Leon Belony retains form to capture GASP Open Scrabble C/ships

Sep 30, 2013 Sports

Michael and Deonarine in the money

Leon Belony retained a rich vein of form and amassed 6 points and a positive spread of 767 to triumph over a competitive field when the final tile was moved in the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) open championship at the Malteenoes Sports yesterday afternoon.

Leon Belony is flanked by Orlando Michael to his right and
Devraj Deonarine, moments after the championship ended.

Orlando Michael scored 5 points and a positive spread of 245 to herald a return to the podium and sealed off the second place after a prolonged hiatus, while Devraj Deonarine also made a grand return to the podium after winning 3 games and accruing a positive spread of 327.
Once again, the players underlined their competitiveness when it was noted that 4 of them finished the tournament on 3 points and had to be separated by dint of their spreads.
Belony stamped his authority from the very first game when he defeated Deonarine by a spread of 76. Kamta Ramnarine put up a valiant fight and had Belony on the ropes on several occasions but the latter player employed wits and cunning to edge home by 4 points. Thereafter, Belony took care of Wayne Cave (203), Robert Williams (125), Michael (210) and Michael Benjamin (147) to cap an excellent day on the board.
Michael rebounded from the loss to Belony to triumph over Williams (174), Cave (81), Julian Skeete (37), Michael Benjamin (77) and Deonarine (86). The latter player also lost to Kamta Ramnarine (42) but defeated Grace Hercules (42), Julian Skeete (212) and Tevin Skeete (167).
Meanwhile, national Champion, Abigail McDonald graced the tournament but did not participate.  However, she is currently honing her skills in preparation for national duties at the World Scrabble Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, December 3rd – 8th next. The executive of GASP is keen to have the National Champion represent Guyana and have planned a fund raiser, a Bar-B-Que and Lime at the Malteenoes Sports Club on Saturday November 16 next.
Tickets are currently available from any of the members and can be had for $1000.
The players will next convene on October 15 next for the Eid Ul Azha Open Tournament at the same venue.