Nigeria Scrabble Federation will on Wednesday commence the process of selecting 10 players for the 2022 Africa Scrabble Championship which holds in Zambia next month.
Nigeria is the current holder of the title which Moses Peter won in 2019.
The invited players were drawn from the top 20 as at 30th of April ranking by the NSF.
Top 20 rated players in the Masters category will battle for the available slots over 24 rounds of games at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja September 28 to 29.
No. 1 ranked Godwin Victor, double African champion and World Champion Wellington Jighere with Eta Karo who won the West Africa Scrabble Tournament in Ghana top the list of invited players for the two-day qualifiers.
Current title holder Moses Peter will not be competing as his name was conspicuously missing after he failed to cut into the top 20 according to the rankings.
Meanwhile, eight players have also been given wild card entries to seek for slots in the Women and Youth categories.
NSF Vice President Bright Idahosa believed Nigeria has a rich quality of players capable of representing the country at any give time going by the quality of players in the country.
Scrabble has witnessed a busy calendar in the country with competitions largely organised by players themselves as a way sustaining the development of the sports.
In another development, National Captiain Cyril Umebiye last Saturday sorted out his homefront as he exchanged marital vows with his new wife Abiola at a colourful ceremony in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
The well-attended event had one of the founding fathers of the sports (Retd) Brigadier-General Gold Eburu, representatives of the NSF as well as Pan Africa Scrabble Association (PANASA) Presidential candidate Adekoyejo Adegbesan all present at the ceremony.
Umebiye led Nigeria to victory as captain at the 2015 World Championship in Perth, Australia.
Invited Players
1.GODWIN VICTOR -Warri SC
2. WELLINGTON JIGHERE-Sapele SC
3. ETA KARO -Warri SC
4. ENOCH NWALI – Unilag SC
5. OSHEVIRE AVWENAGHA – Warri SC –
6. EZINORE GEORGE – Benin SC
7. REX OGBAKPA – Sapele SC –
8. OLATUNDE ODUWOLE- Surulere SC
9. PRINCE OMOSEFE – Benin SC
10. OKIEMUTE TEGA -Benin SC
11. DOKO OLUWATIMILEHIN- Unilag SC
12. DENNIS IKEKEREGOR- Sapele SC
13. NSIKAK ETIM-Shell SC. Douye Dariye Tournament
14. EMMANUEL UMUJOSE – Warri SC
15. JOHN AIYEDUN- Pyramid SC
16. CHUKWUDI EHIBUDU- Apex SC
17. BEN QUICKPEN- Yenagoa SC
18. EMMANUEL OFIDI-Warri SC
19. SAHEED JIMOH-Pyramid SC
20. JACOB RYAN-Uyo SC
Wildcards
1. TUOYO MAYUKU -Warri SC
2. ADEBISI ADEKANSI- Abeokuta SC
3. CHIAMAKA GABRIEL- Pyramid SC
4. PRISCILLA AKHABUE- Ikorodu SC
5. JIMOH ABDULMUMIN- Apex SC
6. CHINEDU THORPE- Anambra SF
7. AKEEM OGUNDOKUN- Kwara SC Winner
8. EMMANUEL ENYI- Unibadan SC
