By Our Correspondent
Nigeria’s young Scrabble players have delivered another impressive performance on the international stage, winning several individual honours and helping the country finish second at the World Youth Scrabble Championship in Nairobi, Kenya.
The feat was achieved with significant support from the Kwara State Government under Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, which has backed Nigerian Scrabble for about six years.
Nigeria finished as the second-best country at the championship, which featured 134 young players from around the world competing in 24 gruelling rounds over three days.
Sophia Ekeruche successfully defended the Best Female Player title she won at last year’s championship in Malaysia.
Yusuf Abdulsalam emerged champion in the U-8 category and was also named Best Kid of the Tournament.
Salvation Onazi finished second runner-up in the U-10 category, while Saviour Onazi claimed third place in the U-12 category.
In the U-16 category, Olamide Hassan finished second runner-up and placed 10th overall.
The individual performances earned Team Nigeria the Second Best Country Prize at the championship.
The achievement was made possible in part by the support of the Kwara State Government, which funded the travel of four players and two officials to the Nairobi championship.
The intervention helped Nigeria avoid missing another major international youth competition.
The Bayelsa and Niger state governments also supported the team.
The Nigerian contingent was guided by coach Hassan Olojoku Abdulrafiu.
The performance in Nairobi provides a bright spot for Nigerian sports at a time when some of the country’s prominent national teams have struggled on the international stage.
D’Tigress suffered their second defeat to China while preparing for the World Cup in Germany, while the Junior D’Tigers recorded their third defeat at the FIBA U-18 Boys AfroBasket in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The Super Falcons were also eliminated from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Cameroon.
Similarly, the Flying Eagles suffered a heavy defeat to Burkina Faso in the final of the WAFU B U-20 AFCON qualifying tournament, ruling Nigeria out of both the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations and the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Against this backdrop, Nigeria’s young Scrabble players have offered a welcome source of optimism, returning from Nairobi with multiple individual awards and a second-place finish for the country.
Their performance also underscores the impact of sustained investment in youth development and the importance of government support in helping young Nigerian athletes compete successfully on the international stage.
