Day 3 of the 2025 World Scrabble Championship in Accra crackled with tension, triumph, and brutal table-top warfare as Africa’s finest, led by Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Kenya, slugged it out against the world’s elite for a place in the money zone and a shot at global glory.
And as the tiles flew, one truth became clearer, no one dominates the Scrabble battlefield like Africa.
Team Nigeria reclaims territory, but pays a price
The day began with Nigeria riding high, with Timi Woko perched at the top of the leaderboard like a general surveying his empire. But Scrabble is unforgiving.
By sunset, Woko has been knocked off the summit, sliding to 3rd, a reminder that in this field, even a whisper of complacency can be fatal.
Despite this slight setback, Woko remains firmly in striking distance, his 17 wins 7 defeats and cumulative points spread of plus 1787 record breathing down the leaders’ necks.
Nigeria didn’t just absorb blows; they struck back with authority.
A fourth Nigerian muscled his way into the Top 20, restoring the country’s numerical dominance at the business end of the table.
Canada’s Adam Logan, leads the table after Day 3 with 18 wins and a draw while Waseem
Khatri of Pakistan is second with 18 wins.
ELITE TEAM NIGERIA PLACEMENT
Timi Woko – 17–7 (3rd)
Victor Godwin – 16–8 (8th)
Rex Ogbakpa – 15–9 (11th)
Oluwatimilehin Doko – 15–9 (14th)
The Nigerian diaspora added heat of their own.
Lukeman Owolabi (Ireland) – 15–9 (17th)
Sam Okosagha (USA) – 15–9 (18th)
Six Nigerians in the Top 20, three of them wearing foreign colours, is not dominance; it is a continental occupation.
Ghana holds its ground in front of a passionate home crowd, the host nation, refused to be a spectator on home soil.
Their lone warrior in the Top 20 Stanley Ubiedi, stood tall, navigating elite crossfire with precision and grit.
Every triple-word, every challenge, every rack reshuffle from the Ghanaian contender drew roars from the Accra crowd who are watching from the gallery outside the playing home, they have turned every round into a statement.
“This is our territory. Respect it.”
For Ghana, it is not just about individual honour and glory, it is about showing the world that their place among Scrabble’s rising powers is not up for debate.
Sierra Leone’s presence in the top 20 shows that Africa Isn’t alone in the fight, the African charge was not limited to Nigeria and Ghana.
A fierce Sierra Leonean contender forced his way into the Top 20, proving that West Africa is building scrabble warriors the world can no longer ignore.
Meanwhile, players from Pakistan, Thailand, Canada, Singapore, the UK, New Zealand, and the United States scrambled for space in a Top 20 that looked like a global storm, but one with clear African thunder at its center.
As history looms in the Gateway to Africa, the poster boy of mind sport, Nigel Richards still casts his shadow and it’s imperative to state that beyond the rankings and national rivalries, a bigger storyline is brewing.
Day 4 is set to explode as the field sharpens its knives for the biggest hunt of all they players seeks to navigate their way to the final 2, the attempt to dethrone the near-mythical Nigel Richards, the New Zealander who has been World Scrabble number 1 for close to two decades.
Every top seed can smell the possibility and every contender knows the window is narrowing as 8 rounds of games will decide their fate.
TWO TITLES, ONE CONTINENT HUNGRY FOR BOTH
There are two trophies up for grabs, World Scrabble Champion, the ultimate individual crown and Best Country Award which is determined by average placements in the top half of the field.
Team Nigeria knows these titles well. In 2015, Wellington Jighere shocked the world in Perth, taking both trophies for Nigeria.
In 2023, the USA stole the Best Country title by a hair.
In 2025, in African soil, Nigeria wants everything back. Ghana wants to spoil the script and the rest of Africa wants its moment in the sun.
Currently, Team Nigeria is occupying the top spot in the Best Country category ahead of Ghana and Kenya. Gambia, England and Liberia are not far off.
