ISLAMABAD: World Youth Scrabble Cup Champion Pakistan’s top player Ali Salman believed there was no bigger satisfaction then to help lift your country’s flag high in front of the whole word.
Ali bagged the Pharm-Evo World Youth Scrabble Cup, 2022 held virtually and hosted by Pakistan.
Madhav Kamath of India and Hasham Hadi Khan also of Pakistan grabbed the second and third positions, respectively.
“It is by far the biggest achievement of my life and hopefully many more to come. This year too, Pakistan had the privilege of organising the World Youth Scrabble Championship virtually after two extremely successful stints in 2020 & 2021,” he told APP.
Ali, who was a student of grade X, said this year’s Championship was also a huge success thanks to the young and talented Pakistan team under the able guidance of Director Youth Programme Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) Tariq Pervez.
“My journey in this year’s World Youth Scrabble Championship was a roller coaster ride with its ups and downs. The competition was tough and I managed to sneak into the top 10. In fact I needed my compatriot Syed Imaad Ali to win his last game to get through to the final round.
He said in the finals, 10 players from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Pakistan played 14 games each.
“I needed to win all my 6 matches on the last day and hopefully I managed to win all my games and stood victorious. I can’t thank the Almighty enough for this achievement. It was by far the biggest achievement of my life and hopefully many more to come,” he said.
Meanwhile, another top player Hasham Hadi Khan who made the nation proud said Youth Scrabble Cup was the most prestigious event for the under 18 scrabble players all around the world.
“Being 17 year old, this year’s WYC was my last chance to participate in this event so I really worked very hard to clinch this title. I played very well in the Group Stages, finished 3rd and qualified for the finals,” he said.
“I was leading by a good margin at the end of Day 1. With just three games to go I had a lead of two games against the 2nd position and had to win just one game to take the title.
“But my luck fell a little short and I lost 3 straight games to my compatriot Ali Salman, which demoted me to 3rd position. I look forward to working harder and win upcoming titles in the world of Scrabble,” he said.
