In Scrabble terms, the question on how you can improve on a tournament that had 1400 players take part is a wonderful one to seek an answer.
In under a month, with this year’s Interschool Championship in Pakistan, we are about to see what that will look like.
In the beginning, according to the Wali Muhammad Khubaib, Technical Director of the Pakistan Scrabble Association, the number wasn’t very large. However, with the extraordinary work done by Tariq Pervez, things started to grow very fast.
This will be the 19th edition of the Interschool Championship; two years ago, there were a little over 700 participants. Last year, that number rose to 1400.
For this year, Tariq observes “This year we are expecting a BIG turnout. Not that there is any small turnout in earlier years. Every new inter school we had in the last decade or so broke previous participation records but this year we estimate about 2000 players”.
2000.
This is a tournament that has brought the big names from Pakistan to the world stage. As Wali recalls “(there) are many top players who started off with the interschool then became regular and slowly and gradually improved their game (to) become Premier level Players, Waseem Khatri No.1 Player of Pakistan, Moiz Ullah Baig, 2013 World Youth Champion , Ahmed Abdullah Abbasi 3rd Place in WYC 2017 to name a few.”
Scenes from the 18th Championship
Scenes from the 18th Championship
“Players who play an international tournament are no longer eligible to play the interschool. So they help us in the organization of the event. We have quite a big team ready to organize the event and mostly the youth is involved in the organization of the event”
Tariq adds: “A team of about 50-60 volunteers will be fully prepared to organize the tournament. These are the youth players that have played in the WYSC and are now a part of the management being international players.”
This year’s event also sees corporate support - Horlicks is a solid supporter as is the United States Education Foundation, both supporting the Championship financially.
Stationery brand Pelikan is on board - Tariq notes they “will be providing the entire stationery for the event and also sponsor a souvenir booklet that will be given to all players”.
The media is also on board: the PSA’s TV partner, Geo Super, will be there as the official media partner, including reports and appearances on talk shows.
Tariq believes at least ten more TV channels will cover the event.
In the lead up to February’s Championship, the final word goes to Tariq.
“To say that I am excited about the championship would be the understatement of the year! The Inter School is always my favorite tournament. Nothing pleases me more than the excitement on the faces of the young players when they win a trophy or even a game.”
Text with thanks to Wali Muhammad Khubaib and Tariq Pervez
2000 players expected at February Tournament 
