Henry Nwosu wins big scrabble event in Plateau State

Henry Nwosu wins big scrabble event in Plateau State ...Organisers, event supporters receive commendations

By Maxwell Kumoye One of the most active state Scrabble Association in Nigeria, Plateau State Scrabble Association (PSSA), has concluded the biggest event in its calendar of activities, 'The Plateau Numero Uno' Championship.

After grueling, challenging, exciting and thrilling scrabble confrontations among the top ten players in the state, Henry Nwosu emerged winner of the Numero Uno championship concluded at the weekend.

Henry Nwosu who squeezed into the last four at the expense of 13th African Games gold medalist Joy Ola, defeated Shuaib Alhassan in the final by a superior cumulative points difference.

The final which is Best-of-Seven ended 3 wins each and a draw. However Nwosu was crowded Champion by virtue of a higher cumulative points than Alhassan. It was +44 for the eventually winner Nwosu while it was -44 Alhassan.

The game lived up to its billing as the tiebreaker final round did not break the tie as it ended in a draw placing both players at 3.5 wins each.

The Final Best-of-Seven will go down in the history book of Scrabble On The Plateau as one of the fiercest scrabble final ever played.

Cumulative points was the last straw that back Shuaib Alhassan resistance. The spectators were kept at the edge of their seats in a breathtaking Best-of-Seven Final.

To reach the Final of Best-Of-Seven, Shuaib Alhassan topped the round robbin phase of the competition with 13 win and a draw with a plus 997 cumulative points from 18 rounds of games.

In the one sided semi finals of Best Of-Five-games, Alhassan defeated Benjamin Batol Isa 3-1, Benjamin Batol Isa finished the round robbin phase in the second spot with 11 victories and plus 491 points.

Pam Nding Bitrus who was third with 10 wins during the first phase was stopped in the semifinals by Henry Nwosu.

The two finalists played a total of 30 games over the three-day duration of the championship. Each played 18 games in the preliminary rounds, five games in the semifinals and seven in the Final.

The Vice chairman of the Plateau State Scrabble Association (OSSA), Barrister Chuwang Isaiah Paul, commended the organising team for a job well done.

He also had some pleasant words for the management of Lashoms Hotels and Suites the host of the event for always supporting the Association with a venue for her events.

The winner went home with the sum of N50,000 while the runner up got N20,000 and the two semifinal losers got N10,000 each.