Word Cup Final: Nigeria dominates the top spots

One of the beautiful things about hosting a world-class event like the Word Cup is you often end up with a field that is, quite literally, world class. You get some of the best Scrabble players from all over the planet to visit us here in the States and show us what they're made of.

And this week, a sizable contingent of Nigerians showed us: They're made of Scrabble greatness.

Not only did Eta Karo finish the job in style, locking up his Gibsonization in his first game this morning, but a host of his countrymen also finished very, very strong. Wellington Jighere won the battle for second place in Division 1, with Nsikak Etim seventh; meanwhile in D2, Mpakaboari Jack took home the title, followed closely in the standings by Adebola Sanya and Emmanuel Egbele.

Here's a snapshot of the top finishers in each division...

Division 1:

1. Eta Karo (23-8, +1943)

2. Wellington Jighere (20-11, +1303)

3. Waseem Khatri (19-12, +585)

4. Jesse Day (19-12, +424)

5. Joel Wapnick (19-12, +417)

6. Geoff Thevenot (18-13, +870)

7. Nsikak Etim (18-13, +500)

8. Anand Bharadwaj (18-13, +447)

9. Robert Linn (18-13, +173)

10. Rasheed Balogun (17.5-13.5, +539)

Division 2:

1. Mpakaboari Jack (21-10, +1967)

2. Bharath Balakrishnan (20-11, +733)

3. Adebola Sanya (20-11, +595)

4. Melissa Routzahn (19-12, +341)

5. Emmanuel Egbele (18-13, +1086)

6. Lindsay Shin (18-13, +642)

7. Ethan Joseph (18-13, +593)

8. Terry Kang (18-13, +221)

9. Eric Fox (17.5-13.5, +664)

10. Ayotunde Adeyeri (17-14, +817)

Congrats to Eta, Jack, and everyone else who performed well at Word Cup 2024.

We will be back with a more complete recap in this space next week, complete with all sorts of congratulations and thank-yous. To tide you over until then, do have a gander at the final results from Albuquerque.