International Scrabble tourney concludes on Sunday

Uvindu ILLEPERUMA

The fourth Sri Lanka Open International Scrabble Championship 2011 now in progress organized by Sri Lanka Scrabble League will conclude on Sunday at the premises of Colombo Swimming Club. Speaking on the nature of the event which is going to be held The Chairman (Tournament Committee) of Sri Lanka Scrabble League Lakshman Wanniarachchi said, 'Over twenty international players are expected to compete at this tournament. This includes several prominent players such as Former World Champion Nigel Richards from New Zealand. '

The countries participating at this tournament will be New Zealand, Thailand, Kuwait, Dubai, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, US and host Sri Lanka.

Inclusive of Sri Lankan players the number of players for the tournament will be over fifty.

Twenty six games will be played over three days. The game of Scrabble is yet to be popular in Sri Lanka but in Schools of Colombo Scrabble is popular. Away from Colombo the youth of the areas like Galle, Kandy, Kurunegala has shown the enthusiasm to engage with this game, said Wanniarachchi.

Speaking in details on what Sri Lanka Scrabble League is Wanniarchchi explained,

Sri Lanka will be represented by local Scrabble virtuosos such as Reigning All Island Champion and World Championship representative Lakshan Wanniarachchi and former All Island Champion and world Championship representative Shaila Amalean. Current world champion Nigel Richads from New Zeland too will be participating in this tournament who is considered as the favorite to win the title..

The Sri Lankan Scrabble League is a non-profit organization that has taken a keen interest in promoting the game of Scabble in Sri Lanka. Scrabble can be a useful tool to develop vocabulary and analytical skills, in addition to being a thoroughly enjoyable game.

Along with the tournament a work shop to encourage youth and the people who are interested in the game. We organizers expect around 250 youth from schools to participate in this workshop, he concluded.

The main sponsors for the events is MAS Holdings ( Pvt ) Ltd, with co -sponsors being Lalan Rubber ( pvt) Ltd and Scanwell Logistics ( pvt ) Ltd