Latest update December 24th, 2024 2:04 AM
Abigail McDonald prevails in CARICOM scrabble tourney
With just over one month to go before Guyanese scrabble players tackle defending champions Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados in the Caribbean Tri Nation tournament, national champion, Abigail McDonald has shown that she will be a force to be reckoned with when she turned back the challenge of her predecessor, Fred Collins, and a field of worthwhile challengers to cart off the honours when the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) staged the CARICOM Open championships at the Malteenoes sports Club Sunday afternoon last.
Fred Collins
Abigail McDonald
The tournament was very competitive and the winner was decided by the spread. McDonald amassed 5 points and a positive spread of 567 to relegate her strongest challenger, Fred Collins to the second place with a similar amount of points but a lower spread of 488. Moen Gafoor claimed the final podium spot after amassing 4 points and a positive spread of 560. Julian Skeete secured the fourth place and the special prize for the best performer outside the top ten rankings. He ended on 3 points and a negative spread of 34.
Ironically, McDonald’s only loss was to her nemesis, Collins, in the first game of the day, by a spread of 67. She redeemed herself with decisive victories over Winslow Jacobs (126) and R. O. Michael (207) before trudging off to lunch on 2 points and a positive spread of 267. The reigning queen then dug in her heels during the post lunch session to secure wins over Colin Chichester (122), Gafoor (83) and Leon Belony (95).
After the McDonald victory, Collins marched on and was set for a clean sweep when he was disrupted by Leon Belony by a large spread of 120. He rebounded somewhat, with victories over Wayne Cave (106), Gafoor (12), Ruby Cummings (227) and Ulric Harris (196). Collins underlined his cunningness when he opposed Gafoor and was trailing by a substantial spread towards the end of the game. Placing the letter ‘A’ over ‘Hungry,’ he formed a bingo, ‘Unlaced’ and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Gafoor’s victims were Michael Benjamin (241), Harris (174), Chichester (69) and Belony (171).
Meanwhile, the players will now go into intense training to take on their Caribbean counterparts at the Bank of Guyana Sports Club between August 23rd- 26th next. The national squad will be selected shortly. The selectors would be guided by the performance of the players in recent tournaments and more particularly the just concluded Earl Vigilance Lien trophy and the Caricom competition. Eight players will comprise the local squad which will be led by McDonald.
Trinidad and Tobago are the reigning team champions, while Barbados is also expected to field a strong contingent. Fred Collins is the individual Caribbean champion and will be going all out to retain that accolade.
Players are reminded that practice sessions will be held at the Malteenoes Sports Club on Thursday starting at 19:00hrs. Members are asked to make a special effort to attend so as to improve the local team’s chances at the imminent championships.
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