DUBAI // UAE wordsmiths had a strong showing when the emirate hosted its first Gulf Scrabble Championship last weekend.
The winner, for the second successive year, was defending champion Mohammad Sulaiman, a Canadian expatriate living in Dubai, who will now represent the UAE in October's World championship in Poland.
Five other UAE players made it into the top 10, and one equalled the Gulf record for highest-scoring word - WARPINGS - for 208 points.
The highest-ranked players - from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia - will each represent their country in the world championship.
Mr Sulaiman was 20th in the 2007 world championship when the title went to one of the world's best players, Nigel Richards. But last year he won a tournament in Malta in which Mr Richards came third.
"A player of that calibre will definitely make the UAE look good," said Nikhil Soneja, the organiser of the Gulf Championship, who came second in the tournament and scored that 208-point word.
Another Dubai resident, Dylan D'Souza, had set the record at last year's tournament with SQUATTERS. He was 12 years old at the time.
Other top-scoring words over the weekend included REZONING and SQUIFFY for 105 points and GUIZERS for 99 points.
As first-time hosts, the UAE-based organisers tried to make an impression, with live footage of the centre Scrabble board so visitors could watch each move in a nearby room. They also gave consolation prizes - for example, for the biggest margin of loss in one game.
A crystal Scrabble board served as a keepsake trophy for the winner in addition to the Gulf cup. As well as retaining the title Mr Sulaiman was awarded Dh25,000.
"It was a very, very well organised tournament considering that this is the first time Dubai hosted it," Mr Sulaiman said. "It was a great honour for Dubai."
