Latest update March 7th, 2025 7:05 AM
McDonald anxious to regain top position in Emancipation Open Scrabble Championships
Less than one week after turning in her worst performance in a tournament, National Scrabble Champion, Abigail McDonald will attempt to reinstate herself as a force to be reckoned with when the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) stages the Emancipation Open Championships in the pavilion of the Malteenoes Sports Club this morning.
Abigail McDonald
McDonald would obviously want to forget the previous tournament where she started off on a positive note, winning all three pre lunch games but stumbled during the post lunch period, losing all three fixtures to Gafoor, Fred Collins and Julian Skeete to cap a dismal performance. She finished that tournament on 3 points and a positive spread of 299. This morning she will obviously start on a re-energized note and go all out to avenge those losses.
Gafoor has been in ripping form and had contributed in large part to McDonald’s misfortunes. He had eventually won the tournament with an impeccable 6 points and a positive spread of 292. Naturally, he would want to continue his good showing and will be wary of the National Champion’s approaches.
Caribbean Champion, Fred Collins was not at his best form recently. He survived several close games and ended up in the second place in the 3rd edition of the Earl Vigilance Memorial Tournament at the Mackenzie Sports Complex a few weeks ago. Since then, the former national champion has been struggling to regain his top form. His second place position in the just concluded tournament might just be the ‘tonic’ needed to turn his fortunes. It is, therefore, foolhardy to discard this wily player from among the podium spots.
Several other players have demonstrated some measure of consistency and could possibly shake up the top players. Leon Belony is a mean player and could spoil Gafoor’s ambitions. He had challenged MacDonald in a three best of five tournament for the national title and carried the set to the end of the wire, only to surrender 3-2. Consequently, the banker rebounded with a victory in the Earl Vigilance Memorial Tournament where Collins had placed second. If Belony turns up in the right mood, the favourites will just have to watch out.
Then there are Julian Skeete, Grace Hercules and Maurice Munru, players that have distinguished themselves after being adjudged the best outside of the top 10 ranked seeds. They are on the verge of breaking into the top ten rankings and may just displace one of those top seeds to accomplish the task. When one thoroughly peruses the situation it becomes apparent why selecting a winner poses a daunting task. Registration commences at 09:30hrs and the first tile will be placed at 10:00hrs. Players arriving late will have their clocks activated in their absence.
Meanwhile, the organizers are reminding players that the Caribbean Championships is still slated for this month end. Players are also reminded to attend practice sessions at the Malteenoes Sports Club on Wednesday evenings starting at 18:00hrs.
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