The second edition of the International Scrabble Super Masters, held in Bona’anja Siga Bonjo from March 11 to 15, 2026, concluded with a dominant performance by host nation Cameroon.
Competing against top players from eight African countries—including Ivory Coast, Gabon, and the DRC—Cameroon secured 12 awards across the duplicate, challenge, and school categories, reinforcing its status as a leader in African Scrabble.
The closing ceremony, presided over by Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, Minister of Sports and Physical Education, praised the event’s organization under the patronage of President Paul Biya.
The Minister specifically lauded the emergence of young talents, noting that the presence of promising school-aged competitors ensures a bright future for the sport and the potential for future world champions.
Beyond the competition, the event served as a celebration of Scrabble as a rigorous intellectual discipline. By successfully hosting this high-level tournament, Cameroon has demonstrated both its competitive excellence and its commitment to fostering the next generation of strategic thinkers in the region.
The event brought together elite players from across the continent, highlighting the growing prestige of the sport in Central and West Africa.
In the classic scrabble category, Ivorian world champion Habib Alabi demonstrated a tactical mastery by defeating his compatriot Zingbe Gueu Mathieu with a score of three wins to one.
Alabi, who walked away with three million CFA francs, wittily noted the symbolic connection between Ivory Coast’s international dialing code and the 225 squares of a standard Scrabble board. His victory reinforced Côte d’ivoire’s reputation as a powerhouse in the classic format, while Gabonese and Cameroonian players rounded out the top five in a display of high-level positional awareness.
Cameroon found its own glory through the brilliant performance of King Josaphat Nkouete Chewa, affectionately known as “KJC.” For the second year in a row, the national champion dominated the duplicate event, a rigorous discipline where every player competes with the same tiles.
His victory confirms his status among the world’s elite, proving that his precision and vast vocabulary are unmatched. In addition to Chewa’s triumph, fellow Cameroonian Ivan Seundjeu secured a victory in the challenge event, further making the national federation and its supporters proud.
The tournament also showcased the rising talent of the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose “Scrabble Leopards” secured the third, fourth, and fifth spots in the duplicate competition. The event drew unexpected star power from former Indomitable Lions footballer Geremi Njitap, who attended to encourage the participants.
Njitap, an avid Scrabble enthusiast, praised the game for its intellectual depth and the strategic decision-making it requires, even admitting his own growing passion for challenging the sport’s elite.
Following the success of this edition, the President of the Cameroonian Scrabble Federation, Amédée Assomo, praised the organizing committee and the vitality of the sport in the region. The successful completion of the Super Masters has set the stage for an even more ambitious future for the country.
Plans are already being discussed for Cameroon to host a Scrabble Grand Slam in 2027, a move that would firmly establish the nation as a premier global hub for competitive word games.
