It is 6pm Pakistan time. Abdullah Abbasi is deep in study. The World Youth Scrabble Championship is just days away (October 31), and every new word learnt is a step towards clinching the title. For seven hours a day, for the last three months, this has been his routine. “You have to cut down time on other activities,” says Abbasi, 15, over the phone from Quetta, in Pakistan, where he lives. “If you want to play competitively, you need a good vocabulary.”

Normally, Abbasi studies for four hours every day, but as a member of the Pakistani youth contingent, and as one of the favourites to win this year’s title, he knows his game needs to be ruthlessly good. Competitive scrabble combines strategising, word knowledge and lateral thinking. “I am nervous,” he says. “But hopefully, this time I can win.”

An annual event for players under 18, the youth championship this year will see 140 participants from 15 countries. In its 10th edition, the championship will begin on October 31 in Perth, Australia, with teams from India, Thailand, Malaysia, Nigeria and the US, among others, participating.

The line-up from Pakistan includes, astonishingly enough, an eight-year-old, who was picked after competitive selections.

When his parents first tried to enrol Saim Usmani in the school’s scrabble programme last year, as a seven-year-old, he was deemed too young. But once he started doing well in the tournaments, it was clear his talent was far in excess of his age.

“When he showed progress, we decided to take more interest,” says Surriyya Ali, 32, his mother, speaking from Karachi. “But we don’t want to overly guide him because he shouldn’t feel too much pressure.”

The World English-language Scrabble Players’ Association (WESPA), the organising body of the tournament, confirmed there would be a few eight-year-olds — the youngest players — this time.

Pakistan has, in the last few years, emerged as a scrabble dynamo, producing a world youth champion in 2013, and several players routinely finishing in the top 10. Last year, the country finished second in the team championship and also had two top-10 finishes.

This year’s main line-up has 10 players, including a girl who finished third last year.

“It is a great chance to represent my nation,” says Mariam Arif, 17, who will be appearing in her last youth tournament this year before she turns 18. “We also get to quash the negative image people sometimes have about Pakistan.”

So how did Pakistan get to be so staggeringly good at this game?

In 2010, the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) started a youth programme with a handful of selected young players after an inter-school tournament. The group of about 20 children was trained for six months, from which an ace team was carved out.

“That was the beginning,” says the PSA’s vice-president Tariq Pervez, with pride. “It ignited everything.”

He adds that the team enjoyed themselves so much that it had an instant multiplier effect. More and more children signed up to play the game across the country. “It just grew and grew,” Pervez, 55, says.

Currently, the youth programme operates across eight cities. For this year’s national championship on October 4, there were 764 young players, making it the biggest playing field in the association’s history.

That, in itself, indicates the groundswell of support and enthusiasm for the game across the country’s schools.

Since 2010, the association has been giving rigorous training to selected players. After 27 competitive rounds, a final team of 10 is selected. Every country can send up to 10 players free of cost. But Pakistan is sending eight more players by paying a registration fee, to help expose them to the game at the highest level.

“The psyche of Asians is more focused on the pursuit of excellence,” says Karen Richards, chair of the Youth Committee of WESPA, in an email interview. “Countries like Thailand, which is the most prolific nation for scrabble, use the game as a learning aid in schools from an early age. They applaud their successful students, as one would do sports stars. The same goes for Pakistan.” Richards, who also introduced the game to her son early on, credits the word game for helping build his thinking skills and overall development.

Learning and excelling in a language that isn’t the first language, is another possible incentive. “English is not our national language, so players are not complacent,” says Abbasi, who finished fourth in a recent open tournament against adult players. “People are willing to study harder.”

Bhavya Dore is a Mumbai-based journalist

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