Henry Nwosu emerges winner of the Plateau State Scrabble Top Ten challenge tagged _Numero Uno_ after he defeated Alhassan Shaibu in the final at the weekend.
Henry Nwosu who made it to the top four to qualify for the semifinals by whiskers after edging African Games Gold medallist Joy Ola, made an easy run over Benjamin Batol by 3-1 in a best of five games semi finals to set up a final showdown with Alhassan who had finished first in the preliminary rounds and cruised to the final with a semifinal victory over Pam Nding Bitrus.
Spectators were kept at the edge of their seats in a breathtaking best-of-seven final where neither player was blinking as Henry drew the first blood.
Alhassan rallied back and both players ran neck to neck until the tiebreaker round.
The game lived up to its billing as even the tiebreaker round did not break the tie as it ended in a draw placing both players at 3.5 wins each.
This could easily go down among the fiercest scrabble finals where to the drop of the final tile, nothing separated the two players, and the decider
was the cumulative difference. Henry with a +44 cumulative against Alhassan’s -44 cumulative carried the day.
The two finalists played a total of 30 games over the three-day duration of the tournament.
Each played 18 games in the preliminary rounds, five games in the semifinals and seven in the finals.
Vice chairman of the Plateau State Scrabble Association Barr. Chuwang Isaiah Paul, commended the organizing team for the good organization which ensured a smooth flow of the event
He also appreciated the management of Lashoms Hotels and Suites the host of the event for always supporting the association with a venue for her events.
He also added that Scrabble on the Plateau State is emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the North and the country at large.
He further stated that Scrabble is a game that improves mental and intellectual capacity and promotes inter-personal relationships, thus, a viable avenue for the Government and the private sector to key into.
The winner went home with the sum of 50,000 naira while the runner up got 20,000 naira and the two semifinal losers got 10,000 naira each.
