Jack Durand Dethrones Moiz Baig At The 9th World Youth Scrabble Championship
Jack Durand of England rounded off a great week by dethroning Moiz Baig and taking the tile of the World Youth Scrabble Champion at the end of the 9th World Youth Scrabble Championship played at Colombo, Sri Lanka on 29-31 August 2014.
120 players from 13 countries took part.
The WYSC was apart of the Sri Lanka Scrabble Festival which was played from 22nd to 31st August and included the 6th Sri Lanka Open International Championship and 2nd World Senior Scrabble Championship.
Durand was in great touch throughout the championship and remained on top almost right through the tournament. A defeat at the hands of Arham Abidi in the final match didn't have much affect on his position as he was declared a champion with one two matches to spare.
Durand is the first ever youth champion to emerge from England.
Yong Jian Rong of Singapore just pipped Marian to the 2nd position. Yong won 17 matches and has a spread of 1244.
Mariam Arif narrowly missed the runner up position after losing her last match and had to be contended with the 3rd position. Mariam also won 17 matches and had a spread of 1054.
Defending champion and pre tournament favorite Moiz Baig had a colossal loss of form. The weight of expectations put him down. Moiz finished a disappointing 22nd.
Singapore won the prize for the Best Team following by Pakistan on 2nd and Sri Lanka on 3rd position
| Best Player under 16 | Jack Durand (England) |
| Best player under 12 & under 14 | Lewis Hawkins (New Zealand) |
| Best Player under 10 | Minuki Satharasinghe (Sri Lanka) |
| High Game | 682 Rohan Kapur (UAE) |