ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been granted the rights to hold the WESPA Youth Cup (formerly known as World Youth Scrabble Championship) for the second year running.
“The championship was being played annually since 2006 in different parts of the world but could not be held after 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak around the globe, ” Tariq Pervez, Director Pakistan Scrabble Association told reporter.
He said Pakistan offered to host the 2020 edition online for the first time with the help of technology to make sure that every player was monitored and the games were played as fairly as in real life events.
“World English Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) the regulatory body of scrabble granted the hosting rights to Pakistan and the first ever virtual championship was played in 2020.It turned out to be a huge success and the organizational skills of Pakistan Scrabble Association were praised all over the world. It was decided to make the virtual championship an annual event which would continue to be held even after the resumption of in-person games in future”, he added.
Pervez said this year once again the honour of organizing the second virtual youth world championship was bestowed upon Pakistan and the tournament would be held from August 7 to 15.
“Vali Muhammad Khubaib has been selected as the Technical Director of the tournament while Hassan Hadi Khan would be the Tournament Director. A total of six players from Pakistan would be selected for the championship through a qualifying tournament, ” he said.
He said all players would play a total of 36 games each from August 7-15. Afterwards the top ten would qualify for the grand finale and the top three positions will be decided from the grand finale to be held on August 22 with only ten players to compete in it.