PSA hopeful of organising int’l scrabble in Karachi

KARACHI: Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) president Tariq Pervez has said that more than a dozen foreign teams, including Japan, India, Australia and Sri Lanka, are ready to come for an international event in Karachi.
“Top international teams are ready to come to Pakistan. We are hopeful of organising an international tournament in Karachi soon,” Tariq said.
He added that PSA was pleased with Pakistan’s performance at the World Scrabble Championships as both the national and the youth teams amassed 2,400 international rating points, the most by any side, in the week-long event in Perth.
“The success has earned Pakistan a berth in the World Championships in France next year and Director Marketing Shangrila Foods Muhammad Irfan has announced that Shangrila Foods will sponsor the Pakistani team for the event,” Tariq said.
National champion Waseem Khatri and Moizullah Baig finished in the top half of the World Championship which featured 136 players, while Quetta’s Abdullah Abbasi ended the tour in second at the World Youth Scrabble Championship.
According to Khatri, who improved his world ranking from 142nd to 68th, both teams played as a unit and supported each other during the championships. “Besides the World Championships, we also played the Perth International Open and Saturday and Sunday Open, which was a great experience,” Khatri said.
“I was able to defeat former world champion and the best player of our time Nigel Richards twice in the events.”
Khatri said the players still need to improve their vocabulary in order to replicate their success next year.