Patrick Nderitu Gitonga won the first leg of Scrabble Kenya championships over the weekend in Nyahururu as part of the World English World English-Language Scrabble Players’ Association (WESPAC) in Las Vegas and East, Central and Southern Africa (ECASA) scrabble championships in Nairobi.
He added that coming from Kirinyanga County, there are no playing places or clubs to play Scrabble therefore he has to play in many tournaments to earn the slot.
“For me to qualify for the WESPAC or ECASA, I have to play in many tournaments across the country and at the regional level to sharpen my skills,” he said.
At Nyahururu, seed two player won 16 out of 18 games to secure the victory ahead of top seed Allan Oyende who managed second position as Scrabble Kenya chairman Bernard Amuke completed the podium.
“In Nyahururu I saw the large number of women competing meaning we have grown in the sport and we want to ensure that we get the best. Since we started the game in 1990, it was the first time that we had many women competing for the crown,” he said.
He lost two in game eight against Amuke and game nine against Michael Gongolo.
“It was a well-organized tournament and the large number of players who attended the series means that we are heading into the right direction.
Amuke said the journey to WESPAC has started on a good note looking at the competitive nature of the game witnessed over the weekend.
“We want to have a strong team at WESPAC and ECASA. As much as we have dominated ECASA, we want to extend that to the world,” said Amuke.