Edo State’s George Ezinore wins Asaph Zadok National Scrabble Championship

Edo State’s George Ezinore has won the most glamorous and highly esteemed scrabble competition in Nigeria; the Asaph Zadok National Championship concluded on Sunday at the Florence Hotel and Suites Benin City, Edo State, South South, Nigeria.

Ezinore, Africa’s number two scrabble player pushed aside a strong field of wordsmith that include current African champions Oluwatimilehin Doko, former NSF Green Jacket holder Dipo Akanbi and 2023 Africa Games Side Event winner and multiple national champion, John Aiyedun to be crowned the Nigeria King of Scrabble for the next 12 months.

The Edo State wordsmith a member of Team Nigeria outings in the last three years topped the table with 20 wins and a draw and a cumulative of plus 922 points from 28 games ahead of River State’s Larry Etuwa with 19 victories.

Samuel Adebola representing the Ogun State , came third with 18 wins the same number of win that young and talented Jamiu Kareem of Oyo State had.

However, Adebola finished on the podium due to his higher cumulative points of plus 1236 while Kareem had 525 points with 18 victories.

George Ezinore’s win is unique because of the way he ruled the roster of big word players in the competition, as sat on table 1 from game 13 till the end of the championship while Larry Etuwa, Samuel Adebola and Dipo Akanbi gave him a good run and strong chase.

After coming close to the top honour on several occasions, George Ezinore said he is a fulfilled player by winning the distinguished and eminent Asaph Zadok National Championship and will be wearing the upmarket, famous and celebrated prestigious NSF Green Jacket for the next one year as the King of Scrabble in Africa and world’s number one mind game destination – Nigeria.

Ezinore explained that the victory is for all scrabble players in Edo and specially for the Edo State Sports Commission that has been very supportive to the game.

“At the recently concluded Niger Delta Sports Festival, I narrowly missed the gold medal, so I had to fight hard to reach the zenith here on the home front. I feel elated and fulfilled as a player. This victory show that if you invest well in sport, it will surely produce good fruits and Edo scrabble players can celebrate this honour.”

He went on to thank the Edo State Sports Commission under the leadership of Honourable Desmond Enabulele for supporting ‘Team Edo’ and putting the right structure and the enabling environment for scrabble and sports to flourish across the State.

George Ezinore will be decorated with the estimable NSF Green Jacket on Thursday during the Awards and Gala Night that closes the Scrabble Festival supported by Edo State Government through the Edo State Sports Commission.