World Scrabble Championship 2017


The MSI World Scrabble Championship 2017 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports International to determine the world champion in English Scrabble. It was held from 22 to 27 August in Nottinghamshire, England.
The event was split into two divisions according to players' World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association ratings; the top division comprised some 77 players. 35 games were played on the first four days, after which the top eight proceeded to a 3-game quarterfinals, with the winners advancing to a 5-game semifinals on the same day; the top two players, David Eldar and Harshan Lamabadusuriya, played a best-of-five final the day after for the top prize of €7,000. Eldar beat Lamabadusuriya 3–0.

Background

The World Scrabble Championship 2017 was originally slated to take place at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar, as part of the 4th Mindsports World Championship organised by the Mindsports Academy. However, due to the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis, the championship was relocated to Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, and held from 22 to 27 August under the auspices of Mindsports International and sponsored by Mattel, the Qatar Tourism Authority, SamTimer, and the World Mind Sport Federation. MSA also hosted a Junior World Scrabble Championship for players under 21 at the same venue from 19 to 21 August.

Results

Preliminary

After 35 preliminary rounds, the top eight, which included three-time World Champion Nigel Richards and 1993 champion Mark Nyman, advanced to the quarterfinals. 2016 champion Brett Smitheram finished in fourteenth place, thus failing in his title defence.
PositionNameNumber of winsCumulative spread
1Nigel Richards26.5+1893
2Austin Shin24.5+757
3Harshan Lamabadusuriya23+1185
4Neil Scott22.5+1244
5Goutham Jayaraman22+1549
6Mark Nyman22+817
7Elie Dangoor22+519
8David Eldar21+1675
9Paul Gallen21+1202
10David Webb21+888
11David Koenig21+811
12Neil Rowley21+806
13Waseem Khatri21+580
14Brett Smitheram20+1059
15Joel Wapnick20+888
16Vincent Boyle20+830
17Chris Cummins20+638
18Paul Allan20+402
19Calum Edwards20+384
20Alex Tan20-788

Source:

Knockout

Source:

Finals

RoundDavid EldarHarshan Lamabadusuriya
1468426
2575384
3450420
4––
5––

Source:
UK-based poker player and real estate agent David Eldar, who was born in Australia, whitewashed Sri Lankan doctor Harshan Lamabadusuriya in the best-of-five finals; Eldar was awarded £7000 for becoming 2017 World Scrabble Champion, whereas runner-up Lamabadusuriya netted £3000. Notable plays by Eldar included S for 74 points, ASINICOS, and OBVS. Austin Shin beat Goutham Jayaraman 2-1 in a best-of-three third-place playoff.