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Mumbai wordsmiths take on world: The Asian Age
Mumbai, Oct 15: Playing with words is a passion for Akshay Bhandarkar and Pramit Kamath and they are geared up to take on the best in the world with their flair for words.
Mumbai, Oct 15: Playing with words is a passion for Akshay Bhandarkar and Pramit Kamath and they are geared up to take on the best in the world with their flair for words.
Both Akshay and Pramit are scrabblers, who take their words seriously and have turned Scrabble, a living room pastime, into one which will fetch them international recognition.
Talking about his passion for the game, 23-year-old Akshay said he has been playing since he was nine years-old. "I was further inspired looking at the game of former champions like Joel Sherman of the USA." Participating in the tournament for the fourth time, Akshay said he will be representing India for the first time as he had been playing for Bahrain the last three times. "The world championship is held every two years in different parts of the world. This time it is being held in Kuala Lumpur from October 21 to 24," he added.
Twenty-four-year-old Pramit, a graduate of IIT Powai, said, "I like playing Scrabble because I like words. Moreover, it provides a scope to put my mathematical skills to use as one has to deal with probabilities."
However, the fact that despite representing India at an international tournament, they are not known to most Indians saddens both.
Pramit, an executive with Deloitte Consulting, and Akshay, a client relationship executive with Kotak Securities, think that Scrabble is more than just a word game and needs proper promotion. "Scrabble is taken seriously in countries like the US and the UK. In India, it has gained ground in the last five years due to organisations like the Mumbai Scrabble Club and the Indian Scrabble Association, who have been trying to promote it by organising tournaments at the school level," Pramit said.
The young Mumbaikars are going to represent India after leaving a mark at the recently-held Mattel India Scrabble Championship in Pune. While Akshay was the winner, Pramit bagged the first runner-up position. The Mattel tournament was held to select India’s representatives in the world championship. The Kuala Lumpur tour of both the Indian scrabblers is being sponsored by Mattel India, a major patron of the game.
Mattel executives said that the opening reception of the world championship will be on October 19, while the actual tournament will start from October 21. Being organised by Scrabble Masters Malaysia, along with the Malaysian Scrabble Association, the prestigious international event is being held in Asia for the first time. This year, the tournament will have 102 players from over 45 countries, playing 24 rounds of regular contests. These will be followed by the top two players competing in the final rounds on October 24.
Both Akshay and Pramit are scrabblers, who take their words seriously and have turned Scrabble, a living room pastime, into one which will fetch them international recognition.
Talking about his passion for the game, 23-year-old Akshay said he has been playing since he was nine years-old. "I was further inspired looking at the game of former champions like Joel Sherman of the USA." Participating in the tournament for the fourth time, Akshay said he will be representing India for the first time as he had been playing for Bahrain the last three times. "The world championship is held every two years in different parts of the world. This time it is being held in Kuala Lumpur from October 21 to 24," he added.
Twenty-four-year-old Pramit, a graduate of IIT Powai, said, "I like playing Scrabble because I like words. Moreover, it provides a scope to put my mathematical skills to use as one has to deal with probabilities."
However, the fact that despite representing India at an international tournament, they are not known to most Indians saddens both.
Pramit, an executive with Deloitte Consulting, and Akshay, a client relationship executive with Kotak Securities, think that Scrabble is more than just a word game and needs proper promotion. "Scrabble is taken seriously in countries like the US and the UK. In India, it has gained ground in the last five years due to organisations like the Mumbai Scrabble Club and the Indian Scrabble Association, who have been trying to promote it by organising tournaments at the school level," Pramit said.
The young Mumbaikars are going to represent India after leaving a mark at the recently-held Mattel India Scrabble Championship in Pune. While Akshay was the winner, Pramit bagged the first runner-up position. The Mattel tournament was held to select India’s representatives in the world championship. The Kuala Lumpur tour of both the Indian scrabblers is being sponsored by Mattel India, a major patron of the game.
Mattel executives said that the opening reception of the world championship will be on October 19, while the actual tournament will start from October 21. Being organised by Scrabble Masters Malaysia, along with the Malaysian Scrabble Association, the prestigious international event is being held in Asia for the first time. This year, the tournament will have 102 players from over 45 countries, playing 24 rounds of regular contests. These will be followed by the top two players competing in the final rounds on October 24.