Final result

And it’s over. We are in the midst of prizegiving ceremony (Tim Michaels just stepped forward to receive his prize).

As I mentioned before, Malaysia needed to beat Singapore 4-1. Halfway through, Malaysia already won 3 boards (Nigel, Ganesh, and Suanne). Liew Kian Boon (SIN) beat Henry Yeo (MAL) in a board with many fun plays, and Andy Kurnia (SIN) saved the day by beating Vannitha (MAL), allowing Singapore to emerge winners of the team tournament at 69.5 points. Malaysia is one behind at 68.5, and Thailand failed to overtake Malaysia, ending at 68 after beating Australia 3-2.

In the individual section, Ganesh has secured his title (for the 4th year in a row) by beating Hubert Wee (SIN) in the final round. At least Chris May (AUS) didn’t need to feel to dismayed with his loss to Komol (THA).

In my anxiety for the team result, I didn’t get to check out other boards. However the SIN-MAL matchup produced many beautiful plays. Ong Suanne (MAL) vs Goh Jiang Pern (SIN) at table 3 produced 8 bingos: her 5 were SEDARIM, SELVAGE, INVOLUTE, SHORTIA, and ROOTAGES; while his 3 were DERISION, CZARINA, and ALLOYING. 571-454 to Suanne.

At table 2 between Nigel and Cheah, the first (and only) 11-letter word in the tournament was spotted, MISBEGOtTEN. Nigel reported Cheah’s dismay on being beaten to extending the MISBEGOt bingo to the DWS.

Table 1 between Ganesh and Hubert resulted in 7 bingos, which would have been good in most games, but eclipsed by Table 3. AIRSTOP, WOMERAS, GLORIAS, DELUGING, and HERNIAE for Ganesh, VITIATES, and TEMPTING for Hubert. 543-457, Ganesh.

The most beautiful board though was table 4. PEASECoDS was on the board, but there was also a 10-letter word, VALORIZING from the TWS, Kian Boon’s extension of ZING. But Kian Boon had yet another beautiful play: after Henry Yeo played ISONOME, Kian Boon played a 7-letter overlap of TOPSMEN, forming LIT, ISO, BOP, KINS, OM, ME, and EN.

In the open division, Tony Sim beat Pui Cheng Wui (MAL) at the top table. One may expect that he would be third while the winner in table 2 stepped up to be second. But as luck would have it, we had a TIE in table 2 between Chaiwat (THA) and Dielle Saldanha (CAN), and both of them overtook Pui. To make things worse, Shim Yen Nee (SIN) at table 3 won by enough to overtake Pui by spread to end up 4th.

It’s a bit busy here, I will put up some more annotated games and summarise later, but for now, full results for both Premier and Open are accessible from the link.