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| 15-year-old Syed Emad Ali won 9 games and won the title with a spread score of 329. Photo: Irshad Ali Twitter |
Pakistan’s Syed Emad Ali wins the World English Scrabble Players Association (VESPA) Youth Cup final in Karachi.
The Coronavirus caused the Youth Cup, formerly known as the World Youth Scrabble Championship, to be played online, and Pakistan hosted the Virtual Championship for the second time in a row.
In the two-day final, the top 10 players played 13 games in which 15-year-old Syed Emad Ali won 9 games and clinched the title with a spread score of 329.
India’s Madhu Gopal also won nine games but finished second, while Thailand’s Napat finished third.
Hisham Hadi Khan, the second Pakistani player to reach the finals, won seven games and finished fourth.
Syed Emad Ali has previously won the Vespa Youth Scrabble Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2018, becoming the first player in the world to win the Vespa Youth Cup twice.
Emad has won a total of three world titles for Pakistan at the junior level, including two Vespa World Youth Cups and the 2019 World Junior Scrabble Championships.
Syed Emad Ali said that he is happy to win the World Youth Title for the second time.
He said that all the opponents were difficult in the finals but the players of India and Thailand gave tough time.
Syed Amad Ali said that now I will try to show excellent performance in World Scrabble Championship.
At the end of the finals, India was awarded the Spirit of Scrabble award, while the award for the best female player of the tournament went to Sri Lanka’s Sandali Vitha Naga and Malaysia’s Dresden Lim was named the youngest player.
The event was attended by 72 athletes from 14 countries and athletes from all countries, including India, appreciated the excellent arrangements of the event.
Nadeem Omar, President Pakistan Scrabble Association and owner of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Quetta Gladiators attended the closing ceremony as the chief guest.
Nadeem Omar said that the game of Scrabble brings players from all over the world closer, no matter how tense the situation in India and Pakistan maybe, but the Indian players won the hearts of all with the spirit of the game.
Nadeem Omar announced a cash prize of Rs 100,000 for world youth champion Syed Emad Ali and a cash prize for the Pakistani team.
At the end of the event, Nadeem Omar and representatives of the sponsors distributed prizes and during the closing ceremony, the players participating in the event and Vespa officials were present online.
