Pakistani youth creates world record in Scrabble

COLOMBO: Hasham Hadi Khan, the youngest member of the Pakistani team taking part in the 6th International Scrabble Championship, has made a world record by scoring en eye-popping 878 points against Matheesha De Silva of Sri Lanka.

Around 80 of the world's best players were in the arena of the spectacular show of vocabulary and tactical skills where the Hasham Hadi Khan, just 9-year old, emerged as the next big thing in the world of Scrabble.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest score ever recorded in a scrabble match was made by Toh Wei Bin of Singapore who scored 850 against Rick Kennedy of Scotland in 2012.

Until now, no score of 800 plus had been witnessed in an international tournament of Scrabble.

Hasham's scores included a triple-triple play for his word "GRUNTLES" and three bingos; SHERIAT, RETSINA and HEADERS.

Matheesha was reduced to a mere spectator as Hasham threw a flurry of bingos while cleverly challenging off all invalid words that Matheesha tried in a desperate attempt to cut down the deficit.

Reigning world champion Nigel Richards personally congratulated Hasham on his record while modestly mentioning that he himself had never gone past a score of 700 in a major event.

Hasham playing his first ever international tournament will represent Pakistan at the World Youth Scrabble Championship which starts from August 29.