Meet Suyash Manchali: The 14-year-old young prodigy who shined with silver at World Youth Scrabble Championship

hanuman

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New Delhi: Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. For the first time in the history of the World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC), two Indian players broke into the top five among 136 players at the 2024 edition of the annual tourney held in Sri Lanka. 14-year-old Suyash Manchali and 13-year-old Madhav Gopal Kamath delivered stellar performances, finishing in second and fourth places, respectively. Their achievements mark India’s best-ever finish at the Scrabble Championship.

The Indian contingent, comprising 13 players(nine boys and four girls) also saw strong performances from others. Triambak Eashwar from Chennai secured 17th place, meanwhile, Mumbai-based Aarush Jotwani secured 20th place. Delhi-based Ahana Goyal secured 27th place.

Meet Suyash Manchali: The 14-year-old young prodigy who shined with silver at the World Youth Scrabble Championship

Sharing a post on Facebook, the Scrabble Association of India wrote, “Team India achieves its best finish at the World Youth Scrabble Championship 2024. For the first time in the history of the World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC), two players from India made it to the top five, as Suyash Manchali, aged 14, and Madhav Gopal Kamath, aged 13, finished second and fourth respectively among 136 players at the 2024 edition of the annual tourney held in Sri Lanka from 6th to 8th September.”

“Suyash, who was crowned the world under-16 champion, logged 17 wins from 24 rounds at a spread of 2364 (which was the highest for any player at the tournament), to finish as the runner-up behind the champion, Affan Salman of Pakistan. Meanwhile, Madhav secured the fourth place with 17 wins at a spread of 1111, ensuring India’s most productive finish at the premier global youth Scrabble tournament,” the post further reads.




The World Youth Scrabble Championship (WYSC), organized annually by the World English-language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA), gathers the most talented young Scrabble players from around the world. Suyash, a Class 10th student at MES Kishore Kendra Public School in Bengaluru, has nurtured a passion for Scrabble since he was seven, inspired by his mother, Shubha Shivashankar, an avid Scrabble player and teacher. The duo practices daily, honing their skills in vocabulary and strategy. In this year’s competition, Suyash won 17 of the 24 rounds, using words like “dwam,” “cleated,” and “proxy” to boost his score. He encourages fellow players to use Scrabble tools like Quackle and Zyzzyva, along with online platforms such as Aerolith and Woogles, for practice.

Madhav, a Class 9 student at Sanskriti School in New Delhi, is currently India’s top-ranked youth player and ranks among the top five Scrabble players in the country. At just 13, he made history earlier this year as the youngest winner of a major Scrabble tournament in India, the Goa Open.

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Meet Suyash Manchali: The 14-year-old young prodigy who shined with silver at the World Youth Scrabble Championship(Photo Credit: )


Neeta Bhatia, India’s representative on the World Youth Scrabble Committee and coach of the Indian team, highlights that Scrabble is not just a word game but also requires strategic thinking, analysis, and mathematical skills. She recommends resources like the Collins Scrabble Word List for players aiming to improve.

  • Rank 1: Affan Salman PK01
  • Rank 2: Suyash Manchali
  • Rank 3: Adheesha Dissanayake
  • Rank 4:Madhav Gopal Kamath
 
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