Ikekeregor to visit Ibori, Haruna

NEW Africa Scrabble champion Dennis Ikekeregor, expected to arrive Lagos, Nigeria Tuesday promise to visit his Delta state governor James Ibori and also that of Adamawa state, Boni Haruna to "thank both men for their encouragement." A confidant of Ikekeregor told nigeriasports.com from Dar-es-Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, where he became the new African Scrabble Champion last Sunday that he was very heppy in becoming the new champion and would like to visit his state first. “I am a homeboy. My parents would flog me if my 'charity' does not start from home. Asaba is the first port of call to present the honour I am bringing to the Governor and the people of Delta state,” the confidant quoted Ikekeregor as saying. Ikekeregor desire at heading for the Adamawa capital, Yola sterm from the fact that he won his first major national title, the Yola Open which was the only title he held before going for the African Championship in East Africa. He feels it is a honour to hold the Yola title and wants to thank the state governor for the opportunity. The discipline lived up to its billing of not producing a former champion’s re-entry to winning ways, despite the presence of three former African champions (Femi Awowade, Moshood Sanni, both Nigerians and Trevor Hovelmeier, South Africa) in the King of The Hill (KOH). Ikekeregor, whose last major win at home was the Yola Opens, did not qualify into the Nigerian team from the heavily contested Mini-Masters. He got into the Nigerian team via rating. Ikekeregor won 19 of the 24 games he played returning a margin of 1011 while former African champion, Moshood Sanni came second winning 17 games. Stanley Njoroge of Kenya was third with 16 games. England-based player, Femi Awowade of Nigeria was fourth. Immediate past African champion, Trevor Hovelmeier of South Africa came fifth. He had predicted at the beginning of the championship that it was going to be tight for him to win the title back to back given the jinx attached to the throne, which came to pass. Awowade registered the high game score of 637 for the tourney. Ikekeregor becomes the fifth Nigerian to win the title with Hovelmeier holding the record of being the only non-Nigerian to have held the title. President of the Scrabble Federation of Nigeria Mr. Toke Aka, told nigeriasports.com on phone from Dar-es-Salaam Monday that "We are satisfied with the results we got. We would immediately begin preparations for the World Scrabble Championship. Our ambitions are high and achievable. Now is the time that we need the support of corporate Nigeria to be able to do well in the World Championship." The Nigerian delegation would return from Tanzania with three trophies - Winner, Runners-Up and Best Finishing Country. By Onyinyechi Anyanwu
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