Cebuano Figues, four others to vie in world scrabble

University of San Jose Recoletos’ 15-year-old ace word wizard Phil Figues leads four other Cebuanos who earned seats to the Philippine team that will compete in the World Youth Scrabble Championships in London, United Kingdom this December.

Figues scored a total of eight points and 684 spread points in the nine-round qualifying round held over the weekend at the Cebu City Sports Center. He received P3,000 for topping the qualifiers.

The others who made it were 12-year-old Dave Candia of the University of the Visayas (UV), USJ-R’s Natalie Cabaluna, Jazmaine Fortuna of UV and John Bilnas.

Candia finished second with eight points and 536 spread points. He defeated Figues in the last round but the champion bounced back in the tie-breaker to escape with the title.

Cabaluna finished third with seven points and 759 spread points. Cabaluna is a seeded player in the national team.

Fortuna placed fourth with seven points and 658 in the spread while Bilnas was fifth with seven points and 525 spread points.

A record 72 elementary and high school players from 12 schools participated in this individual tournament using the straight 9-round  King-of-the-Hill system.

Schools that competed were USJR, UV, University of Cebu, Cebu Institure of Technology-University IT, Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion -Cebu, USC-Basic Education, Abellana National School, Cebu City National Science High School, Hipodromo Elementary School, Cebu Normal University, Talisay City Science High School and Sisters of Mary-Girlstown.

This tournament was organized by the Cebu Scrabble Association in coordination with the National Scrabble Association of the Philippines and the Cebu City Sports Commission.