Equatorial Cameron Highlands Scrabble Tournament

Highly popular
By Chuah Sim Swee
Friday January 11, 2008

The stage is set for Scrabble to take off in a big way in the country.

WHAT a year it has been! 2007 turned out to be a vintage year for the local Scrabble scene. Apart from the usual big events like the ICT Penang Open, Causeway Challenge in Johor and the Nationals in Kuala Lumpur, the year saw the re-emergence of the Equatorial Cameron Highlands Scrabble Tournament, thanks to the efforts of Tan Kee Chiang who refused to let this tournament die a natural death.

Last year saw the debut of Scrabble Scramble in Kuala Lumpur and the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall Scrabble Tournament, which was initiated by Martin Teo and Gan Yi En. The sheer number of new players participating in some of these events must have brought joy to the old stalwarts.

Novices and first-time players turned up in full force for the Scrabble Scramble, the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall Scrabble Tournament and the Mensa Mines Scrabble tournaments. Scrabble has finally made inroads into Malaysia and more people are viewing it not only as a pleasurable game but a competitive pursuit.

Credit should be given to Song Kim Lian (popularly known as Mrs Yap) for her tireless efforts to popularise the game at school level. The influx of young players will ensure that Malaysia will have a growing pool of talent to draw from for many years to come.

While the “newbies” were getting their first taste of competition, master players fought tooth-and-nail all through the year to clinch the remaining seat for the World Scrabble Championship (WSC) in Mumbai, India, which was held last November. Places were allocated to the top two rated Malaysians.

Ganesh Asirvatham was a sure bet for one spot but the rest of the pack battled it out at all the major tournaments to get enough points for the second spot. After many see-sawing rounds of results, surprisingly it was 15-year-old Ong Suanne of Penang who pipped the veterans to the finishing line. Her meteoric rise was breathtaking and she had sacrificed many long nights, juggling her studies and improving her craft.

After that, all eyes were on the WSC. As expected, Ganesh had a brilliant run but suffered a hiccup at the very end when lady luck deserted him in the crucial last three games and he lost to Nigel Richards of New Zealand.

On the other hand, being the youngest player in her very first WSC did not daunt Suanne. She came in a respectable 12th position and also won an extra spot for Malaysia for the next WSC.

Suanne also represented Malaysia in the World Youth Scrabble Tournament in Johor Baru and came in third. The surprise at the tournament came in the form of 15-year-old Shaun Chung from Kuala Lumpur. Unheralded for most of the tournament, Shaun played magnificently and outshone many of the more fancied players on the circuit. He emerged second place after three days of gruelling competition.

Congratulations to all our international champions. Our dreams of a Malaysian World Scrabble champion may just come true one day.

The Scrabble scene in the country is set to take off in a big way. We have the talent, and now the groundwork has been laid for scrabblers to get the guidance and exposure they need to make progress. Another crucial factor that helped all the pieces fall into place is the emergence of big-time sponsors.

In Penang, Dr Adele Tan, president of the Penang Scrabble Club, pulled off a coup when she managed to rope in Air Asia as an affiliate of the prestigious ICT Penang Open, together with Island College of Technology. All national and international Scrabble players flying to the tournament will be given special fare packages.

Jimmy Lim, managing director of the Tokai Group of Companies, gave the game a boost when he took over as main sponsor of the World Youth Scrabble Championship in Johor for this year and in years to come.

What does 2008 hold for Scrabble enthusiasts? Well, for starters, WYSC is now an annual event and it will be held in Malaysia. The organisers were so impressed by the warmth, hospitality, and talent in the country that Malaysia is now their destination of choice.

So what are you youngsters waiting for? Start practising now! Scrabble players from all categories, be they novices, intermediate or masters have bigger and better tournaments to look forward too.

The winds of change augur well for Scrabble in Malaysia. Things will only get better and it is hoped that all those who love Scrabble will put aside their differences and make Scrabble the No. 1 board game in the country. Our motto should be “Make words not war”! -- The Star Living