Allan Oyende is keen to polish up his game ahead of the World English Scrabble Players Association Championships and East, Central and Southern Africa Scrabble Championships later this year.
Speaking after winning the third round of Scrabble Kenya WESPAC and ECASA qualifying rounds on Sunday, Oyende said there is light at the end of the tunnel as he kicks off the year.
Oyende won 15 out of 18 games with a positive spread of 1173 during the third round of the qualifiers.
Mutahi Martins was second with 13 points with a positive spread of 670 while Gitonga Nderitu finished third with 12 points and a positive spread of 900.
The tournament hosted by ‘The Geeks’—a group of 22 scrabble enthusiasts— kicked off over the weekend with a record-breaking 126 participants gracing the event.
The premier division, colloquially referred to as the Animal Kingdom, attracted 43 participants while the Intermediate division also known as Division B had 59. The beginners' division attracted 31.
With 180 days remaining ahead of the Wespa Championship in Las Vegas in July and the ECASA championship set for April in Kenya, Oyende said he believes he is on the right track.
“I had a good run at the end of last year and I have started the year well. With only two qualifiers remaining, my mission is to eliminate errors in my game ahead of Wespac and Ecasa,” said Oyende.
Meanwhile, Eric Hasenya won the intermediate division with 14 points followed closely by Joshua Ogola with 13 points and Daniel Were of MMUST University with 13 points.
In the beginners' division, James Ndolo won the tournament on his debut with 14 points. Raphael Oduor (12 points) and Pretty Harpreet (12 points) followed in the second and third places respectively.
