Sulaiman clinches Malta Open Scrabble Championship

Ubaid-ur-Rehman Awan May 17, 2010 5

Sulaiman clinches Malta Open Scrabble Championship

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mohammad Sulaiman won the Malta Open Scrabble Championship Monday when he defeated Craig Beevers of England by 15-3 after 20 rounds of the final match securing 1508 points, as per the information reaching here.

Mohammad Sulaiman and Craig Beevers

Beevers could manage 1152 points while the World Champion in 2007, Nigel Richards of New Zealand stood third in the Championship played in Malta.

The 67-year-old scrabble player from Karachi exclusively told The Sports Encounter on phone that he grabbed the title thanks to prayers by his friends and family members.

“I’m proud to say that I was able to defeat one of the world’s best scrabble professionals, Nigel Richards, to claim the title. There’s no doubt about the greatness of Nigel as a player and he is rated highly among the top scrabble players in the world, therefore I’m feeling proud to clinch the title for my country amid presence of such seasoned players”.

He further stated that he wants to win bigger titles for Pakistan in the times to come.

The championship was played in Cabra city of Malta during which Pakistan’s 67-year-old scrabble player overwhelmed Nigel Richards with scoreline of 1309 against 1130 points in the 14^th round and English National Champion Helen Gipson by 480 points to 351 points. After these victories he was regarded as the main favourite for the title race and this is exactly what Pakistani player did. In the 16^th round, Sulaiman got the better of Scottish player Amy Byrne, and in 17^th round, defeated the local favourite Edward Martin. However, in the 19^th round, he was defeated by Nigel Richards of New Zealand with the margin of 384 to 455 points.

Secretary, Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA), Javed Iqbal told The Sports Encounter that Mohammad Sulaiman is among the top five players of Pakistan and he proved his mettle among the best in the business in Malta.

The Malta Open Scrabble Championship was played from May 14 till May 16, 2010 with top 92 players from across the world vied for the top honours including England’s Edward Martin and New Zealand’s Nigel Richards.