A total of 38 players are in the field including three Filipinos who are representing their current home-base countries. Here are the total number of entries according to country : Philippines - 18; Malaysia - 12; Singapore - 4; Australia - 2; US - 1; Kuwait - 1.
Here is a list of those who won at least half their games on Day One.
Rk Name (Country) Pts. Spread 1. Maida Manaog (PH) 6 + 855 2. Sam Kantimathi (US) 5 + 313 3. Roland Filio (PH) 5 + 182 4. Tony Sim (SI) 4 + 633 5. Tengku Asri (MA) 4 + 452 6. Marie Filio (PH) 4 + 200 7. Joel Toroy (PH) 4 + 189 8. Mario Miranda (PH) 4 + 188 9. Emil Borboran (PH) 4 + 137 10. John Holgate (AU) 4 + 103 11. Nicholas Yeo (MA) 4 + 93 12. Johnny Quek (SI) 4 + 18 13. Francis Dizon (PH) 4 - 243 14. Irland Bonzon (PH) 3.5 - 24 15. Tawano Rabong (PH) 3 + 276 16. Bob Jackman (AU) 3 + 266 17. Butch Maniego (PH) 3 + 188 18. Alex Tan (MA) 3 + 120 19. Ador Ruiz (MA) 3 + 83 20. Marcelo Rivera (PH) 3 + 17 21. Tony Malonzo (PH) 3 - 14 22. Leonard Wong (MA) 3 - 67 23. Jocelyn Lor (MA) 3 - 82 24. Leon Rethual (MA) 3 - 109Some early notes : Manaog beat Johnny Quek, Michael Tan, Tony Sim, Mario Miranda, Emil Borboran and Tengku Asri, who was the only player to lose to her by less than 108 points. The lady is hot!
Sam Kantimathi's only loss was to Raja Fuadin in Rd. 2. He plays Manaog at the start of the second day tomorrow. He already has wins over both Australians and a couple of Filipinos.
Malaysia's Nicholas Yeo is running 11th, which is good. You might raise your eyebrows though because he is only 12 YEARS OLD! High game so far is 588 by Tengko Asri of Malaysia.
More news tomorrow.
BUTCH MANIEGO
(Official Scribe)
Lone American participant Sam Kantimathi won five of six games to move to the top of the 38-player field with 10-2. Australian champion John Holgate likewise won five of six to move up from 10th to second place with a 9-3 record. Eight of the next nine spots went to Filipinos, with Tony Sim of Singapore at eighth spot leading the group with seven points.
Here are the updated standings (12 of 18 rounds played) for those who have scored at least a 50 percent result so far.
Rk. Name (Country) Score Spread 1. Sam Kantimathi (US) 10 + 575 2. John Holgate (AUS) 9 + 451 3. Maida Manaog (PH) 8 + 738 4. Tawano Rabong (PH) 8 + 550 5. Roland Filio (PH) 8 + 503 6. Marcelo Rivera (PH) 8 + 343 7. Mario Miranda (PH) 8 + 284 8. Tony Sim (SI) 7 + 736 9. Armando Lao (PH) 7 + 252 10. Maricris Filio (PH) 7 + 237 11. Ador Ruiz (MA) 7 + 207 12. Alex Tan (MA) 7 + 188 13. Jocelyn Lor (MA) 7 - 40 14. Francis Dizon (PH) 7 - 120 15. Emil Borboran (PH) 7 - 141 16. Irland Bonzon (PH) 6.5 + 16 17. Joel Toroy (PH) 6 + 142 18. Leo Capuno (MA) 6 + 31 19. Tengku Asri (MA) 6 - 18 20. Oscar Rivera, Jr. (PH) 6 - 97 21. Johnny Quek (SI) 6 - 100 22. Leonard Wong (MA) 6 - 254 Others (International) 23. Raja Fuadin (MA) 5.5 - 23 24. Bob Jackman (AU) 5 + 233 29. Nicholas Yeo (MA) 5 - 147 31. Gerardo Perez (KU) 5 - 621One day to go. I did so badly!!! (Notice my disappearance...)By the way, to all those on CGP, Sam Kantimathi sends his regards...
BUTCH MANIEGO
(The Official Scribe)
John Holgate (NSA 1890) of Australia overtook Sam Kantimathi (NSA 1858) of the US for the top spot although both had 13 wins. Going into the final round, both were assured of making it into the Final Four. Tawano Rabong of the Philippines and Malaysia's Alex Tan both finished on twelve wins and were third and fourth, respectively.
Both Rabong and Tan beat their own countrymen to advance -- Rabong beat Maida Manaog while Tan downed Tengku Asri. Manaog, Asri, Armando Lao (PH), Leo Capuno (PH), Mario Miranda (PH) and Tony Sim (SI - NSA 1847) will be playing in the single-round classification for fifth to tenth places.
Holgate plays Tan while Kantimathi takes on Rabong in separate best-of-three matches Sunday morning (Manila time) with the winners advancing to the best-of-five finals after lunch. Top prize is US$10,000 while the runner-up gets US$5,000. The losing semifinalists play a best-of-three for third with the winner getting US$2,500 and the loser US$1,250. Fifth place will receive US$600, scaled down to US$100 for tenth.
Here are the complete results after 18 preliminary rounds (classification for 11th-16th, 17th-22nd, 23rd-28th, 29th-34th, 35th-38th to also take place tomorrow).
Rk Name (Country) Score Spread 1. John Holgate (AU) 13 + 779 2. Sam Kantimathi (US) 13 + 462 3. Tawano Rabong (PH) 12 + 776 4. Alex Tan (MA) 12 + 477 5. Maida Manaog (PH) 11 + 736 6. Armando Lao (PH) 11 + 422 7. Leo Capuno (PH) 11 + 333 8. Mario Miranda (PH) 11 + 320 9. Tengku Asri (MA) 11 + 285 10. Tony Sim (SI) 10 + 826 11. Roland Filio (PH) 10 + 324 12. Ador Ruiz (MA) 10 + 131 13. Nicholas Yeo (MA) 10 + 102 14. Emil Borboran (PH) 10 - 10 15. Maricris Filio (PH) 10 - 76 16. Irland Bonzon (PH) 9.5 - 149 17. Bob Jackman (AU) 9 + 584 18. Oscar Rivera, Jr. (PH) 9 + 68 19. Gerardo Onate (PH) 9 + 57 20. Jocelyn Lor (MA) 9 - 56 21. Johnny Quek (SI) 9 - 73 22. Francis Dizon (PH) 9 - 560 23. Raja Fuadin (MA) 8.5 + 114 24. Michael Tang (SI) 8 + 304 25. Butch Maniego (PH) 8 + 107 26. Rogie Talosig (PH) 8 - 269 27. Leon Rethual (MA) 8 - 297 28. Marcelo Rivera (PH) 8 - 317 29. Gerardo Perez (KU) 8 - 601 30. Aloysius Conzaga (SI) 7.5 - 568 31. Joel Toroy (PH) 7 - 92 32. Michael Wong (MA) 7 - 378 33. Leonard Wong (MA) 7 - 393 34. Jason Lim (PH) 6.5 - 616 35. Tony Malonzo (PH) 6 - 362 36. Yeo Tat Mun (MA) 6 - 607 37. Zamri Majid (MA) 6 -1093 38. Candido Filio (PH) 4 - 690High Game : Tengku Asri (MA) - 588
Will have details as to who won by late tomorrow evening (I have a real job, you know!). Keep tuned...
Butch Maniego
(Official Scribe)
Sam Kantimathi, a frequent visitor to Asia, came from a game down in the best-of-five finals to beat upset-conscious Malaysian Alex Tan in the 2nd Premiere International Invitational Scrabble (SOWPODS) Tournament held over four days at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City, Philippines.
Kantimathi won the first game, dropped the next two by small margins to Tan but rebounded to take the final two games and win the top prize. Kantimathi was also stretched to the limit in the three-game semifinals by Tawano Rabong of the Philippines, winning the first and third games.
Kantimathi, who finished second after the 18-round qualifying set with a 13-5 mark, was projected to meet top finisher John Holgate of Australia in the finals. Holgate also finished at 13-5 with a bigger spread but was upset by Tan in their own semifinal set despite winning the first game.
Holgate went on to lose to Rabong in two games during their best-of-three match for third spot.
The rest of the finishers, based on groups of six and competing in a sing;e round-robin set to determine final placings.
GROUP B 5. Tengku Asri (MA) 4-1 +325 6. Tony Sim (SI) 3-2 - 51 7. Armando Lao (PH) 2-3 + 10 8. Leo Capuno (PH) 2-3 + 9 9. Mario Miranda (PH) 2-3 -125 10. Maida Manaog (PH) 2-3 -208 GROUP C 11. Irland Bonzon (PH) 5-0 +419 12. Roland Filio (PH) 4-1 +216 13. Maricris Filio (PH) 3-2 - 21 14. Nicholas Yeo (MA) 2-3 -234 15. Ador Ruiz (MA) 1-4 -195 16. Emil Borboran (PH) 0-5 -157 GROUP D 17. Bob Jackman (AU) 4-1 +208 18. Johnny Quek (SI) 3-2 +182 19. Oscar Rivera (PH) 3-2 - 12 20. Gerardo Onate (PH) 2-3 - 60 21. Jocelyn Lor (MA) 2-3 -176 22. Francis Dizon (PH) 1-4 -142 GROUP E 23. Michael Tang (SI) 5-0 +305 24. Raja Fuadin (MA) 3-2 +366 25. Marcelo Rivera (PH) 3-2 + 32 26. Butch Maniego (PH) 3-2 - 26 27. Rogie Talosig (PH) 1-4 -297 28. Leon Rethual (MA) 0-5 -348 GROUP F 29. Aloysius Conzaga(SI)4-1 - 29 30. Leonard Wong (MA) 3-2 - 8 31. Jason Lim (PH) 3-2 - 60 32. Joel Toroy (PH) 2-3 +139 33. Gerardo Perez (KU) 2-3 + 9 34. Michael Wong (MA) 1-4 - 42 GROUP G 35. Tony Malonzo (PH) 2-0 2-0 36. Yeo Tat Mun (MA) 0-2 2-0 37. Zamri Majid (MA) 2-0 0-2 38. Candido Filio (PH) 0-2 0-2That's it -- two-day event follows at Los Banos some 90 kms. south of Manila. Most of the big guns have gone home. Will post if I do better (hahaha).
BUTCH MANIEGO
(Official Philippine Correspondent)
Accompanied by my wife Lillan, son Michael and sparring partner Bob Jackman I landed in the sticky bedlam that is Manila Airport . A cab ride plus 1100 pesos later we managed to find our way to the distant Quezon City and the five-star Sulo Hotel where the contest would take place.
Manila, of course, was the place where Ali fought Smoking Joe in 1974 and a bit further north in Baguio Karpov and Korchnoi had locked pawns in that strange and gruelling World Chess Championship of 1978. Were we continuing that thrilling tradition, I wondered, with words instead if fists and tiles instead of chessmen?
After a day of sightseeing, not drinking the tap water, navigating the street beggars, not eating from the foodstalls,and crawling through the snarling traffic of Metro Manila we joined the other 36 contestants at the reception.
Rumors that Boys, Nyman and Wapnick would turn up at the last moment were quickly scotched but there was a goodly mix of players from 6 countries which gave the tournament an international flavour. The mood was friendly and hospitable and players seemed less edgy and ego-bound than is often the case at the WSC. I was moved by the local players' enthusiasm for the game and keenness to see it develop in the region. For example, Jason Lim talked to me about the 300 schools in Cebu taking part in regular competitions organised by the players.
There was also discussion about the 13 illegal manufacturers of sets operating in the Philippines - this may be the real reason why only one WSC place is allocated to them currently. The players hoped an imminent court case would sort this out. The parallel to the Thailand situation is obvious.
The tourney itself got off to a shaky start and the absence of a computerised draw lead to some disorganisation. I played the Director, Professor Candido Filio, in Round 1. I remember playing HENEQUIN through an I - which didn't get so much as a mumble of approval (or a challenge) from Candido! He managed to play STAWING on his last move to win by 30 or so. I had a smoother game against Jocelyn Lor from Malaysia but went 1/2 after a tough encounter against Sam Kantimathi (U.S.). He had the power tiles plus other goodies but somehow I kept him 'honest' till the final move - an unstoppable BEHESTS. Not a great start! But after lunch I got an a roll and dished it out a bit (no pun intended) going 4/2 by close of play and finishing in 10th position.
My general impression of play was that the Filipinos were still in the defensive school of Scrabble (USA circa 1979) and stronger in OSPD than OSW word knowledge. I failed to see flamboyant eights, endgame brilliancies or strategic analysis expected at 'Grandmaster' level. Their sight-of-the-board was pretty sharp, though, and Tawano Rabong, Maida Manaog and Roland Filio in particular have got heaps of natural ability.
On Day 2 we transferred to the ballroom and a better playing environment My round two game against Singapore's Tony Sim was a memorable tussle. I played MIDLINE$ in reply to his ECHOED. Tony responded with REECHOED and DRAGSTER but late in the game my UINTAITE (68) and JASPE (51) gave me a 51 point win.
I managed to "turn the tables" on Sam K (whom I played 6 times in the KOH format with a 3/3 result). Sam, however, salvaged a moral victory with his TELECAST onto a semi-embedded T for 91.
The Tile Gods were benevolent for the rest of the day and I ended 9/3 in second place.
Day 3 witnessed the final gallop towards the top four places. I started with two straight wins against Sam K to go 11/14 then lost to Manaog. I decided against RETINULAR off RE at a critical point and lost by 105. In our return match I needed to win to clinch a final berth. Trailing by 37 I found AVENTAIL (158) through an I at A13 and won 505/308.
The last game against Kantimathi was the highlight of Day 3 - a 466/467 loss which gave Sam second spot.
So after the 18 round KOH I held on to top spot (13/5) ahead of Kantimathi (13/5), Tawano Rabong (PH) and Alex Tan (Malaysia) (both on 12/18). I would play Alex and Kantimathi would meet Rabong in the second semi.
I hoped for an early night - alas the Filipino food and my son Michael had other ideas. He awoke around 2 p.m. in a fit of barfing reminiscent of Linda Blair in The Exorcist - the result of a day trip to the volcano at Taygaytay (another little belcher!).
Nevertheless, the next morning my adrenalin was pumping ok and I won my first semi-final game against Alex Tan 357/259.
At the end of the game I commented that his best out play was FRIG and he replied "I don't know FRIG." I realised how tough it is to play this game for someone whose native language is not English - then I thought maybe he was using the ESPD (which doesn't contain that particular four-letter word).
Game 2 was a tougher game. The turning point was the mid game with me trailing 124/152 and holding S-I-B-L-I-N-?. In a spot of time trouble I played SIBLING/SOB (69) after considering the defensively correct RINSIBLE$ down to an E on O15. Alex played SONDELI (75) and I replied with ATTIRED (76) but he had a 61 point X-play off the I of my SIBLING.
Major blunder! I was 95 % sure of RINSIBLE and could also have played BILIANS# safely instead of SIBLING with a likely win for me. The move cost me a spot in the final (and at least US$3,750) - it reminded me of the old Scrabble adage "You bingo for show but you block for dough."
The game ended in a 374/395 win for Alex. The decisive game three was a 'no-brainer' in which he secured three natural bonuses in a row (ELATIONS, SABOTEUR and INFLAMED) and a place in the final against Kantimathi who acccounted for Rabong in three.
Alex proved he is a 'power player' of the future taking Sam to five games in the final.
The playoff for third and fourth between me and Rabong was a non-event as I ended up on the nasty end of two 'blowout' games - the Tile Gods had deserted me!
As Kantimathi and Tan withdrew to a private room for the final encounter I spent time playing friendlies with Michael Tan, Butch Maniego and the 12-year old Wunderkind from Malaysia - Nicholas Yeo. Watch out for him at WSC 99!
News filtered through to us that Alex was leading 2/1 - was an upset in the making? But the "El Dorado Tornado" powered back to win the last two games and clinch the third International Premier Championship.
At the closing ceremony Candido Filio presented the medals, cup and one tenth of the advertised prize money. The balance, we were assured, would be sent on when the Philippines Sports and Gaming Authority came good with the pesos. Mmm.
For the future of this exciting event let's hope that that commitment is honoured.
It was a memorable event and many friendships were formed which will establish the basis of competitive Scrabble in the Asia-Pacific for years to come.
Candido Filio (and his family of organisers) is to be applauded for his efforts in establishing what could be the cornerstone of a SOWPODS circuit in the region. Hopefully next year we will see UK, NZ and Canada flags as well. I can heartily recommend the experience.
On the Monday after the tournament the typhoon Bining ('baby') turned Manila into a quagmire. A national disaster was declared and 30 people perished.
Sightseeing was out so Bob Jackman and I had a few quite games in the foyer of the Sulo Hotel including one memorable 545/498 with 8 bingos (including a nine and a 9-timer) - GAUMIER/CHANDLERS/RECOUNTS/INITIATE/READYING/EUROKIES/RADIANTS/GALLISES.
Manila Airport was closed so Bob's flight was cancelled and he spent an extra night at the Sulo.
The next day we set off in separate cabs. At the last minute the porter placed our luggage into Bob's taxi and his into ours. It look over three hours to get through the traffic. The scene at Manila Airport looked like the exodus after the fall of Saigon. Our cab arrived first and Lillan Michael and I dived into the waiting scrum. Tourists were throwing luggage carts over the barriers, children were vomiting at will, officials were running around like decapitated chooks. We somehow managed to reach the check-in desk but Bob was nowhere to be seen. He had left his cab to try and find us and get some help carrying our three suitcases. Disaster! The Manila cabbie 'did a runner' and bolted with our baggage like a looter after an earthquake.
[BTW in my suitcase were three 'illegal' versions of our beloved game purchased (at four dollars each) for their trivia value including the cute ISKRABOL with embossed crappy tiles and a tiny bag designed to dislocate your index finger. The prominent MB logo of course referred to MaBuha Education Centre in Quezon City (near the Sulo Hotel) where the sets were fabricated.]
The Philippine Airlines computer terminal had gone down and our flight was delayed for 6 hours. To add insult to injury Michael's souvenir pocket knife was deemed a dangerous weapon at the customs barrier and I was marched off by some self-inflated dickhead to explain why Michael had apparently sworn allegiance to the Baader-Meinhoff. My boarding pass was confiscated and I was frisked several times. No guns or drugs were found but the tile bag in my hand luggage was scrutinised with a fair amount of suspicion.
Anyhow we finally took off from sunny Mabuha reaching our destination - Sydney - eight hours later and 8 minutes after the landing curfew. So at 11.45 pm we flew on to Melbourne Airport and spent another 5 hours in the Transit Lounge before heading back to Sydney finally arriving home at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning ready to start work at 9!
Ah well, somewhere in Manila there's a taxi driver wearing my Reno 88 T-shirt and playing a game of ISKRABOL. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get to play him at next year's tournament.
Koala
"The Manila cabbie 'did a runner' and bolted with our baggage like a looter after an earthquake... Ah well, somewhere in Manila there's a taxi driver wearing my Reno 88 T-shirt and playing a game of ISKRABOL."
Friends, I'm here to tell you that 'customer focus' is alive and kicking in the Philippines after all. It turns out that the owner of the erstwhile voiture , one Mr. Freddie Poneles (which combines with V and Y, BTW), managed to unearth Bob Jackman's fax number and contacted him last week. He explained how his driver got to the drop off point and was waved on by the gendarmes while Bob was out in the melee looking for us. It took the driver about an hour to circle around but by then his client was inside the terminal.
Freddie actually phoned the Sulo Hotel to let them know he had the luggage and even gave them his pager number but they did not contact him. In spite of our faxes, phone calls and even internet mail messages to the Sulo management who, we were assured, would contact the owner and the appropriate authorities, we heard no more from them.
After receiving Freddie's fax Bob called him and arrangements were made for him to drop off the suitcases and laptop at the airport where Philippines Airlines sent them on to Sydney free of charge. We have since rewarded the cab owner for his efforts.
So the Sulo, who had received more than $2000 from us, did nothing while the guy who had not collected his 200 peso fare went out of his way to do the right thing.
Obviously Mr. Poneles understood the meaning of customer service and the 5-star hotel did not.
Now my Reno 88 T-shirt is safely back in the drawer. Anyone for ISKRABOL?
Koala