Young Lankan Scrabblers on top at World Scrabble Championship
View(s):Young Sri Lankan Scrabblers did their country proud when they claimed the prize for the Best Team at the just concluded World Youth Scrabble Championship 2015 along with other top prizes.
The winning team! L-R Thirandi De Silva (Ladies’ College), Janul De Silva (Royal College), Vignesh Pirapaharan (S. Thomas College), Lambotharan Yoganathan (LIS Wattala), Hasindu Arumapperuma (RC), Aabid Ismail (RC), Migara Jayasinghe (LIS Wattala), Thalakshman Yoganathan (LIS Wattala), Janidu Karunaratne (LIS Wattala), Radinka Dissanayake (Bishop’s College)
Janul de Silva won the prize for the best player in the under 14 category while Vignesh Pirapaharan claimed second place in the same category.
The 2015 World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC) was held at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth from October 31 to November 2.
Janul of Royal College, making only his second appearance at the WYSC won 4th place overall while Thirandi de Silva of Ladies’ College became the only girl in the top ten when she claimed 6th place.
Veteran Lambotharan Yoganathan, making his final WYSC appearance left his imprint by grabbing the 8th place (trophies are awarded to top 10 players).
Thus Sri Lanka became the only country with three players in the top ten and won the award for the best team. No other country had more than one player in the top ten.
This is the first time that Sri Lanka won the best team award: In 2014 the team was placed third.
Migara Jayasinghe, previous winner of the Under 14 and Under 12 titles, making his sixth appearance in the tournament won the prize for the highest game with a staggering 693 points in the very first round of the tournament.
Other players in the Sri Lankan team also performed well with two others finishing in the top 15.