Syed Imad Ali of Pakistan won the World English Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) Youth Cup held in Karachi. This is his second time claiming the top spot of the tournament.
Imaad Ali defeated his opponent in 9 out of 13 games in the finals. Pakistan finished first in the tournament, with Hasham Hadi Khan, another Pakistani to qualify with 26 wins coming in fourth after winning in the final seven games.
He is now the first and only one to win the World Youth title twice, previously winning the 2018 championship in Dubai. He also clinched the Junior World Scrabble Championship in Torquay, England, in November 2019, being the youngest player to do so.
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India’s Gopal Kamath of India too won 9 of his 13 games but marginally lost out on the spread, and therefore, finished second while the third spot was won by Napat Vatjanurathorn of Thailand, who won 8 of his 13 games.
🏆 Champion Gladiator Syed Imaad Ali thanks the nation🇵🇰 that encouraged him to clinch the World Title ! #SHAANEPAKISTAN#WespaYouthCup🙌#GladiatorsForever #PurpleForce pic.twitter.com/R5LzUqsrjm
— Quetta Gladiators (@TeamQuetta) August 22, 2021
President of Pakistan Scrabble Association and the owner of PSL franchise Quetta Gladiators, Nadeem Omar, distributed prizes amongst the winners, congratulated the leading players and called for introducing and promoting sports at the school level to produce world champions.
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He said, “Pakistan is performing extraordinarily in scrabble because this is no involvement of the government in it. Sports have wiped out from the schools in Pakistan and it is the only reasons for Pakistan’s debacle in the field of sports and athletics.”
Further adding, “by successfully holding the world online youth scrabble championship, Pakistan proved that it has both talented youth and the technology to become champions.”
Also, congratulating the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) for its role in promoting scrabble to hundreds of schools in the country, Nadeem Omar announced Rs. One hundred thousand rewards for the champion and hoped that he would also clinch the title of world scrabble champion.