The tense muscles on Enoch Nwali’s face began to relax as they stretched into a smile, revealing a sigh of relief for the African champion as he confirmed his first-place position at the 2023 Lekki Scrabble Classics after a rigorous 18 rounds of games over two days.
Playing in the Nigerian circuit by any crowned champion in this game has shown that nothing is guaranteed as every player is capable of creating a devastating upset- the signature of the finicky game in Nigeria.
For Nwali who is the current African champion, the journey to the top was interestingly arduous despite having a dominating run, starting from the first day when he recorded a draw in round three against former African champion Moses Peter after 11 rounds.
His winning streak appeared to have ingnited some flames as other top players took turns to challenge him on Table 1.
Former World Champion and two-time winner on the continent Wellington Jighere, Sunday Oshodi and Timi Doko all tried to remove him by out-pointing him as games were running out but failed.
Only Olatunde Adigun on 13 wins, who has found good ground in Lekki in the past succeeded twice but faltered on his third attempt in the crucial 18th round for Nwali to win the covet title and a prize of 500,000 naira with an unassailable result of 14 wins, one draw and two defeats.
His impressive stats showed he played a total of 43 premium (bingos) with an average of 2.4 per game while his opponents played 27 premium (bingos).
“I really don’t know what made me stand out but I was very calm even when l was losing a few at the closing stages, I wasn’t scared. I just didn’t allow the loss to get to me. What I just did was to focus on the next game, and remain calm. Even when I knew I could have won the game against Adigun,” he revealed.
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