Delta State’s Emmanuel Umujose rolled back the years, at the weekend, when he won the elite division of the fifth Emmanuel Egbele Scrabble Tournament (EEAST), which featured some of the best players in the game. Bukunmi Afolayan and Frank Ishekwene won the Challenger and the Sage categories of the championship respectively.

Umujose defeated Bayelsa State’s Enai Doubra 3-2 in a thrilling “Best of 5” final encounter to claim the 2025 EEAST title.  Earlier in the semifinal, Umujose had turned back Timi Olaitan, who finished third with a 2-1 result, while Doubra pushed aside Ben Quickpen with a 3-0 result after a ‘Best of 3’ to set up a testy final with the eventual winner of the event.

Set in a secluded room, both players quickly settled in for an exciting ‘Best of 5’ final encounter streamed to a live audience. Doubra drew the first blood, closing Game 1 with 494-434 in his favour, but his rival had other plans.

Umujose rallied back to even the scores with a 448 -319 in Game 2 and then took it a notch higher by claiming Game 3 with 499-438. Faced with the reality of missing out on the title, the Bayelsan launched a fight-back in Game 4 to even scores at 2-2 with a 428-423 win, which took the contest to the wire.

But Umujose confirmed his superiority by winning 531-377 in the final game to earn the prestigious EEAST jacket and a cash prize of N700.  Speaking after the game, Umujose said: “It’s been long in coming. I haven’t won a title in a long time and winning this EEAST title is a sign of better things to come.

“Moreso, it’s going to put me in a good mood ahead of the World English Speaking Scrabble Players Association Championship (WESPAC) in Accra, Ghana in November.”

In the Challenger Division, Afolayan defeated Sunday Ituah in a “Best of 3” final with a commanding three-set win to win a cash prize of N350,000. The win made her the first woman ever to win a major category in the tournament. Ishekwene picked the Sage division designed for the veterans.