Organisers of the Emmanuel Egbele Annual Scrabble Tournament (EEAST)have promised to raise the bar higher when the second edition gets underway in Lagos this weekend.
This edition tagged “The Sophomore Edition” is expected to create a new ceiling by taking the standard of scrabble competition higher in quality of organisation and the rich-cast of players expected to grace the much-talked about championship in the country.
Players will compete for cash, honour, prestige and rating points in the Masters, Intermediate, Opens,Students and Veterans categories.
The tournament will be a veritable ground for the development and sustainability of scrabble in the country.
Emmanuel Egbele whose name the tournament was titled, re-emphasised the important of setting attainable standards especially in a country which is regarded as the number one scrabble playing nation in the world.
“We should expect the absolute best scrabble experience. We already know Nigeria is the best scrabble nation in the world and this fact was reinforced recently in the outing of the National Team at the West Africa Scrabble Championship (WASC) which took place in Ghana where we swooped 9 out of the 10 top places. Most of the players who represented the country will be at EEAST.”
He continued, “Also, this event is an avenue for players to gain points for a Scrabble Grand Slam Event to be hosted later in the year by one of our partners, MindGames Incorporated. It will be highly competitive, tension packed and I expect the best of the best to come through at the end” he emphasised.
He further explained more changes have been made from the inaugural edition as the venue for the second instalment has been chosen to be one of the choiciest places in the country.
“Yes of course, it was deliberate. You don’t use Eko Hotel coincidentally. The choice of venue was very important. Like I said, it’s about continuity and I will say continuous improvement. The inaugural edition was held at COWLSO, Ajah. While the venue was quite good, we had a challenge of centrality and accessibility. This is what Eko Hotel provides” he explained.
“We also considered the ambience. Scrabble is a mindgame that should be played in a place with ambient temperature and good scenery at the optimum level, this is what Eko Hotel provides.”
It would be recalled that Dokun Esan created history as he won the first edition of the tournament in Lagos last year.
