The Scrabble Federation of Sri Lanka started off its National Championships 2024 series last week with the Junior and Senior National Scrabble Championships which took place in Sasakawa Cultural Centre on June 29.
The event was a success with 100 players competing for the coveted title according to an official with 80 players in the Junior National category selected from four regional qualifiers.
The Western Regional qualifier was held at Gateway College Colombo, Central Regional qualifier at Gateway College Kandy, Southern Regional qualifier at Buonavista College Galle, and Northern Western Regional qualifier at Holy Family Balika in Kurunegala.
In the Under-20 division, Adheesha Dissanayake, from Gateway College Colombo, won the championship, by winning all his games, clinching the trophy in the penultimate round itself.
The two-time Under-16 World Champion will now add the prestigious Junior National Shield, as well as the best Under-18 player award to his exceptional repertoire.
In second place was Nishanya Gammanpila, from Musaeus College, with seven wins and who also won the best female player award. Ilham Irshad, also from Gateway College Colombo, came third with six wins.
In the Under-15 division, Dineth Fernando, from Nalanda College, who is the reigning U15 champion, won eight games to clinch first place, defending his title. Udhev Prasath, from Lyceum International School Wattala, came second while Kyaan Perera of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia came in third.
Inam Irshad won the Under-12 best player award and Gihansa Pathirana won best female player prize.
The Senior National Championships showed off the competitive spirit and expertise of the veteran players. In dramatic fashion, Priya Fernando won first place, winning seven games, including a final round win against the reigning Senior National Champion Shaila Amalean who finished in second place.
Farida Akbarally came third with six wins.
The tournament director was Rashid Sudin, who is the current president of the Scrabble Federation of Sri Lanka. The awards ceremony of the event was attended by Stacy Grau, on behalf of the US Ambassador for Sri Lanka, Julie J. Chung.
