nother D-Day for Maltese Scrabble

Barely a week after Dominic Borg recorded a remarkable comeback from temporary retirement to a most prestigious victory, another daring dude from Malta rose peremptorily through the ranks to claim the title. Starting from fifth-ranked, David Delicata (see photo) went on a roll of nine conesutive wins to win the MISO12 Early Bird unbeaten.

Averaging an impressive 471 points per game, Delicata's progress actually got harder the closer he got to the finishing line as in the last round he faced off against Tony Sim, of Singapore, with whom he was level on points, in what was effectively a decider.

But the six-time National Champion drew on all his competitive mettle and experience to pull off a decisive win that earned him a pretty prize-money of €200 and, more significantly, no fewer than three fabulous firsts, namely his first international title and the honour and prestige of being concurrently the first Maltese player on both the national and international player ratings lists.  

Coming from further behind in the starting line-up, Nuala O'Rourke of Northern Ireland ran one strong sprint past many an opponent to finish third on eight wins.

After holding her own in the A Division of the Malta Nationals, Josephine Mayo did it again on the international stage, placing eleventh out of 44 participants with a tally of 6 wins that earned her the 1st Ratings Prize. Both on a win less than Mayo, Brid Ni Bhriain of Ireland and another homeboy, Joe Caruana, won the second and third ratings prizes respectively.  

Click here for the final standings of the MISO12 Early Bird.

(penned & published by Nicky Vella Laurenti ([Promotions), photo credit: John Chew)