Scrabble maestro Oyende wins Bungoma leg

Scrabble maestro Allan Oyende capitalised on the absence of his arch-rival Gitonga Nderitu at the Bungoma leg of the National Scrabble Tournament Circuit held over the weekend to win his first title the year.

Oyende, East Africa’s top seed, walked home with the tournament’s third leg title after winning 13 matches out of the 18 played in the two days event.

He had a winning spread of +1494.

But the victory was not enough to help him reclaim top spot from Nderitu, as it only increased his overall ratings to 1892 points.

He remains second on the local standings after Nderitu, who tops with an overall rating of 1926 points.

Nderitu, who pulled out of the Bungoma event due to “some family commitments”, won the Nairobi and Kitui events, which were the first and second legs of the circuit respectively.

It was sweet victory for Oyende, as he also bagged the high game award, which is won by the player who scores most points in a match.

For Oyende to win that title, he scored 630 points, against Dan Musuku’s 292. Nicholas Mbugua holds the high game record at 789 points.

"It wasn't easy but I did my best. I just have to keep on working hard and see how it goes. Probably very soon, I will be Kenya’s top seed again, “said Oyende.

While Benard Koyyoko, who was leading local players in the competition took an early lead after day one event, he failed to maintain that moment and finished second after registering 12wins with a spread of +500.

The second place finish in the tournament saw Koyyoko take his overall ratings to 1729 points.

Joash Manyasa of Busia closed the podium places on 11 wins and a spread of +593.

In the Intermediate division, Tom Mboya was on fire as he won gold with two rounds to spare after bagging maximum points in 16 matches.

Saul Alukhaba of Butere emerged second after winning 12 games, while Daniel Were of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, who also registered same number of wins, finished third because of an inferior winning spread.

Because of that outstanding performance, Were won the best student title.

The best female award went to Wenwa Akinyi, who finished sixth out of 20 players in the Premier division. She registered 11 wins out of the 18 matches.

The National Scrabble Tournament Circuit now moves to Nakuru on April 4 and 5.