Hubert Wee triumphant at the ASTAR Scrabble Challenge International (ASCI) 2024 in Malaysia

 Hubert Wee defeated Nigel Richards in the final round by mere two points, 457-455 to pocket the top prize of RM 3,000.00 at the recently concluded ASTAR Scrabble Challenge International or otherwise known as ASCI 2004 Edition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hubert and Nigel met six times in this tourney, and the former scored an outstanding 5-1 win-loss against the latter. "I’ve played 50 WESPA-rated games so far this year, and Nigel has been the opponent in 32% of them ! It’s wild to play almost a third of your games against just one player in open tournaments.", said Wee in his Facebook post.

With only few ticks left on his time clock and was 14 points down, Wee found the winning move just in the nick of time. "I beat Nigel Richards in the deciding game by 2 points, with 8 seconds left to win ASCI!", he exclaimed.

Take a look at the board position below:

ASCI '24 Round 17 Board Position after Nigel's PIT (15d)

He knew that Nigel held the last rack of GILOOO after the latter played PIT at 15d for 25 points, and the scores at that point were 414-428.

Try to work out your two-move finish if you were in Wee's shoes, otherwise you can find the finishing kick as well as the complete game here.

Hubert Wee and Nigel Richards were not new in going up against each other. They also played in the finals of the Brand's Crossword King's Cup 2015.

Hubert Wee receiving his prize at the ASCI 2004 Open Division

Meanwhile at Board 2, Vannitha Balasingam edged Nuti Suri in the final round, 442-409 to take the 2nd place finish. "It's done, second!", as posted in her Facebook page.

ASCI '24- Round 17 Vannitha vs. Nuti (Final Board Position)

Vannitha Balasingam, 2nd Place at the ASCI '24

Nigel Richards finished 3rd Place at the ASCI '24

Marlon Prudencio was very happy about his high game scoring 711-224 in Round 1 against Joseph Wong. He played four consecutive bingos, OUTEATS (75), ANTiFAT (74+5), sAGOUIN (70+5) and the unchallenged phoney, PROBITED* (84).

ASCI '24 Round 1 - Marlon Prudencio's High Game, 711 vs. Josep Wong

As a recap, below was the Final Standing of the Open Section of ASCI '2024

Event: ASTAR Scrabble Challenge International (ASCI) 2004 - Open Division
Date: May 11-12, 2024
Venue: The Universiti Malaya Exam Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Format: Swiss Lag, King-of-the-Hill (KOTH)

Lexicon: CSW21