Lakshan and Yeshan attempt world record

Breaking a Guinness World Record is no mean feat. Attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the highest number of points scored by two Scrabble players within 24 hours is something which many wouldn’t contemplate for one second. Try telling that to Yeshan Jayasuriya and Lakshan Wanniarachchi!

Lakshan Wanniarachchi, a past pupil of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, and Yeshan Jayasuriya, a current pupil in the 12th grade of the same educational institution are aiming to become only the fourth pair to hold the record. The first mark was set back in 1995 by Paul Golder and John Howell who managed 111,154 points. That was bettered by Chris Hawkins and Austin Shin (at age 12) in late 2001 - before breaking their own record 8 months later. The current record stands at 170,682 achieved by Alastair Richards and Michael McKenna earlier this year.

Although Scrabble is still in the initial stages of gaining popularity in Sri Lanka, the Island has produced players of the calibre of Lakshan, who has represented the country on a number of occasions at the World Scrabble Championships, and Yeshan, who was placed 4th in the World Youth Scrabble Championship last year. Sri Lanka has also been one of the countries that have been consistently within the top countries overall during the last few World Youth Scrabble Championships. Both Lakshan and Yeshan are members of the Sri Lanka Scrabble League and are respectively the highest ranked player and the highest ranked Junior player in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Scrabble League itself is a vital cog in the attempt to breaking the record for it provides invaluable support to the two in numerous ways.

With many trial versions and a great deal of practice, these two Scrabble players have built up a great deal of confidence and belief in themselves to pull off this feat. But for Lakshan and Yeshan the attempt is not about the prestige of being world record holders. The duo’s outlook is more on the lines of popularizing the game of Scrabble in Sri Lanka and thereby creating a newfound enthusiasm for the game throughout the country. It is also important to them that, the country gains recognition through this feat, rather than themselves.

You can find full coverage on the 24 Hours Scrabble World Record Facebook Page, which features updates on the attempt. Lakshan and Yeshan will be going head to head from 8pm IST local time (2.30pm GMT or 9.30am EST) - Saturday 10th of November. Proceedings take place at the Bayleaf Restaurant in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

November 2012

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