Mbugua, Manase join Team Kenya ahead of worlds

Nicholas Mbugua and Manase Otieno are the latest players to join Team Kenya to the World English-word Players Scrabble Association Championships slated for November 6 -12 at Laico Regency, Nairobi.
The duo complete Kenya’s quota of six as allocated by Wespa. The other four who had qualified earlier are Gitonga Nderitu, Allan Oyende, Willy Mwangi and Patrick Litunya. The event was moved from Kenya International Convention Centre to move Laico Regency due to lack of committment from the government. Even after agreeing to book and foot the bill of Championship venue, the Sports Ministry remained tight-lipped about their progress and SK had to find out on their own that KICC was fully booked by other entities.
“We are excited about the championships and Scrabble Kenya is more thrilled with the whole experience of hosting the world showpiece. Everything is set for the tournament,” said Local Organizing Committee (LOC) sectary, Eva Njogu. This is the first time the World Championships is being held in Africa. As of Monday this week, 100 players had qualified for the showpiece and same number was yet to be listed by their countries. Six other players including the defending champion Wellington Jighere got wild cards for the bonanza. The Wespa Championships will see players go through 32 games over four days- between November 8 and 11 and thereafter the top two will advance to a best of seven final on November 12.
There will also be a series of other events on offer for the players over the seven days of action. The events include the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) on Tuesday where 10 per cent of (top) participants and top three youth players will be entered in the Wespa championships. Slated for November 8 is an eight-game Nairobi One Day Open Championship, which will set the stage for Kenya International Youth Championship from November 9 to 11.
The fifth event will be a three-day Kenya International Open Championship (November 9 to 11) and finally, the curtains for the world championships will come down with One Day Open on Sunday, November 12.