On 12 March 2016, HKSPA organised the Inter-School Scrabble Championship 2016 - Secondary (Open) for local secondary schools of all levels. 15 schools participated in the tournament, fighting for the highest honour in Hong Kong secondary school Scrabble field.
Tournament in progress, with slides promoting the first-ever Hong Kong National Scrabble Championship
16 schools applied for the Championship, but only 15 showed up eventually. A team-based format is used in the competition. 3 players from the same school faced 3 from another school in each round, and a school wins by a 3-0 or 2-1 victory. Schools are divided into 4 groups for a group-based round-robin in the first 3 games, while the final 2 are knockout games.
The Gold Cup Final between Methodist College (left) and Cheung Chuk Shan College (right)
In the end, Methodist College (with Hong Kong Youth Scrabble Team 2016 members Calvin Ma and Po Chun Wo) beat Cheung Chuk Shan College in the Gold Cup Final to win the Gold Cup Champion, the highest honour in secondary school Scrabble field. CCC Mong Man Wai College (with 5 past and current Hong Kong Youth Scrabble Team members) got the Gold Cup 2nd Runner-up.
Our former President, Chris Lau (left), presenting the Gold Cup Champion trophy to the coach and students from Methodist College
Emika Chan from SKH Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School got the High Word by placing QUIVERS/ALS, scoring 133 points in one move. The second highest scored move, ACQUIRE/AT (131 points), is also placed by her.
Tsang Pak Shing (left) and Ting Tsz Hin (right) from SKH Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School playing
Tsang Wai Yin Jason (Hong Kong Youth Scrabble Team 2015 and 2016 member) from HKMA K S Lo College got the High Game with 841 points, setting a new record in HKSPA-rated games. He also got the Bingo Machine with 11 bingos placed in 5 games.
Tsang Wai Yin Jason playing
Below is the final school ranking:
| Rank | School | School Wins (out of 5) |
Individual Wins (out of 15) |
Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Methodist College | 5 | 12 | +1175 |
| 2 | Cheung Chuk Shan College | 4 | 10 | +1979 |
| 3 | CCC Mong Man Wai College | 4 | 12 | +2827 |
| 4 | HKMA K S Lo College | 3 | 11 | +2294 |
| 5 | South Tuen Mun Government Secondary School | 4 | 11 | +829 |
| 6 | SKH Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School | 3 | 10 | +1838 |
| 7 | CCC Kei Yuen College | 3 | 8 | -653 |
| 8 | Ho Lap College | 2 | 6 | +231 |
| 9 | Queen’s College | 3 | 11 | +968 |
| 10 | The MCHK Wesley College | 2 | 6 | -1775 |
| 11 | Kwun Tong Maryknoll College | 2 | 4 | -1644 |
| 12 | Shun Tak Fraternal Association Cheng Yu Tung Secondary School | 1 | 4 | -2076 |
| 13 | CUHKFAA Chan Chun Ha Secondary School | 1.5 | 6 | +69 |
| 13 | St. Francis’ Canossian College | 1.5 | 4 | -1362 |
| 15 | TWGHs S.C. Gaw Memorial College | 1 | 4 | -3200 |
The complete winner list can be viewed here.
We hope to see the young players in future competitions again!
Group photo after the tournament
More photos of that day can be viewed here.