aiden MISO win for Mr Tony Sim

Looking back in retrospect on the 12th Malta International Scrabble Open, one can see that each tourney told a different story of personal achievement. The Early Bird sang of David Delicata's first ever international title. The Main Event paid tribute to Vincent Boyle's long sought and imperiously conquered MISO success. And, lastly, who was the subject of the Late Bird's song?

Clearly, it was Tony Sim (see photo), the man from Singapore who, in his fourth MISO appearance, struck the high notes to near perfection in all three tournaments, placing second in the Early Bird, third in the Main Event, and, in a climactic finale, first in the Late Bird, to take his rating into the higher octave of +1800 points. Bravo!  

Unlike Boyle's early dominance in the Main Event, Sim's victory took shape in the last three rounds, where he beat eventual third placed Karen Richards of Australia as well as his eventual runner-up Becky Dyer of the USA twice in a row. The South African Howard Rayner did well to place fifth and take home the Ratings Prize from his first MISO. 

In the B Division, the Aussie John Barker offered an encore to his win in the Main Event, finishing ahead of Malta's Mario Seychell, who thus consolidates his position on the National Player Ratings List, and England's Ian Kendall. The Irish lady, Mary Doyle, bagged the Ratings Prize. 

The Late Bird drew the curtain on MISO12. Backstage, work is already underway to deliver in 2020 another colourful week of Scrabble and much more.

Click here to view the complete results of the MISO12 Late Bird. MISO12 was sponsored by SportMalta. 

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