Team Nigeria returns after historic World Youth scrabble feat
Victorious members of Team Nigeria to the World Youth Scrabble Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are scheduled to arrive in Abuja today. The contingent, made up of four players and one official, is expected to land at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by 12:05 p.m. aboard Ethiopian Airlines. Team Nigeria recorded a landmark achievement through […]
Victorious members of Team Nigeria to the World Youth Scrabble Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are scheduled to arrive in Abuja today.
The contingent, made up of four players and one official, is expected to land at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by 12:05 p.m. aboard Ethiopian Airlines.
Team Nigeria recorded a landmark achievement through Sophia Ebube Ekeruche, who clinched the Best Female crown—the first time an African has earned the honour at the global event.
Ekeruche’s triumph follows another milestone last month, when she won the U-15 title at the African Youth Scrabble Championships in Kenya. Remarkably, she became the first female champion in that category and achieved the feat without losing a single game.
Team captain, Abdulqudus Olawale Aliu, also impressed on the world stage, narrowly missing out on first place to India’s Madhav Gopal Kamath. Pakistan’s Aehzam Ahmed secured third position.
Speaking after the championship, President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), Engineer Olobatoke Aka, hailed the team’s success.
“Nigeria scrabble has come of age, we have come to prove again that it’s not only in the adult scrabble that we are good, we have youth coming from behind and winning is another bold statement,” he said.
Aka stressed that Nigeria’s dominance in both U-15 and U-19 categories at continental level now reflects on the world stage.
“We only missed the top prize by whiskers. I’m elated with this excellent result in Malaysia and we will begin preparing for the next World Youth Scrabble Championships in Kenya next year very early and I’m confident we shall win it,” he added.