NSF names 21 list crack team for WASC

Posted : 17 November 2023

Ahead of the West African Scrabble Championship (WASC) scheduled for Lagos, the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) has named a 21-man crack team for the forthcoming showpiece from November 22nd to 26th.

The crack team, headed by the winner of the PANASA President’s Cup, Godwin Victor, was revealed by the Technical Director of NSF, John Curtis, in Abuja.

Also included in the list is former World Champion and two-time African King, Wellington Jighere, who leads the list of the super heavyweight wordsmiths in the 21-man contingent that also includes the current African Scrabble supremo, Enoch Nwali.

Four other African Champions also made the roster. They are Nsikak Etim of Shell Scrabble Club in Port Harcourt, Moses Peter of Uyo SC, Rex Ogbakpa of Sapele SC, and two-time African King Dennis Ikekeregor, also from Sapele SC.

The defending champion, Eta Karo, leads the three players from Warri Scrabble Club in Team Nigeria. Emmanuel Umujose and Godwin Victor are the other Warri Scrabble Club members representing Nigeria at the championship.

Team Nigeria also includes a young and talented wordsmith, Doko Oluwatimilehin, a final year Pharmacy student at the University of Lagos and a key member of the all-conquering Hurricane SC. Doko narrowly missed the top prize at the end of the MGI Grand Slam tournament in Lagos last month.

The West African contingent from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia will have to contend with Hakeem Olaribigbe, who rattled a host of big players at the MGI Grand Slam with his scintillating, electrifying, and breathtaking run that was abbreviated by Tega Okiemute of Benin City Scrabble Club, another household name in the mind game.

Jimoh Abdulmumin, a gold medalist at the 21st National Sports Festival in Asaba, Delta State, is another pillar of the mind game that the Technical Director of NSF, John Curtis, believes will add strength and vitality to Team Nigeria at the West African Scrabble Championship. Jimoh Abdulmumin of Apex SC has played 259 games this season and is joined by two teammates, Chukwudi Ehibudu and Anthony Odok, the winner of the MGI Patrons Cup 2023.

Tuoye Mayuku, fresh from the WESPA Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and Bukunmi Afolayan are the two female scrabble enthusiasts who will surely showcase their dexterity on the board when the first round of games is called at the championship.

John Curtis explained that Tuoye Mayuku, the multi-talented Bukunmi Afolayan, Adeyemi Adeosun, Emmanuel Umujose, and George Ezinore are beneficiaries of NSF’s wild card policy for talented wordsmiths with the potential to make Nigeria proud at the event.

Ben Quickpen of Yenagoa Scrabble Club, a wordsmith with rich sporting legacies, will also be in the mix for the confirmation of word power, board management, and tactical play among the finest players in the West African sub-region.

“Team Nigeria is a mixture of talented youth and experienced wordsmiths with decades of major international Championships management coupled with experience,” Curtis said.

The complete list of Team Nigeria for the West African Scrabble Championship (WASC):

Godwin Victor
Oluwatimilehin Doko
Enoch Nwali
Wellington Jighere
Nsikak Etim
Eta Karo
Dennis Ikekeregor
Chukwudi Ehibudu
John Aiyedun
Tega Okiemute
Tuoye Mayuku
Bukunmi Afolayan
Jimoh Abdulmumin
Adeyemi Adeosun
Ben Quickpen
Hakeem Olaribigbe
Emmanuel Umujose
George Ezinore
Anthony Odok
Moses Peter
Rex Ogbakpa
$12,000 has been set aside as prize money for the individual and team events of the championship, with the prize money pool for the individual category being distributed among the top ten, and the top three for the team event.

The Technical Director of the second edition of the West Africa Scrabble Championship (WASC), John Curtis, who doubles as the Chairman of the Sub-Committee Technical and Tournament Logistics, says the West Africa Championship is a 28-game competition, consisting of 1 random, 22 lagged, and 5 king-of-the-hill pairings.

NSF names 21 list crack team for WASC

ADD A COMMENT :

Hot Topics