Pakorn Wins His Third King’s Cup

by Ravee Joradol

Thailand’s 24th Brand's Crossword King’s Cup took place at Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand on June 25-28, with representatives from more than 15 countries. Over 7,000 students attended. This event is now the largest SCRABBLE competition in the world.

There were 82 contestants in the Open Division of this annual event, hailing from the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, Nigeria, Kenya, Singapore, Romania, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand. After 27 punishing and grueling games, the two finalists were both Thai: Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn and Pakorn Nemitrmansuk.

Pakorn secured the win by beating Charnwit in the first two games in a two-out-of-three final. Pakorn was awarded $6,000 (US dollars) and presented with the prestigious HM King’s Cup. Nigel Richards of New Zealand came in third and US player Jason Katz-Brown, fourth. This was Pakorn’s third time winning the King’s Cup; he also won in 1992 (at the age of 16) and in 2003.

Thanks to John Chew’s amazing computerized system, the competition was run smoothly. The full “Live Coverage” of the event, including players, rankings, pictures, and commentaries, can be viewed through www.thaicrossword.com or www.poslfit.andcom/kingscup/2009 .

Ravee Joradol is the assistant of Amnuay Ploysangngam (Director of Crossword Club 631 in Bangkok and the founder of the Thailand Crossword Game Association).