Australian Fernando wins World Youth Scrabble in Nairobi

Fernando finished level on 18 wins and six losses with England’s Samuel Crispin and India’s Suyash Manchali, but claimed the title on cumulative spread with plus-1,808 points. Crispin finished second on plus-1,367, while Manchali was third on plus-1,082.

The championship went down to the final round where Crispin defeated Fernando 557-393. Despite the loss, Fernando retained the better cumulative spread to secure the championship.

Pakistan’s Ahmed Salman finished fourth with 17 wins and seven losses, while defending champion and Scrabble Grand Master Madhav Gopal Kamath of India settled for fifth with 16 and a half wins and seven and a half losses.

Kamath had been leading the standings after 16 rounds, when he had accumulated 12 and a half wins from 16 games and a spread of plus-1,727, before slipping down the standings in the closing rounds.

Kenya had five players finish inside the top 75, led by Murithi Brighton in 65th with 12 wins and 12 losses. Ronny Kiogora was 66th, Righa Kelvin 70th, Steve Mburu 71st and Margaret Joy 75th, with the Kenyan players also finishing on 12 wins and 12 losses.

Scrabble Kenya president Limo Kipkemoi said the championship demonstrated the high standard of youth Scrabble while pointing to encouraging progress among Kenyan players.

“The quality of play is so high. For those watching on the live stream, you would actually not know that these are young kids. Kenyans are also faring well. Unlike before, I see them rising up the higher tables. So, there's hope that we are catching up with the rest of the world.”

The championship brought together young players from several countries for 24 rounds of competition in Nairobi, giving Kenyan competitors an opportunity to test themselves against some of the world's leading youth players.

With the championship now concluded, Kenya will hope the experience gained from competing against the world's best young players can help its representatives continue moving up the international standings.