |
| 2nd | Javeria Mirza | Pakistan |
| 3rd | Nuttapong Pholthip | Thailand |
| 4th | Navya Zaveri | UAE |
| 5th | Jack Durand | United Kingdom |
| 6th | Sanchit Kapoor | UAE |
| 7th | Anand Bharadwaj | Australia |
| 8th | Mariam Arif | Pakistan |
| 9th | Tim Bryant | United States |
| 10th | Tim Mason | Australia |
WYSC 2014: Colombo Sri Lanka
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jack Durand | England |
| 2nd | Yong Jian Rong | Singapore |
| 3rd | Mariam Arif | Pakistan |
| 4th | Victor Gwee | Singapore |
| 5th | Sanchit Kapoor | United Arab Emirates |
| 6th | Gayanath Chandrasena | Sri Lanka |
| 7th | Lewis Hawkins | New Zealand |
| 8th | Poh Ying Ming | Singapore |
| 9th | Abdullah Abbasi | Pakistan |
| 10th | Viggnah Selvaraj | Sri Lanka |
Based on the scores of the top three from that country, Singapore emerged as the best team.[4]
Although the tournament is usually held in December, it was held in August in 2014 to coincide with the Colombo Scrabble Festival. The festival began with the Sri Lanka International Scrabble Championship on the 22nd of August while the WYSC took place on the 29th. In between, the WESPA Seniors' tournament was held on the 26th. Since both the WYSC and the WESPA Seniors event had a side tournament, participants had the opportunity to take part in three consecutive international tournaments at the same venue.
Jack Durand emerged as the winner[5] of WYSC 2014 at the end of Round 23.
2015 WYSC Perth Australia
The tenth edition of the WYSC was held in Perth, Australia from the 31st of October at the University of Western Australia. Nicholas Hong of Singapore emerged as the overall winner [6] while Sri Lanka won the team title. By virtue of winning the WYSC, Hong qualified to take part in the WESPA Championships (formerly World Scrabble Championship) held after WYSC 2015. [7]
| Place | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Nicholas Hong | Singapore |
| 2nd | Abdullah Abbasi | Pakistan |
| 3rd | Jack Durand | England |
| 4th | Janul De Silva | Sri Lanka |
| 5th | Tim Mason | Australia |
| 6th | Thirandi De Silva | Sri Lanka |
| 7th | Sanchit Kapoor | United Arab Emirates |
| 8th | Lambotharan Yoganathan | Sri Lanka |
| 9th | John McNaughton | New Zealand |
| 10th | Samrath Singh Bhatia | India |
The defending champion Jack Durand secured 3rd place.
See also
- World Scrabble Championship
- Canadian Scrabble Championship
- Brand's Crossword Game King's Cup
- National Scrabble Championship
- National School Scrabble Championship
References
- ↑ http://www.youthscrabble.org/wysc2014/index.html
- ↑ http://www.youthscrabble.org/index.html
- ↑ http://www.youthscrabble.org/wysc2015/2015flier.pdf
- ↑ http://www.youthscrabble.org/wysc2014/results/a.html
- ↑ "Jack Durand, 14, becomes World Youth Scrabble Champion - BBC News". Retrieved 2016-09-10.
- ↑ hermes (2015-11-22). "Scrabble champ has the words to beat 'em all". Retrieved 2016-09-10.
- ↑ http://www.youthscrabble.org/wysc2015/results/a.html
Official Site of the WYSC
Annotated games from the WYSC 2006
Sri Lanka Scrabble League