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Queen’s College lad wins GASP novice tourney
Bender (3rd right) poses with other winners, Bourne (2nd left) and Gaul (2nd right) moments after the conclusion of the tournament. Also in photo are Moen Gafoor (extreme right) and Leon Belony (extreme left).
By Michael Benjamin
Clive Bender, a student of Queens College Secondary School, amassed 3 games and a positive spread 466 to capture top honours when the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) concluded its six weeks interactive sessions with a tournament among the novices at the old Guyana National Service Sports Complex, Carifesta Avenue yesterday morning.
Shanice Bourne, a student of St Joseph’s High School, won 2 games with a positive spread of 95 to take the second place while Matthew Gaul of Bishop’s High School also won two of his three games but had to be content with the final podium position after Bourne managed to squeeze into the second place spot by a mere point. Ricaldo Punwasy (2 games and a negative spread of 76) and Wayne Vieira (2 games with a negative spread of 84) finished in the fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The players to occupy the first five positions were awarded lucrative prizes compliments of Giftland Office Max.
Bender, who was later adjudged the player to form the most bingos (3), carted off a check of $5,000 donated by Giftland Office Max plus a trophy. Bourne also received a trophy and a check valued $4,000 while Gaul went away with a trophy and a check valued $3,000. Punwasy and Vieira won checks of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.
Bender distinguished himself from the onset and it seemed as though he had grasped the fundamentals very quickly.
This was noticeable from the very first game when he defeated Punwasy by a massive spread of 163. He followed up that victory with a 246 spread drubbing of Wayne Vieira before he faced Matthew Gaul in the final set.
In the meantime, Gaul was enjoying a decent game having defeated Shanice Bourne (65) and Rashulate St Louis (87). This paved the way for the showdown with Bender. It was a game of wits, nerves and determination and in the end it was Bender who demonstrated these traits.
He started the game at a furious pace and at one time had scored a bingo valued more than 100 points. Not to be daunted, Gaul persevered and eventually managed to narrow the lead down considerably.
Gaul fought desperately to catch up with Bender but his inexperience cost him dearly when he failed to capitalize on several high scoring plays. In the end he lost out by a spread of 57 which really represented a resurged effort especially since he was trailing by more than 100 points as the game wound down.
While it appeared that Gaul would have occupied the second podium spot, more intrigue was to come.
Bourne, who started the tournament with a 65 spread loss to Gaul, rebounded with two victories against Khadi Lashley (76) and Randy Ramnarine (20) to place second over Gaul by a spread of one.
Meanwhile President of GASP, Moen Gafoor commended the players for their hard work over the six weeks. He urged them to continue playing the game while committing to future interactive sessions.
He informed the participants that he has had fruitful dialogue with Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony on the possibility of incorporating the game into the school system. “We have also requisitioned dictionaries, clocks and scrabble boards but we have not yet received a definitive response,” Gafoor intimated. Nevertheless he said that the GASP executive would be rigorously pursuing a school competition in the near future.
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