Photo via Smithsonian Magazine
Did you know that even the popular board game, Scrabble has a world governing body just as each sport does?
Formed in 2003, the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) provides an official structure for the international Scrabble community, and every year it holds the WESPA Youth Cup for players under the age of 18.
The tournament is usually held in different major cities around the world every year but, of course, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event had to be held virtually for the first time, with Pakistan as the host nation.
A total of 16 countries are currently taking part in the tournament, which started on January 22nd, and it’s also the first time it’s being played in a team format instead of individual.
Team Malaysia was represented by Tengku Ariff Shah Tengku Shahrir (16), Jareth Mah Zhen Seong (15), Eirfan Razman (14), Kyan Teo Ching-Wei (14), Ali Imran Hisham Talib (13), Anna Natasha Mohd Khairil (14), Ariana Onyinyechukwu Daniel (13), and Dresden Lim Zhan Le (12).
Photo via Malay Mail (Pictured: Jareth Mah Zhen Seong)
Each player had to follow a unique set of rules in the online competition, such as sharing their computer screens and setting up a side-view camera for the technical team to monitor their performances.
The team beat the US and Nepal to make it to the quarter-finals and placed fifth overall in the championship after a narrow loss to India (17-18) on Sunday (January 31st).
Malaysia Scrabble Association president Mohammad Ali Ismail gave kudos to the teenagers for holding their own against India in the nail-biting quarterfinal.
“We knew that Team India would be formidable but hoped to upstage them although we knew it would be tough for our young Team Malaysia players. All in all, it was a very good and challenging match that could have gone either way,” he told the Malay Mail.
Malaysia had won the tournament twice before through Suanne Ong and Ker Jen Ho in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The 2021 WESPA Youth Cup is set to wrap up on February 7th.
Congratulations to the team!
by Kyle Roshen Jacob
