Word Cup Day 1: Wiegand, Reinke, Thevenot lead the field
We're underway.
It was a hectic Day 1 at Word Cup, in more ways than one. There were players rushing to arrive in Naperville at the last minute, directors scrambling to resolve pairings snafus, and streamers struggling to overcome laggy hotel Wi-Fi and get a broadcast in the air. But, on the end, everything eventually came together.
Seven games are now in the books; 24 remain. And already, we've got quite the leaderboard taking shape. Here's a look at where things stand after Day 1.
THE LEADERS
Through seven games, we've got three players who stand above the pack, all 6-1 - Dave Wiegand, Thomas Reinke, and Geoff Thevenot, with Dr. Bing edging Thomas on spread for first place. Of those three guys, only Bing is a top-10 seed, which means two things - one, the other two guys have exceeded expectations so far, and two, there are some truly incredible players chasing them for the top spots. There will surely be a lot of drama to come tomorrow.
Here's the top 10 as it stands right now:
1. Dave Wiegand (6-1, +593)
2. Thomas Reinke (6-1, +540)
3. Geoff Thevenot (6-1, +246)
4. David Webb (5-2, +535)
5. David Eldar (5-2, +433)
6. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard (5-2, +339)
7. Evan Berofsky (5-2, +335)
8. Joshua Castellano (5-2, +197)
9. Sammy Okosagah (5-2, +24)
10. Femi Awowade (5-2, -84)
GAME OF THE DAY
For our money, it would have to be the round 4 matchup between David Eldar and Joel Wapnick. By the final score, it was something of a blowout, but it was actually quite the tactically interesting game (and between two world champions, to boot). Both players also found some impressive bingos, which I won't spoil here. Check the game out.
ALL THE GAMES
Want to click through all seven games we saw at Table 1 today? Here they are - view at your leisure.
Round 1: Chris Lipe vs. Moiz Ullah Baig
Round 2: Austin Shin vs. Waseem Khatri
Round 3: Dave Wiegand vs. Geoff Thevenot
Round 4: David Eldar vs. Joel Wapnick
Round 5: Lindsay Shin vs. Terry Kang
Round 6: Joshua Castellano vs. Jesse Day
Round 7: Brian Bowman vs. Thomas Reinke
COMING UP TOMORROW
All sorts of fun! Will Dr. Bing hold on to the top spot? Will Thomas and Geoff stay in the mix? Who of the 5-2s will make a surge? All of these questions and more will be answered.
We'll see you all tomorrow.