Wellington Jighere, the world scrabble champion, heads the eight-man list of players who have qualified for the 2017 World English Scrabble Players’ Association Championship (WESPAC), an official said on Wednesday.

Jighere Wellington

Tony Ikolo, the Senior National Team Coach of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), disclosed this on Wednesday.

Ikolo said the team was now on a five-day voluntary open camp in Port Harcourt in preparation for the competition slated to hold in Kenya from Nov. 6 to Nov. 12.

“We are on a five-day voluntary open camp to help us begin in earnest preparations towards defending our world scrabble crown,’’ he said.

The coach disclosed also that the federation had also given invitation to other players in the country to come and train with the team.

The 2017 WESPAC is the second edition, after a hugely successful debut in Perth 2015.

The Full List of Qualifiers:

Ratings             Name                                                                       Points

1. 1                     Wellington Jighere     – Defending Champion   –     1763
2. 2                    Moses Peter                                                               –    1746
3. 3                    Dennis Ikekeregor                                                    –    1734
4. 4                     Eta Karo                                                                      – 1732
5. 5                     Nsikak Etim                                                                – 1718
6. 6                    Olatunde Oduwole                                                    – 1712
7. 7                     Quickpen Ben                                                              – 1639
8. 8                     Olaiya Kabir                                                               – 1609