Doctor Samuel Adebola has won the star prize of one million Naira at the fifth edition of the Governor Douye Diri National Scrabble Championship in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The Medical Doctor clinched the coveted trophy in the Masters’ category, beating stiff competition that featured a cast of top scrabble players in the country.
Over two hundred players across the nation took part in the tournament with a total prize money of ten million Naira won across five categories.
Ogun State based medical Doctor, Samuel Adebola with a Cumulative spread of +856 beat all contenders including Abdulmumin Jimoh and Chuks Nwaeze who finished 2nd and 3rd with +672 and +354 to be crowned champion of the Masters category playing clincher words such as ‘Volubly’, ‘Claviger’ and ‘Averment’ to cart home the prestigious prize of a million Naira and a giant trophy.
In the Veterans event, Dokun Esan with a spread of +1180 came tops, with Edowor Bobor taking the Intermediate category with +710, while Dorcas Innocent won the Opens category with +1046, as Eddie Pereowei took the trophy in the Students competition with +2060.
President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Engineer Olobatoke Aka who thanked the Bayelsa State government for sponsoring the competition in the last five years appealed for increased funding and prize money while expressing the hope that the tournament would prepare Nigerian players to excel at the forthcoming African Youth Championship, the World Youth Championship in Malaysia in October and the World Scrabble Championship in Ghana in November.
Chairman of the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association, Mr. Daniel Alabrah who appreciated Governor Diri for sponsoring the championship annually said the tournament has continued to grow with increased funding and prizes, urging corporate organisations to support the game.
Declaring the tournament closed, Governor Douye Diri, represented by the Commissioner for Sport Development, Dr. Daniel Igali pledged continued support for the game of scrabble.
Winners and Players in the Women category received special prizes at the Governor Douye Diri National Scrabble Championship.
