Nigeria has again re-affirmed it’s dominance in world scrabble as Febisola Olanipekun claimed victory in Division B of the Malta International Scrabble Opens (MISO) which ended on Monday in Malta.
Olanipekun picked the second tier title as she recorded a result of 18 wins and 7 losses with a cumulative spread of 784 points ahead of England’s Jack Mitchel who also recorded same score but with a lower cumulative points of 369.
James Wilkie of Scotland came third with 16 wins and 9 losses with a cumulative point of 1080.
Meanwhile, another Nigerian Emmanuel Egbele posted an encouraging result of 16 wins and 9 defeats with 939 points to finish fourth at the tournament.
Oladele Tosin, a member of the Nigerian trio was ranked 14 at the end of the mind game.
Olanipekun who won two gold and two silver medals at the Private University Games (PUGA) in 2011 as a student of Achiever University, said she was excited by the victory.
In the main Division, Rik Kennedy of Northern Ireland climbed to the peak after he posted an impressive record of 19 wins with a spread of 1411 points in 25 games while United States’ Chris Lipe pulled up with 18 wins, 7 defeats and a healthy spread of 1464 points to finish in second place.
His compatriot Wolfram Poh completed the top three with same record of wins but with lesser cumulative points.
A total of 51 players from England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, USA, Northern Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Netherlands, Spain, Nigeria as well as host Malta participated at the 3-day tournament held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, St. Julian in the historical coastal-country in Europe.
