Theodore Martus outscored many-time champion Odette Rio, 520-360, to rule the 2025 edition of the Philippine National Scrabble Championship on Monday at the Robinson’s Place in Iligan City.
Martus, a real estate firm executive in Cebu City, then cruised to a dominant win in the final round against tail-ender Elfhara Leguin to seal his performance with 17 wins.
Mohd Bin Abdul Suma, a winner of this event in past three stagings, took second place with 15 wins and a higher spread.
Odette Rio also scored 15 wins with a lesser spread to take third place, followed by Melvin Dalangin of Manila in fourth.
The rest of the top 10 performers included Alexis Joyosa (also of Manila) in 5th, Cebu’s Jowar Aquino in 6th, John Edward Tabasa of Cebu in 7th, Reynante dela Cerna also of Cebu in eight, Butuan’s Joel Toroy in 9th and Lanao’s Casan Pangandaman in 10th place.
Baguio City’s Francis Dizon scored the tournament’s highest word, detoxing, with 175 points while Engr. Anshari Ugarinan scored the highest game with 664 points.
Martus’s victory proved no surprise to Rio who described him as among the best in the Philippines.
“In his prime, he is hard to beat,” she said.
It was an all-Maranao performance in Class B with Tamaraaan Pumbaya emerging champion, Lindy Dimaampao placing second, followed by Pendatun Faiz Dida-an, Malik Matuaan and Norodin Abdulhamid in third, fourth and 5th place. The tournament drew a total of 52 players in both Class A and B.
In the general assembly meeting, Abdul “Bobby” Dimakuta Suma was re-elected as national president of the Unified Scrabble Association of the Philippines (USAPI) while Lear Jet Dela Cruz has been retained as tournament director.
Architect Saidde Solaiman of the Ranao Scrabble Club credited Suma for producing the prizes and incentives that made possible the first staging of a national championship in Mindanao. He also thanked the management of Robinson’s Iligan for hosting the championship. (Jimmy K. Laking).
