Nigerian Jighere off to winning start

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

The race to crown the best wordsmiths kicked off at the Laico Regency on Wednesday as Kenya hosts the World English Scrabble Players Association Championships (WESPAC).

Reigning champion Wellington Jighere from Nigeria sounded an early warning after he won all seven rounds to lead with a spread of 690.

Even though the top three (Jighere, Waseem Khatri and Ranganathan Chakravarthy) tie on seven points each, Khatri, from Pakistan, who has also won his seven rounds, is trailing the Nigerian with 283 points (690-407).

India’s Chakravarthy is third, trailing with 331 points (690-359), and 48 points (407-359) behind Khatri.

The highest rated WESPAC player, Richard Nigel from New Zealand, is 22nd with five points and a +357 spread.

Kenya’s top seed, Allan Oyende, is 12th with six points and a spread of +327.

This is the first time the five-day event is being held in Africa since its inception in 1991.

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, who was the chief guest during the launch, said hosting the global event would market Kenya as a prime tourist destination.

She urged the Government to be mindful of disciplines like Scrabble and other (non-mainstream) sports and help to publicise them further.

“It is the role of Sports Kenya to develop sports from the grassroots to international level. This will play a big role in marketing Kenya as a tourist destination,” said Passaris.