Scrabble: Day 4 King’s Cup 2007

The Bangkok jam seems to be claiming many local victims: there have been many Thai player who had their clocks started for their first game throughout the tourney. Foreign players, mostly staying in hotels within walking distance of the venue, have mostly been punctual. But the Thai are fast players so they mostly managed to survive the time shortage (with Pakorn the possible exception, still regularly running down to negative time).

The last day saw a lot of people making a final charge. Komol P (THA), already in third place going into the final day, went 6-1 to snatch the first spot in the best-of-three finals, surpassing overnight leader Nigel and even having the luxury of being Gibsonized in the last round since he couldn’t drop to third place. Nigel, on 18.5 wins (he had a tie with Panupol earlier in the day) duked out with Jakkrit who was the sole player on 18 wins for the final spot, and prevailed (I didn’t manage to get the score).

Other people who stormed up their way were Hubert Wee (SIN) and Odette Rio (PHI), both going 6-1 and both ending up in the top 5 with 18-5 records. Hubert beat Panupol (THA) in the final game to overtake Jakkrit for the third spot. Femi Awowade (NIG) also put in a strong performance with 5-2, but coupled with his first day absence, he fell short of top 10, finishing 12th.

This year two people managed to go unbeaten in the final day: Gan Cher Siong (SIN) and Robbie Onate (PHI) went 7-0, and got the bonus prize. All players get 100 Baht for every game they win (50 Baht for days 1 and 2), and unbeaten players get their winnings multiplied by 5. So both Gan and Robbie earned 3500 Baht in day 4; more than the 9th placed finisher!

Some nice words played:

- Hubert Wee (SIN) ’s ZYGOSITy through O for 98 against Alastair Richards (AUS) in round 21.

- In day 1, Karen Richards played CLOAK(I)NG (one tile was a blank, couldn’t remember which), and Jakkrit extended it to the triple word to make BECLOAKING.

I didn’t do particularly well, but I must say this had been the most enjoyable King’s Cup I’ve been to yet – the funny dictionary (TWL2+SOWPODS – so people who have started on a bit of Collins like me were a bit wary on which words were good or not) notwithstanding. The venue, Siam Paragon complex, is impressive – the hall was more spacious than the previous venues and afforded a comfortable setting to watch the finals. The Paragon is also a fabulous shopping mall, with a great variety of food (oh the food … ice cream …) to choose from. Logistics were also much improved with: shorter distance to opening night dinner, and the fact that they slotted in one game before the princess came in for the opening ceremony, meant that there were less down time, and the games were a bit less rushed. And also the final was exciting. As Han Ei remarked, it was even more exciting than watching a sport match, with all the tension. Too bad it all has ended.

Ranking of top 20 plus some selected players below:

# Name Record Spread
1 KOMOL P. 20 – -7 1845
2 NIGEL RICHARDS (NZ) 19.5 – 7 1451
3 HUBERT WEE (SING) 18 – 9 1183
4 JAKKRIT K. 18 – 9 1057
5 ODETTE RIO (PHI) 18 – 9 837
6 THACHA K. 18 – 9 463
7 PANUPOL S. 17.5– 9 932
8 TONY SIM (SING) 17 – 10 871
9 GERRY C. 17 – 10 675
10 CHEAH SH  (SING) 17 – 10 434
11 PAKORN N. 16 – 11 1163
12 FEMI AWOWADE (NIGERIA) 16 – 11 1017
13 CHARNWIT S. 16 – 11 994
14 KAREN RICHARDS (AUS) 16 – 11 822
15 CHOLLAPAT I.  16 – 11 750
16 JOCELYN LOR (MAL) 16 – 11 429
17 APIRAT C. 16 – 11 390
18 GAN CHER SIONG (SING) 16 – 11 -244
19 ATIRUTH S. 15 – 12 1234
20 NAWAPADOL S. 15 – 12 1066
23 MICHAEL TANG (SING) 15 – 12 375
27 AMNUAY P. 15 – 12 -137
29 ROONGROJ H. 14.5 – 12 294
30 RICKY PURNOMO (INDO) 14 – 13 615
31 TAN JIN CHOR (mal) 14 – 13 592
35 ALASTAIR RICHARDS (AUS) 14 – 13 -12
36 MARLON PRUDENCIO (PHI) 14 – 13 -80
40 YEO KIEN HUNG (MAL) 13.5 – 13 251
41 AZMIL AB AZIZ (MAL) 13.5 – 13 -261
43 MARTIN DEMELLO (INDIA) 13 – 14 283
46 CHEW HAN EI (SING) 13 – 14 -19
51 K. DORAI RAJA (SING) 13 – 14 -645
55 KHEN MEERDING (AUS) 12 – 15 97