Bernard Koyyoko won the Scrabble Kenya title held in Bondo, Siaya County that came to an end today.
Seeded number three in the country, Koyyoko has promised to put on more effort to compete at the Africa Scrabble Championships (ASC).
As the last ASC qualifier, Koyyoko recorded his maiden victory in the SK series to be part of the Word Warriors, the national Scrabble team that will represent the country at the continental championships set for Sierra Leone from September 23-27.
The qualifying rounds started off in Nairobi, Bungoma, Homabay, Murang’a and Eldoret now in Bondo.
After the victory, Koyyoko said that since the tournament was a qualifier, they still have a long journey to ASC and more effort is needed to shine.
“It was a tough tournament but the rest of the team is tough. I need to put on more effort to play well at the continental championships,” said Koyyoko.
He added that before the event is set for September; they will still have more tournaments to be played as part of their preparations.
“Being in the Kenya team is not easy and playing at the continual event is tough. For me to play well, we have tournaments as build up for the championships,” he added.
Koyyoko won 16 games losing 2 in the 18 legged tournament that attracted top players in the country led by Grand Master Allan Oyende, Expert Patrick Gitonga Nderitu, also the East, Central and Southern Africa Scrabble (ECASA) champion among others.
Murang’a based Nderitu finished second after winning 13 and losing 5 while Oyende managed to seal the podium with 11 wins and 7 loses.
Top ten finishers
- Bernard Koyyoko (16-2)
- Gitonga Nderitu (EXP) 13-5)
- Allan oyende (GM) 11-7
- Francis Wachira (11-7)
- Stanley Njoroge (11-7)
- Willy Mwangi (11-7)
- David Kimani (11-7)
- Robert Mbugua (10-8)
- Kepha Mukonyi (10-8)
- Bernard Amuke (9-9)