Thulnith de Silva of Richmond College, Galle was crowned as the Sri Lanka Junior National Scrabble Champion of 2023 at the finals of the Championship, which concluded on the 4th of November at the Sasakawa Hall, Colombo 03.
The Sri Lanka Junior National Scrabble Championship 2023, was organized by The Scrabble Federation of Sri Lanka (SFSL), under the guidance of the Ministry of Sports. The Director General of Sports, Professor Shemal Fernando, was invited as the chief guest for the prestigious awards ceremony.
At the end of the Zonal Qualifiers held in four regions across the island in the last two months, 40 contestants were selected for the under-15 age category and 40 contestants under the age of 20 were selected for the Junior National Scrabble Championship category. Accordingly, at the end of the final nine rounds, Thulnith de Silva, who finished the tournament 7-2 with a margin of +1208, confirmed his victory by staying 12 points ahead of Hivin Dilmith of Mahinda College, Galle, who emerged as the Runner-up. Hivin also won the rounds in a ratio of 7-2 by maintaining a gap of +1196, while Archana Padumadasa of Elizabeth Moir International School Colombo, secured the third place, having won the rounds 7-2 by keeping a margin of +638.
Dineth Fernando of Nalanda College, Colombo emerged as the Champion of the Under 15 category. Reflecting an outstanding performance throughout the tournament, he was undefeated and triumphed with 9-0 in the final day, maintaining a margin of +1211. Inam Irshad of Gateway International School, Rajagiriya who won the rounds 7-2 and maintained a margin of +811 won the second place and Sanuthi Chandrakumar of Elizabeth Moir International School Colombo, who maintained a margin of +645 by winning the rounds
7-2, was placed third.
Moreover, Nishanya Gammanpila of Musaeus College, Colombo won both the Best Female Player and the Best Under-18 Player awards as encouragement recognitions, while Kaumadee Balasinghe of Girl’s High School, Kandy was recognized as the Best Under-15 Female Player. Pasindu Wijewardena of Louvre College, Pannipitiya was recognized as the Best Under-12 Player of the Junior National Scrabble Championship 2023.
Mr. Dhammika Withara (President of the SFSL), Mr Raashid Sudin (Vice President of the SFSL & Tournament Director of the Junior National Scrabble Championship finals), Mr Ilampoornan Ragpuaran (Secretary of the SFSL) & Mr Raditha Dissanayake (Tournament Director of Zonal Qualifiers) also participated in the final awards ceremony.
