Most of us played Scrabble when we were kids and never really thought much about it after that. However, Ganesh Asirvatham, age 40, grew up playing Scrabble and now he is the No.1 Scrabble player in the world, according to the World English Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA).
Star 2 reported that initially, Ganesh was not aware that competitive Scrabble was an actual thing in Malaysia, let alone the existence of a World Scrabble Championship.
Ganesh is from Klang, and he was a lecturer who taught English Language for a decade before venturing into the corporate world. Now, he is a senior manager for learning and development at Standard Chartered Global Business Services in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.
Ganesh frequently participates in international Scrabble competitions, and he was the second runner-up at the World Scrabble Championship in 2007. Furthermore, he was a previous record holder in the Guinness World Record 2007 for the category competing against the most Scrabble players concurrently by one competitor.
Source: Star2
When he was a teenager, Ganesh was the lead junior player in Malaysia from thirteen to nineteen years old. Ganesh, at age sixteen, was mentored by then national Scrabble champion of Malaysia, Raja Fuadin Abdullah. To add to the already impressive list, Ganesh, at twenty years old, even competed in the first World Scrabble Championship which was held in Australia.
He scored a spot among the top 10 in the 2005 World Championship that was held at London. In 2007, he qualified for the finals for the World Championship in Mumbai. Ganesh retired from the Scrabble scene in 2008 when he was at the height of his game to focus on other responsibilities in life. After that, he taught English in Somalia, pursued his master’s degree in Linguistics and then joined the corporate world.
He resumed participating in competitions in 2017, and he worked really hard to make sure that he still had his skills.
In late 2018, he joined a competition in Penang where the world’s top 30 players also participated. Ganesh came out on top as the champion and that solidified his spot as the world No. 1.
Source: Star 2
He is not going to stop there. Ganesh will be competing and representing the name of Malaysia in the World English Language Scrabble Players Association in Goa, India. This tournament will be on 16th to 20th October, and he will be competing against the likes of Nigel Richards, who is a notable player and the No.2 Scrabble player in the world – right behind Ganesh.
Conratulations to Ganesh for his achievements and for making Malaysia proud!
So parents, if your kids enjoy playing Scrabble, please do encourage them! They might just achieve great heights.
Also read: 11yo M’sian Boy Is The 2nd Fastest in The World at Solving a Rubik’s Cube Using Only His Feet!
