DUBAI// A three-day battle of wits and words at the 23rd annual Gulf Scrabble Championship ended yesterday with Mohammed Sulaiman winning his third title.
And that was despite losing his last match at the Etisalat Academy to the eventual runner-up, Selwyn Lobo.
Mr Sulaiman, a Pakistani-Canadian based in Dubai, will now compete at the World Championships in Prague in December.
At 70, he will be the oldest competitor at the event.
"I am delighted to have won," he said. "The competition in Dubai this year has been a lot tougher and the standard is much better than last year."
Mr Sulaiman, who also won the title in 2007 and 2011, led the competition from the first day.
"I had a pretty big lead over the course of the competition but as the matches wore on that was whittled away it came down to the last game," he said.
Mr Sulaiman and Mr Lobo both had 15 wins from 20 games but with Mr Sulaiman scoring more points, his opponent had to win by a big margin to claim the top spot.
"I am happy I got second but disappointed that I couldn't win by a big enough score to win the title," said Mr Lobo, an Indian businessman. "I've been impressed with the standard of the tournament this year and the quality is definitely getting better.
"But we are a few years away from reaching world-class level and also internationally there are professional Scrabble players, whereas most of us here have to balance it with work commitments."
The top two players from the competition automatically qualify for the world championships. But Mr Lobo is not sure whether he will be able to compete.
If he cannot, his place will be taken by Navya Zaveri, 15, the under-16 World Scrabble Champion, who would be the youngest competitor at the Prague event.
He was delighted to have finished third in his first adult tournament.
"I didn't set myself any targets before I took part so I'm really happy to have finished third," he said.
"The competition was a lot harder and I had some tough games, so it was a good learning experience."
The Indian teenager, who lives in Dubai, began playing Scrabble three years ago after he was introduced to the game by his parents.
The Dubai competition increased in size this year to 30 competitors.
"We decided to increase the number of games and spread it over three days and I think it worked well," said Nikhil Soneja, the tournament organiser. "Over 20 games, the best players always come through and I think the best players came through this time."
The competition attracted players from across the GCC with more younger players taking part.
"Each year the standard has been getting better and I hope that continues in future," Mr Soneja said.
