KARACHI: The Signature 28th National Scrabble Championship came to a most dramatic finish at the Beach Luxury Hotel here on Sunday when Pakistan’s No. 1 Waseem Khatri staged a remarkable comeback to clinch the title for the eighth time in his young career.

The result was an utter heartbreak for the former world youth champion Moiz Baig, who led the pack from the beginning till the very end. Waseem and Moiz fought a spectacular battle for the title in the last five matches against each other in the king-of-the-hill format.

It all came down to the very last match of the tournament with Waseem and Moiz playing on table 1; both on 18 wins. The game more than lived up to the expectations with Moiz taking an early lead with the help of three consecutive bingos and Waseem catching up every time.

The game was so close that the winner did not emerge until the very last tile was played. Waseem ultimately won 472-448 and finished with 19 wins and a spread of 839 against Moiz’s 18 wins and a spread of 1,464.

M. Inayat staged a late rally on the final day to clinch the 3rd position.

The 18-year-old Hassan Hadi finished fourth while his identical twin Hammad was eighth.

Wonder boy, 16-year-old Abdullah Abbasi finished fifth while Wajid Iqbal, Tariq Pervez, Anwar Siddiqi and Jawed Shamim finished sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively.

This championship is being billed as the best ever in Pakistan’s history with the highest standard of the game observed than any previous championships. The emergence of the youth players was evident from the fact that four of the top eight and 10 out of the top 20 players were under 19 years of age. One of them Hasham Hadi, who finished 14th is still only 11.

The winners were presented glittering trophies

by the chief guest while Ahad Riaz won the cash prize for the highest rating gain by any player in the championship.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2016