Adebola Samuel of Ogun State emerged winner of the Masters category in the 5th Governor Douye Diri National Scrabble Championship in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The two-day tournament, which featured over 300 players in five categories, including Masters, Intermediate, Opens, Veterans and Students, witnessed Adebola Samuel smiling to the bank with the trophy and star prize of N1m.
Samuel joins Avwenagha Oshevire of Delta, Nsikak Etim of Akwa Ibom and Enoch Nwali of Ebonyi State as winners of the annual fiesta.
Samuel won the Masters category with a cumulative of +856, Jimoh Abdulmumini came second with +672 cumulative while Chuks Nwaeze finished third with +354 cumulative.
Dorcas Innocent of Bayelsa was crowned winner of the Opens category, dethroning Theophilus Nimibo in the category. Former national champion, Doku Esan took home the Veteran’s title while Edowor Bobor emerged champions in the Intermediate category to overthrow Doubara Enai.
Pereowei Edidie of the Federal Government College, Odi retained the Students category title with a cumulative of +2060 while August Shannon came second with +1748 cumulative.
Declaring the championship closed, Governor Douye Diri commended the Bayelsa State Scrabble Association for consistently hosting the championship in the last five years which has become one of Nigeria’s premier intellectual sporting events.
Represented by the Commissioner for Sports Development, Dr Daniel Igali, the governor noted that the performance of the players has shown that sports is not just about physical contest but also an avenue for discipline and national unity.
Diri said: “This tournament fully supported by the Bayelsa State Government has become one of Nigeria’s most premier intellectual sporting events attracting top players across the country with prize money this year amounting to N10m”.
