Team Lagos today emerged the best state at the 2017 Asaph Zadok National Scrabble Championship held in Abuja.
Lagos retained the title, after five out of their six players emerged as the top six on the scores table.
With the victory, Lagos won a trophy and a cash prize of N100,000.
Delta and Akwa Ibom came second and third best respectively .
Dipo Akanbi, representing Lagos State, emerged the 2017 individual champion after winning 18 games with an aggregate of +743.
Akanbi, with the victory, earned a trophy and a cash prize of N150,000
Dayo Tayo, also of Lagos, came second with 16.5 wins and +346 aggregate and a cash prize of N100,000.
Moses Peter of Akwa Ibom came third with 16 wins and a +1351 aggregate, for a cash prize of N50,000.
Olatunde Oduwole, the 2016 national champion and Lagos representative, came fourth with 16 wins and +764 aggregate.
The reigning world scrabble champion, Wellington Jighere, finished 14th on the score table after winning 14 games and +1076 aggregate.
Speaking after the games, Akanbi dedicated his victory to God, saying hard work and the fact that he has been reading and competing with others helped him a lot.
“In Lagos, we add fun when playing scrabble. Scrabble is part of us because we play everyday. We give all glory to God,’’ he said.
In his remarks, former President of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Suleiman Gora, congratulated the winners, noting that the competition was keenly contested.
Gora urged all players and state scrabble associations to do more in the area of grassroots development of the game.
He said that the greatest challenge of the sport was funding and called on corporate bodies and stakeholders to support the game.
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