The second edition of the Pan African Scrabble Association sanctioned, PANASA President’s Cup titled ‘Triumvirate Showdown’ has been scheduled to hold in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya from August 14 to 17 this year as activities around the championship has begun.
This edition takes an exciting format where players will form themselves into a team of three ‘triumvirate’ with a maximum of two players from any of the three categories; Pool A, B and C.
The concept according to the organisers, is designed to create a level for teams to compete with almost equal strength against one another in their respective divisions.
A total of 36 slots have been made available for teams to fill-in at the 4-day tournament holding at the classic Trademark Hotel in Nairobi.
PANASA President Adekoyejo Adegbesan while revealing the details of the tournament to the media emphasised on the multiple impact the President’s Cup will be having on the continent as players are already jostling for teams’ selection across nationalities.
‘The 2025 President’s Cup is going to be a scrabble tournament with a difference’ he declared. “There will be 36 teams divided into 6 groups of 6. Players have an option of registering as a single-country team which means, all players can come from the same country or come together as a multi-country team.’
‘Registering as a single-country team comes with a little-higher fee than when a team is multi-country base. This will encourage interaction, bonding as well as knowledge-sharing opportunity among the players.’
‘Africa has only produced a world champion in Wellington Jighere a Nigerian in 2015, right? We feel holding the President’s Cup in August just three months before the World English Language Scrabble Players Association Championship (WESPAC) in Ghana will help put our players in right stead for a big shot at the global tournament.’ stated Adegbesan.
Expectedly, the announcement has spurred a flurry of activities as players begin to form themselves into triads breaking physical border-barriers and connecting through common interests and friendship.
A total cash-prize pool of $25,000 will be shared among 16 successful teams with winner of Division A expected to receive $6,000 and flight tickets to the 2025 WESPAC in Ghana.
Games will be in two round robins format which will see players engage in 30 rounds of games.
Some of the registered teams are: D’ Warriors, Ace, Skywalkers, Wazito, Mavericks, Wunderkinds, Shrunken, Blitzkrieg, Lexiworld, Pioneer among others.
It would be recalled that Victor Godwin, a Nigerian won the 2023 edition of the tournament in Lagos.
