Scrabble: East Africa top seed Gitonga bags fifth title

Nderitu Gitonga writes his scores as he played against Manase Otieno during the Kenya Scrabble World Cup qualifiers at the Mbaraki Sports Club [Courtesy]

East Africa seed one Nderitu Gitonga made it five wins in a row by claiming the Meru National Scrabble Circuit at the Meru Slopes Hotel over the weekend.

Gitonga was crowned East Africa and Kenya scrabble seed one after winning the East, Central and Southern Africa Scrabble Championship (ECASA) in Zambia last month.

Sponsored by Meru County and Kenya Pipeline, the circuit saw 30 scrabble masters get cash prizes.

The Kirinyaga-based player picked from where he left and proved hard to crack as he emerged first with a spread of 915 points after winning 13 out of the 18 matches.

Michael Gongolo finished second with 619 points while Willy Mwangi from Nakuru County was third.

Speaking after the win, Gitonga said he is enjoying his best moment of the year and urged Scrabble Kenya to involve the youth more in the sport.

“I have had a wonderful year already winning the East Africa accolade and now five national circuits. However, I would love for the youth to be involved more, if we want to grow the sport,” said the champion.

In the Intermediate division, Charles Mokaya bagged the top prize while Samson Midigo from Nairobi County finished second. David Magu from Nyeri County was third.

Joseph Mahinda won the Open Division with a round to spare as Sylvanus Muli from Nairobi County to second place, while Tom Sumba of Kenya Pipeline Company took the bronze medal.

The highest rating gain was +344 by Joseph Mahinda while the highest combined score was 1006 by Gitonga Nderitu and Macharia Kimani.

The tournament was also officially the last tournament before Scrabble Kenya adopts the new words released this month.