Cebuano is 59th in World Scrabble; 2 other Pinoys in 27th, 69th

Sun.Star: The University of the Visayas top wordsmith Teodoro Martus Jr. finished 59th among 106 players in the World Scrabble Championships at the Taj President Hotel yesterday in Mumbai, India. Martus was among three Filipino word masters who joined the four-day event which attracted participants from 41 countries. Martus, a graduating engineering student from UV and the champion of the fourth leg of the National Scrabble Championships last March and the UV Scrabble Challenge last October, joined two other top scrabble players in the country, Lawyer Carmina Odette Rio from Iloilo and Engineer Ronald Credo in the prestigious meet. Rio and Martus are the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the country respectively, while Credo is the third-best. After the three-day contest, Rio had the best showing and finished at 27th place, while Martus is at 59th with Credo 10 places behind at 69th. Rio finished with a 13.5-10.5 record and a +506 spread, while Martus had an even 12-12 mark and a -337 mark. Credo finished with a losing 11-13 record. The event offers a $30,000 total prize fund for the top 10 placers with $15,000 going to the winner. Nigels Richard of New Zealand emerged as the best word wizard of them all after defeating Ganesh Asirvatham of Malaysia. Richards, who authored the world scrabble dictionary, was also the 2000 WSC champion. Richard finished with a 19-5 record and a +1594 to win the crown. - Sun.Star