Team Nigeria holding strong at World Scrabble Championship
Members of Team Nigeria at the ongoing Scrabble World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., are giving a good account of the country as the competition enters day three on Tuesday.
A member of Team Nigeria, Wellington Jighere, with 14 wins, is running a neck-and-neck race with USA’s Will Anderson, who is topping the chart after day two for a higher cumulative.
Jighere, also a former world champion, is occupying the second spot, while Nsikakabasi Etim, a member of Team Nigeria, recorded 11 wins in 16 games.
However, the duo, who are in the top ten, are representing Nigeria, which has fewer players compared with the host, America.
Other plays include Alec Sjoholm of the U.S., Harshan Lamabadusuriya of England, and Thacha Koowirat of Thailand.
Nigeria-born Samson Okosagah, playing for the U.S., and Russell Honeybun of Australia are all on 12 wins each but separated by cumulative points.
The second chasing pack has Canada’s Matthew Tunnicliffe, Conrad Bassett-Bouchard of the United States, Nigeria’s Nsikak Solomon Etim, and Chris Lipe of the United States.
Also, Andrew Fisher from Australia and Canada’s Joshua Castellano have 11 victories each.
Other members of Team Nigeria, including Emmanuel Ofidi, Olatunde Oduwole, Osahon Omosefe, and Temituoyo Mayuku, are closing in on the board leaders with 10 wins, respectively.
Olawale Fashina, Dipo Akanbi, Dennis Ikekeregor, and Enoch Nwali are jamming back and forth on nine wins.
Current African Champion and King of Governor Diri National Championship, Enoch Nwali, who started day two at number 96, ended the day at the 34th spot after recording six wins out of eight games played.
The health education student at the University of Lagos has now won nine overall.
Olobatoke Aka, president of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), also the leader of the Team Nigeria delegation, said he was very confident that day three of the Championship would push more Nigerians toward the top end.
“It’s tough out there; the positions at the end of today’s games will determine the outcome.
“We shall know if we will have a shot at the World Championship title,” he said.
These are Africa’s best individuals standing after day two.
134 players drawn from 29 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North America are participating in the Championship.
(NAN)
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